CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bashrandomawk
zfmsoftware
zfmsoftware

Reputation: 63

save random numbers generated with awk in a variable

This code is very helpful awk in bash script for generating random numbers.

awk 'BEGIN {
# seed
srand()
for (i=1;i<=10;i++){
print int(1 + rand() * 1000)
}
}'

But it just print random numbers. I whould like save random number(s) in variable(s) and after awk ends, use them. Is it possible? How?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1344

Answers (2)

jrjc
jrjc

Reputation: 21873

Store them in an array which you can reuse later

awk 'BEGIN {
srand();
for (i=1;i<=10;i++){
rdm[i]=int(1 + rand() * 1000)
}
}
END{
for(i=1;i<=10;i++){
print rdm[i]} # reuse them here
}'

If you want to reuse them outside awk :

rdm=($(awk 'BEGIN {
srand()
for (i=1;i<=10;i++){
print int(1 + rand() * 1000)
}
}'))

and in bash:

for r in ${rdm[*]}; do
   echo $r; # or reuse them here
done

Upvotes: 1

Krzysiek
Krzysiek

Reputation: 2495

Bash isn't my native language (at least not yet ;), use following code as a clue:

# uncomment line if for-loop shows numbers as one item
#IFS=$(echo -en "\n\t\b")

# save to var
A=$(awk 'BEGIN {
# seed
srand()
for (i=1;i<=10;i++){
print int(1 + rand() * 1000)
}
}')

# Use in for-loop
for b in $A
do
    echo "Your lucky number is ${b}."
done

# to rolback changes:
#IFS=$(echo -en "\n\t ")

May be helpful

IFS - Internal field separator

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions