Set variable in current shell from awk

Question

Is there a way to set a variable in my current shell from within awk?

I\'d like to do some processing on a file and print out some data; since I\'ll rea

Answer 1

$ echo "$var"

$ declare $( awk 'BEGIN{print "var=17"}' )
$ echo "$var"
17

Here's why you should use declare instead of eval:

$ eval $( awk 'BEGIN{print "echo \"removing all of your files, ha ha ha....\""}' )
removing all of your files, ha ha ha....

$ declare $( awk 'BEGIN{print "echo \"removing all of your files\""}' )
bash: declare: `"removing': not a valid identifier
bash: declare: `files"': not a valid identifier

Note in the first case that eval executes whatever string awk prints, which could accidentally be a very bad thing!