Insert tab character into awk print comand string

[Ed Hon]

I have awk '{print $1" "$2}', but the length of $1 varies, making for a serpentine output unfit for a cut command. How do I insert a tab character where " " is, so that $2 is verically aligned (left justified)? Thanks.

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Hi Ed:

Here's one example:

# echo "a b c"|awk '{print $1,"\011",$2,"\011",$3}'

...JRF...

[Rodney Hills]

awk allows \t too

echo "a b" | awk '{print $1,"\t",$2}'

[Curtis Larson_1]

and there is printf

printf("%s\t%s\n",$1,$2);

or

printf("%-20s%-20\n",$1,$2);

which will left justify the strings in a 20 character field.