[PLUG] Adding numbers

[Russell Senior]

>>>>> "Felix" == Felix Lee <felix.1 at canids.net> writes:

Russell> That'll work, but the BEGIN clause is superfluous.  Variables
Russell> default to zero anyway, so it can reduce to: $ awk '/missing/
Russell> { total += $7 } END { print total }' messages*

Felix> no, variables default to null.  if no lines match, then your
Felix> version prints a blank line instead of 0.  

Ah, yeah.  In 15 years of awk use, that distinction has never bitten
me, but then the majority of my usage is ad hoc command-line stuff
where I am intelligent enough (but only just) to disambiguate.  In a
script, where something else is depending on a number, the distinction
would be more important.

Thank you for the correction!

-- 
Russell Senior         ``I have nine fingers; you have ten.''
seniorr at aracnet.com