Linux Shells by Example

Combining Quotes:

The Goal:

The end result is to be able to embed the shell variable in the awk command line and have the shell expand the variable without interfering with awk's field designators, $1 and $2.

Setting the Shell Variable:

name="Jacob Savage" (sh, bash and ksh)
set name = "Jacob Savage" (csh and tsh) 

The Line from the Datafile:

Jacob Savage:408-298-7732:934 La Barbara Dr. , San Jose,CA:02/27/78:500000 

The awk Command Line:

						awk -F: '$1 ~ /^'"$name"'/{print $2}' datafile
(Output)
408-298-7732
					

Step 1:

Test your knowledge of the Linux command at the command line before plugging in any shell variables.

						awk -F: '$1 ~ /^Jacob Savage/{print $2}' filename
(Output)
408-298-7732
					

Step 2:

Plug in the shell variable without changing anything ...