Data files

awk programs work with data. Programs can obtain data typed in from the workstation or from the output of other commands (for example, through pipes), but usually data is obtained from data files.

awk's data files are always text files (not binary files). The files contain readable text—for example, words, numbers, and punctuation characters.

As an example, consider a data file named hobbies, which contains information on the hobbies of a group of people. Each line in this file gives a person's name, one of that person's hobbies, how many hours a week he or she spends on the hobby, and how much money the hobby costs per year. One hobby per person appears on each separate line. The file might look like this:

Figure 1. The hobbies file

    Jim     reading          15     100.00
    Jim     bridge            4      10.00
    Jim     role playing      5      70.00
    Linda   bridge           12      30.00
    Linda   cartooning        5      75.00
    Katie   jogging          14     120.00
    Katie   reading          10      60.00
    John    role playing      8     100.00
    John    jogging           8      30.00
    Andrew  wind surfing     20    1000.00
    Lori    jogging           5      30.00
    Lori    weight lifting   12     200.00
    Lori    bridge            2       0.00

This file is included with the z/OS UNIX shell as /samples/hobbies.