AWK won't separate fields

slinx · 03-10-2009, 03:14 PM

Hello, I am having an odd problem with awk. Here is my script:

Code:

    gawk --source='
        /^#/    {next}
        /^$/    {next}
        /^+/    {file = $1
                print "file: " $file
                for ( x=2; x <= NF; ++x ) {
                    print  x $x
                }   
                next}
        {print}' $SOURCE_FILE > $INCLUDE_FILE
}

My source file is a file with # -delimited comments, so the awk program ignores lines beginning with # and blank lines. The next part is supposed to look for lines beginning with '+' and then print just the first field. If I do

Code:

print $1

, I get just the first field, but if I try to assign $1 to another variable, or use any function on it to assign it (such as sub or split), I get $0 instead - the entire line. I want to process the line and remove the leading '+' so I get just the file name.

What gives?

Also, what's an easy way to compare just the first character of an awk field, so I can check if the first character is a +, a -, or a (?

Thanks for your help.

jlinkels · 03-10-2009, 04:05 PM

In awk you don't use $variable to refer to a variable, just variable

I assume that if you refer to $file, awk thinks it is $0 as it cannot translate $file properly to a number.

jlinkels

slinx · 03-10-2009, 04:11 PM

That's all it was - it had to be something basic and simple like that! I haven't used awk in a while....

Thanks so much for your help.