Run unix command on awk field

Question

I want to run the basename command on a certain awk field.

echo "1 /this/is/a/path" | awk '{print $1" "system("/usr/bin/basename " $2)}'

but the output always produces a 0 from the system command. How do I print the real output?

`awk -F, '{printf "%s ",$1 ; system ("/usr/bin/basename " $2)}'` — Costas, Feb 09 '15 at 17:18
The marked duplicate isn't anything remotely similar. It discusses ways of setting an `awk` variable from a parameter. This one is concerned with getting output from a shell command executed within an `awk` script — roaima, Sep 15 '16 at 10:00

cuonglm · Answer 1 · 2015-02-09T17:37:46.580

5

POSIXly:

$ echo "1 /this/is/a/path" | awk '
{
  cmd = "/usr/bin/basename -- " $2;
  cmd | getline out; 
  print $1, out;
  close(cmd);
}'
1 path

edited Feb 09 '15 at 17:37

answered Feb 09 '15 at 17:20

cuonglm

1 Answers1