How to express built-In variable, RS in awk command

corone · 04-26-2011, 04:15 AM

I am going to separate records with the string, "[J.System Info]" in awk command.

Both of the following expressions don't work well.

Code:

RS = "[J.System Info]"
(or)
RS = "[\J\.System Info\]"

David the H. · 04-26-2011, 04:25 AM

In gawk, the field and record separators are either single characters, or treated as regular expressions. In the above, the [] around the string means you're setting it to a list of single characters, any of which will match.

You have to double-backslash-escape the brackets and the period in order for them to be treated literally. Try this:

Code:

RS="\\[J\\.System Info\\]"