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                 |  | UGU: Unix Guru Universe - Unix Tip #4166- July  8, 2012
 -  Home : Help
 : Today's Tip Unix Tip #4166- July  8, 2012
 
 
EXTRACT THAT LAST FIELD 
You can use 'cut' to extract the last field of a line if you know
 how many fields there are, eg:
 
 field=`cut -d: -f8 file`
 
 But if you don't know the maximum number of fields or the number
 of fields per line are not consistent, awk can come to the rescue.
 awk has the inbuilt variable NF for the number of fields.  By using
 this variable we can use it to extract the last field by using:
 
 field=`awk -F: '{print $NF}'`
 
 or you can use calculations to retrieve any field relative to the last field.
 For example to retrieve the second last field, use:
 
 field=`awk -F: '{print $(NF-1)}'`
 
 
 This tip generously supported by: peters@ginini.com.au
 
 
 
 NOTE: All tips provided are USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Tips are submitted
by various unix admins around the globe. UGU suggest you read and
test each tip in a non-volitile environment before placing into
production.
 
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