awk to split string

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

Hello Friends,

Im trying to split a string. When i use first method of awk like below i have an error:

method1 (I specified the FS as ":" so is this wrong?)

servert1{root}>awk -f split.txt 
awk: syntax error near line 2
awk: bailing out near line 2

split.txt:

myString="apple:orange:banana";
split(myString,fruits,":");
print fruits[1];
print fruits[2];
print fruits[3];

method2 (when i run command without calling text file it does not response just waits :confused: )

awk '{split("apple:orange:banana",fruits,":")} END{print fruits[1],fruits[2],fruits[3]}'

pls help me to find out what is wrong with the commands

2 
awk 'BEGIN{split(ARGV[1],fruits,":");print fruits[1],fruits[2],fruits[3]}' "apple:orange:banana"
3

Danmero i tested but it gave error

awk: can't open apple:orange:banana

but you gave me the idea adding BEGIN and a ";" after closing the phranthesis and it worked

awk 'BEGIN{split("apple:orange:banana",fruits,":"); print fruits[1],fruits[2],fruits[3]}'
apple orange banana

thnx

4

hi ppl,
I have a basic doubt as to how shell treats strings.
e.g:given a line of data like this "5","6","45","77","89"
extracting the value from each field to a variable will conatin a string("5") or just the number?
If it conatins "5", how do we perform mathematical operations with that variable?

5

Beetel you should create a new thread for your question as it is not related to this thread. I'd recommend you to read forum rules and stroll around here to find out about the forum..

6

oops sorry! beginner...