file:
sasa|asasa|asasa|asas
erer|Erer|rere|ererer
Output needed :
sasa:asasa:asasa:asas
erer:Erer:rere:ererer
Im getting output, when i use the $1,$2.
awk -F'|' 'BEGIN{OFS=":";} {print $1,$2; }' file
Output :
sasa:asasa
erer:Erer
But when i need the whole column, i cant
awk -F'|' 'BEGIN{OFS=":";} {print $0 ; }' file
try
awk -F'|' 'BEGIN{OFS=":";}{$1=$1}1' file
sed 's/|/:/g' file
tr '|' ':' < file
OFS is only used when there a comma is used with the print command to separate printed values or when a value is assigned to $1 .. $NF . That is why $1=$1 in pamu's post makes a difference.
From GNU AWK manual
Understanding $0
It is important to remember that $0 is the full record, exactly as it was read from the input. This includes any leading or trailing whitespace, and the exact whitespace (or other characters) that separate the fields.
It is a not-uncommon error to try to change the field separators in a record simply by setting FS and OFS, and then expecting a plain �print� or �print $0� to print the modified record.
But this does not work, since nothing was done to change the record itself. Instead, you must force the record to be rebuilt, typically with a statement such as �$1 = $1�, as described earlier.