atan2(y, x)

Return the arctangent of y/x in radians. {N}

break

Exit from a while, for, or do loop.

close(filename-expr)
close(command-expr)

In most implementations of awk, you can have only 10 files open simultaneously and one pipe. Therefore, nawk provides a close function that allows you to close a file or a pipe. It takes as an argument the same expression that opened the pipe or file. This expression must be identical, character by character, to the one that opened the file or pipe; even whitespace is significant. {N}

continue

Begin next iteration of while, for, or do loop.

cos(x)

Return the cosine of x, an angle in radians. {N}

delete array[element]
tt class="literal">delete array

Delete element from array. The brackets are typed literally. The second form is a common extension, which deletes all elements of the array at one shot. {N}

do
    statement
while (expr)

Looping statement. Execute statement, then evaluate expr and, if true, execute statement again. A series of statements must be put within braces. {N}

exit [expr]

Exit from script, reading no new input. The END procedure, if it exists, will be executed. An optional expr becomes awk's return value.

exp(x)

Return exponential of x (e^x).

fflush([output-expr])

Flush any buffers associated with open output file or pipe output-expr. {B}

for (init-expr; test-expr; incr-expr)
    statement

C-style looping construct. init-expr assigns the initial value of a counter variable. test-expr is a relational expression that is evaluated each time before executing the statement. When test-expr is false, the loop is exited. incr-expr increments the counter variable after each pass. All the expressions are optional. A missing test-expr is considered to be true. A series of statements must be put within braces.

for (item in array)
    statement

Special loop designed for reading associative arrays. For each element of the array, the statement is executed; the element can be referenced by array[item]. A series of statements must be put within braces.

function name(parameter-list) {
    statements
}

Create name as a user-defined function consisting of awk statements that apply to the specified list of parameters. No space is allowed between name and the left paren when the function is called. {N}

getline [var] [< file]
    or
command | getline [var]

Read next line of input. Original awk doesn't support the syntax to open multiple input streams. The first form reads input from file; the second form reads the output of command. Both forms read one record at a time, and each time the statement is executed, it gets the next record of input. The record is assigned to $0 and is parsed into fields, setting NF, NR and FNR. If var is specified, the result is assigned to var, and $0 and NF aren't changed. Thus, if the result is assigned to a variable, the current record doesn't change. getline is actually a function and returns 1 if it reads a record successfully, 0 if end-of-file is encountered, and -1 if it's otherwise unsuccessful. {N}

gensub(r, s, h [, t])

General substitution function. Substitute s for matches of the regular expression r in the string t. If h is a number, replace the hth match. If it is "g" or "G", substitute globally. If t is not supplied, $0 is used. Return the new string value. The original t is not modified. (Compare gsub and sub.) {G}

gsub(r, s [, t])

Globally substitute s for each match of the regular expression r in the string t. If t is not supplied, defaults to $0. Return the number of substitutions. {N}

if (condition)
    statement
[else
    statement]

If condition is true, do statement(s); otherwise do statement in the optional else clause. The condition can be an expression using any of the relational operators <, <=, ==, !=, >=, or >, as well as the array membership operator in, and the pattern-matching operators ~ and !~ (e.g., if ($1 ~ /[Aa].*/)). A series of statements must be put within braces. Another if can directly follow an else in order to produce a chain of tests or decisions.

index(str, substr)

Return the position (starting at 1) of substr in str, or zero if substr is not present in str.

int(x)

Return integer value of x by truncating any fractional part.

length([arg])

Return length of arg, or the length of $0 if no argument.

log(x)

Return the natural logarithm (base e) of x.

match(s, r)

Function that matches the pattern, specified by the regular expression r, in the string s, and returns either the position in s, where the match begins, or 0 if no occurrences are found. Sets the values of RSTART and RLENGTH to the start and length of the match, respectively. {N}

next

Read next input line and start new cycle through pattern/procedures statements.

nextfile

Stop processing the current input file and start new cycle through pattern/procedures statements, beginning with the first record of the next file. {B} {G}

print [ output-expr[, ...]] [ dest-expr ]

Evaluate the output-expr and direct it to standard output, followed by the value of ORS. Each comma-separated output-expr is separated in the output by the value of OFS. With no output-expr, print $0.

printf(format [, expr-list ]) [ dest-expr ]

An alternative output statement borrowed from the C language. It can produce formatted output and also output data without automatically producing a newline. format is a string of format specifications and constants. expr-list is a list of arguments corresponding to format specifiers. See print for a description of dest-expr.

format follows the conventions of the C-language printf(3S) library function. Here are a few of the most common formats:

Like any string, format can also contain embedded escape sequences: \n (newline) or \t (tab) being the most common. Spaces and literal text can be placed in the format argument by quoting the entire argument. If there are multiple expressions to be printed, there should be multiple formats specified.

Example

Using the script:

{ printf("The sum on line %d is %.0f.\n", NR, $1+$2) }

The following input line:

5   5

produces this output, followed by a newline:

The sum on line 1 is 10.

rand()

Generate a random number between 0 and 1. This function returns the same series of numbers each time the script is executed, unless the random number generator is seeded using srand(). {N}

return [expr]

Used within a user-defined function to exit the function, returning value of expr. The return value of a function is undefined if expr is not provided. {N}

sin(x)

Return the sine of x, an angle in radians. {N}

split(string, array [, sep])

Split string into elements of array array[1],...,array[n]. The string is split at each occurrence of separator sep. If sep is not specified, FS is used. The number of array elements created is returned.

sprintf(format [, expressions])

Return the formatted value of one or more expressions, using the specified format (see printf). Data is formatted but not printed. {N}

sqrt(arg)

Return square root of arg.

srand([expr])

Use optional expr to set a new seed for the random number generator. Default is the time of day. Return value is the old seed. {N}

strftime([format [,timestamp]])

Format timestamp according to format. Return the formatted string. The timestamp is a time-of-day value in seconds since midnight, January 1, 1970, UTC. The format string is similar to that of sprintf. (See the Example for systime.) If timestamp is omitted, it defaults to the current time. If format is omitted, it defaults to a value that produces output similar to that of date. {G}

sub(r, s [, t])

Substitute s for first match of the regular expression r in the string t. If t is not supplied, defaults to $0. Return 1 if successful; 0 otherwise. {N}

substr(string, beg [, len])

Return substring of string at beginning position beg and the characters that follow to maximum specified length len. If no length is given, use the rest of the string.

system(command)

Function that executes the specified command and returns its status. The status of the executed command typically indicates success or failure. A value of 0 means that the command executed successfully. A nonzero value indicates a failure of some sort. The documentation for the command you're running will give you the details.

systime()

Return a time-of-day value in seconds since midnight, January 1, 1970, UTC. {G}

tolower(str)

Translate all uppercase characters in str to lowercase and return the new string.[15] {N}

[15]Very early versions of nawk don't support tolower() and toupper(). However, they are now part of the POSIX specification for awk, and are included in the SVR4 nawk.

toupper(str)

Translate all lowercase characters in str to uppercase and return the new string. {N}

while (condition)
    statement

Do statement while condition is true (see if for a description of allowable conditions). A series of statements must be put within braces.