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LPIC-1 Shells, Scripting and Data Management Practice Question

Given a file with lines like 'John:23:Engineer', which awk command prints only the name and department (first and third fields) separated by a space?

⚠ Common exam trap

It's easy for candidates to confuse the comma (which inserts the OFS) with concatenation (no comma), leading them to pick options like C or D that produce no space between fields, or they misidentify the field numbers and select B instead of A.

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

awk -F: '{print $1,$3}' file

The `-F:` flag sets the field separator to colon, and `{print $1,$3}` prints the first and third fields separated by the default output field separator (a space). This matches the requirement to output the name and department from lines like 'John:23:Engineer'.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
awk -F: '{print $1,$3}' file
Why this is correct
Comma in print outputs space separator.
✗
awk -F: '{print $1,$2}' file
Why it's wrong here
Prints name and age (second field).
✗
awk -F: '{print $1 $3}' file
Why it's wrong here
Concatenates fields without space.
✗
awk -F: '{print $1 $2}' file
Why it's wrong here
Concatenates name and age.

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LPIC-1 Shells, Scripting and Data Management Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

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