don't print last field

[Phil Meyer]

adrian kok wrote:
> Hi 
>
> how can I only get the previous field but not last
> field from awk?
>
> but I can't use print $1....$2
>
> as there are different fields in different line
>
> thank you
>
> Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com 
>
>   

As another posted, NF is what you want to play with.  Here is an example:

ls -l | awk '{ num = NF - 2 ; print $num }'

Please note that awk can use both types of shell variable notations:

With or without the dollar sign on an assignment.

So assign a value based upon NF WITHOUT the dollar sign, and print the 
value WITH a dollar sign.

Hope this helps.

Have Fun!