Awk: extract different columns from many different files

Question

File Example

I have a 3-10 amount of files with:

 - different number of columns
 - same number of rows
 - inconsistent spacing (sometimes o         


        

Answer 1

In your paste / cut attempt, replace cut by awk:

$ paste <(awk '{print $1}' file1 ) <(awk '{print $3}' file2 ) <(awk '{print $7}' file3) <(awk '{print $1}' file4)