Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
Unix Command Notes with Examples
We'll use this sample file throughout the examples:
fruits.txt
------------------------
fruit_id,fruit_name,fruit_qty,unit_price,total_price
1,Mango,2,10,20
2,Apple,6,15,90
3,Banana,4,8,32
4,Watermelon,7,9,63
5,apple,3,15,45
cat
Used to display the contents of a file.
Example:
cat fruits.txt
=> Displays all lines of the file.
grep
Search for patterns in files.
Example:
grep 'Apple' fruits.txt
=> Shows lines containing 'Apple'.
sort
Sort lines in text files.
Example:
Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
sort -t',' -k5,5n fruits.txt
=> Sorts by total_price ascending.
uniq
Report or omit repeated lines.
Example:
sort fruits.txt | uniq
=> Removes duplicate lines (must sort first).
cut
Remove sections from each line of files.
Example:
cut -d',' -f2 fruits.txt
=> Extracts fruit_name column.
awk
A powerful text-processing language.
Example:
awk -F',' '$5 > 50 { print $2, $5 }' fruits.txt
=> Prints fruit_name and total_price if price > 50.
sed
Stream editor for filtering and transforming text.
Example:
sed 's/apple/APPLE/g' fruits.txt
=> Replaces 'apple' with 'APPLE' globally.
Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
head
Display first lines of a file.
Example:
head -n 2 fruits.txt
=> Shows the first 2 lines.
tail
Display last lines of a file.
Example:
tail -n 2 fruits.txt
=> Shows the last 2 lines.
wc
Print newline, word, and byte counts.
Example:
wc -l fruits.txt
=> Outputs the number of lines.
find
Search files in a directory hierarchy.
Example:
find . -name '*.txt'
=> Finds all .txt files recursively.
ls
Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
List directory contents.
Example:
ls -l
=> Lists files with details.
chmod
Change file permissions.
Example:
chmod 755 file.sh
=> Sets read-write-execute for owner, read-execute for others.
AWK Command Programs (Fixed Explanations)
Q1: Display all employee names
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 { print $2 }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Skips header (NR > 1) and prints the 2nd field (Name).
Q2: Sort employee names in ascending order
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 { print $2 }' employees.txt | sort
Explanation:
Prints names and sorts them alphabetically using sort.
Q3: Sales employees, sorted descending
Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $4=="Sales" { print $2 }' employees.txt | sort -r
Explanation:
Selects only Sales department employees and sorts names in reverse order.
Q4: Salary > 60000, print Name and Salary
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $5 > 60000 { print $2 "@" $5 }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Prints name and salary if salary is greater than 60000.
Q5: Count HR employees
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $4=="HR" { count++ } END { print count }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Counts number of HR employees.
Q6: Total salary of all employees
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 { sum += $5 } END { print sum }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Adds up salaries and prints total.
Q7: Names and ages of employees older than 40
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $3 > 40 { print $2, $3 }' employees.txt
Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
Explanation:
Checks if age > 40 and prints name and age.
Q8: Average salary in Marketing
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $4=="Marketing" { sum+=$5; count++ } END { print sum/count }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Computes average salary for Marketing department.
Q9: Minimum salary - print Name and Salary
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR == 2 || $5 < min { min=$5; name=$2 } END { print name, min }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Tracks minimum salary and corresponding name.
Q10: Salary incremented by 10%
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 { inc = $5 * 1.10; print $2, inc }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Calculates 10% raise and prints updated salary.
Q11: Sort by salary (ascending)
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1' employees.txt | sort -t@ -k5,5n
Explanation:
Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
Sorts whole lines based on 5th field (Salary).
Q12: Display first 3 rows (excluding header)
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && NR <= 4' employees.txt
Explanation:
Prints 3 employee lines after skipping header.
Q13: Names starting with S
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $2 ~ /^S/ { print $2 }' employees.txt
Explanation:
The '^' symbol matches beginning of string; selects names starting with 'S'.
Q14: Names ending with a
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $2 ~ /a$/ { print $2 }' employees.txt
Explanation:
The '$' symbol matches end of string; selects names ending with 'a'.
Q15: Names containing 'y'
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $2 ~ /y/ { print $2 }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Matches names containing the letter 'y'.
Unix and AWK Guide (With Examples)
Q16: Names containing vowels
Command:
awk -F@ 'NR > 1 && $2 ~ /[aeiouAEIOU]/ { print $2 }' employees.txt
Explanation:
Matches names that contain at least one vowel (a, e, i, o, u).
