awk - pattern scanning and processing language The AWK command is used to read and print formatted text such as tables seperated by whitespace. Usage: awk [POSIX or GNU style options] -f progfile [--] file ... awk [POSIX or GNU style options] [--] 'program' file ... POSIX options: GNU long options: -f progfile --file=progfile -F fs --field-separator=fs -v var=val --assign=var=val -m[fr] val -W compat --compat -W copyleft --copyleft -W copyright --copyright -W help --help -W lint --lint -W lint-old --lint-old -W posix --posix -W re-interval --re-interval -W source=program-text --source=program-text -W traditional --traditiona Example: ls -al | awk '{print $5}' ls -al | awk '{sum = sum + $5} END {print sum}' /sbin/ifconfig ppp0|awk '/inet addr/ {gsub(".*:","",$2); print $2}'