A program file is a text file that contains an awk program. You can create program files with any text editor (such as ed). For example, you might create a file named lbprog.awk that contains the lines:

$1 == "Linda"
$2 == "bridge" { print $1 }

To execute a program on a particular data file, use the command:

awk –f progfile
datafile

where progfile is the name of the file that contains the awk program, and datafile is the name of the data file. For example:

awk –f lbprog.awk hobbies

runs the program in lbprog.awk on the data in hobbies.

If the data file does not use the default separator characters, you must specify a –F option after the progfile name, as in:

awk –f prog.awk –F":" file.dat