awk

Pattern-directed scanning and processing language.

Last updated: 2026-07-05 Report error

Syntax

$awk 'PROGRAM' [FILE]

Examples

$awk '{print $1}' file.txt

Examples

$awk -F':' '{print $1}' /etc/passwd

Typical use cases

Print first field

awk '{print $1}' file.txt

Custom delimiter

awk -F: '{print $1}' /etc/passwd

Conditional output

awk '$3 > 1000 {print $1}' /etc/passwd

Note Strong for columnar data and one-liner reporting tasks.

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