When processing text files, the "awk" language is ideal for handling data extraction, reporting, and data-reformatting jobs. This practical guide serves as both a reference and tutorial for POSIX-standard "awk" and for the GNU implementation, called "gawk." This book is useful for novices and "awk" experts alike.In this thoroughly revised edition, author and "gawk" lead developer Arnold Robbins describes the "awk" language and "gawk" program in detail, shows you how to use "awk" and "gawk" for problem solving, and then dives into specific features of "gawk." System administrators, programmers, webmasters, and other power users will find everything they need to know about "awk" and "gawk." You will learn how to: Format text and use regular expressions in "awk" and "gawk"Process data using "awk"'s operators and built-in functionsManage data relationships using associative arraysDefine your own functions"Think in "awk"" with two full chapters of sample functions and programsTake advantage of "gawk"'s many advanced featuresDebug "awk" programs with the "gawk" built-in debuggerExtend "gawk" by writing new functions in C or C++This book is published under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. "You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual."Royalties from the sales of this book go to the Free Software Foundation and to the author.