The UNIX tool awk: a) can do both numerical and string...

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Question by Dheeraj
Submitted on 5/28/2004
Related FAQ: comp.lang.awk FAQ
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The UNIX tool awk: a) can do both numerical and string comparoson b) decide from the context whether the comparison is numerical or alphabetical c) signals an error if an alphabet is compared with a number. d) all of the above. plz tell me the correct option. thanks

Answer by Gus
Submitted on 8/24/2004
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Both A and B, but not C. At least for gawk, an error is never signaled: If both arguments look like numbers, the comparison is done numerically. Otherwise, the comparison is done as strings. You can force the comparison to be one way or the other by forcing the arguments to be treated that way: (a + 0 < b + 0) # always does numeric ("" a < "" b) # always does string

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