awk extract data

[abraxas334]

Hello,
I would like to get data out of say 100 files names like test1.dat test2.dat etc and put them into a single file.
I know i can do it with one using awk in the following way, when i say want to get the 2nd column of the file


awk 'BEGIN{FS="\t"; OFS="\t"} {print $2}'test1.dat >output.dat

how can i use a wildcard so all 100 files will be done automatically, so i won't have to change the input file name for every single one of them.
I tried


awk 'BEGIN{FS="\t"; OFS="\t"} {print $2}'test*.dat >output.dat
but that didn't work.
What kind of wildcards has awk got?

[WW]

Your example should work if you put a space after the closing single quote:


awk 'BEGIN{FS="\t"; OFS="\t"} {print $2}' test*.dat >output.dat

[abraxas334]

Lol indeed it does! Silly spaces! Thanks alot

[abraxas334]

if I have this code to extract certain columns out of a file for the command line,


awk 'BEGIN{FS="\t"; OFS="\t"} {print $2}' test*.dat >output.dat

how can i make it run from a file i.e. something along the lines


awk -f file.awk < test*.dat

this is exactly what i have tried but I get an error saying amigious redirect.
I have 100 files of test1.dat ->test100.dat and i want to extract certain columns out of each of it and then add it to a common output file and i really would like to avoid having to type the long command every time or pressing the up arrow for ages till i can find the command again.
Thanks

[ghostdog74]

how can i make it run from a file i.e. something along the lines


awk -f file.awk < test*.dat




awk -f file.awk test*.dat