extract data from text formatted in columns

Name: awk - extract data from text formatted in columns - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange
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Question

I have multiple lines I would like to extract from text formatted in columns. How do I get the entire column?

Column1 Column2 Column3 textA textB textC textAA textBB textCC

I am familiar with sed and awk tools, but not sure how to use them if for this example I wanted to show all data in column2

so I run a command that ouput the ethernet interfaces of a device...column1 would be the eth port, column2 would be MAC addesses. I want to parse the MAC addresses from all the other data that is displayed in this command (5 total columns) but all I care about in this case is collecting the MAC add. — mcv110, CommentedJul 27, 2021 at 21:06
It would be better if you edit the question presenting the actual use case and sample data, and what process you want to do with it. It would seem an X Y problem. — schrodingerscatcuriosity, CommentedJul 27, 2021 at 21:15
Please show actual data, and ideally also the command that generated it. — Kusalananda, CommentedJul 27, 2021 at 21:34
Since you're familiar with awk, it's not clear why this problem would have you stumped as it's the most basic awk operation there is. Maybe there's more to it than you've stated and shown in your question? Please edit your question to clarify the problem. — Ed Morton, CommentedJul 27, 2021 at 21:49

glenn jackman · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-27 21:15:34Z

The simple answer is awk

awk '{print $2}' filename

For more info about awk, click the awk tag then click the "Learn more" link.

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