awk script change in format from Linux to MAC

Question

I have an awk script with the lines below:

NR==FNR {
    if (FNR>1) {
        a[$3][++i]=$6
        b[$3][i]=$7
    }
    next
}

When i use the script it says

awk: syntax error at source line 3 source file ../Overlap.awk
 context is
        >>>  a[$3][ <<<  
awk: illegal statement at source line 3 source file ../Overlap.awk

The script is copied from a linux machine to MAC OSX and the problem arised. Could someone help to fix this.

This code uses arrays of arrays from Gnu Awk version 4. See: gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/gawk.html#Arrays-of-Arrays. — Håkon Hægland
– Håkon Hægland, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 23:35

Drewness · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-25 21:52:40Z

2

AWK doesn't support multidimensional arrays the way most languages do, or at least the way we're used to. Here is how you can access indexes in associative arrays using AWK:

NR==FNR {
    if (FNR>1) {
        a[$3, ++i]=$6
        b[$3, i]=$7
    }
    next
}

You can read more about AWK and multidimensional arrays here and here.

edited Feb 25, 2014 at 21:52

answered Feb 25, 2014 at 21:13

Drewness

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3 Comments

chas Over a year ago

but it worked in linux machine and i wonder why doesn't it work in MAC OSX

mklement0 Over a year ago

@user1779730: In general, different platforms use different flavors of awk that differ in behavior and features. For instance, OSX uses FreeBSD awk, while some Linux flavor use gawk, while other use mawk. However: All flavors mentioned do NOT support the separate-subscripts syntax; it's also not in the POSIX spec (pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009696699/utilities/awk.html); even if there is a flavor out there where that works - please tell us what it is- you should avoid this syntax for the sake of portability.

Håkon Hægland Over a year ago

Yes this is a good advice, also note that it is possible to install Gnu Awk version 4 on OSX as described in this thread groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.lang.awk/QM51VPAlw4I

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