Extract Maximum and minimum value using awk

Question

How to find maximum and minimum value from the below table using awk command.

20 90 60 30
55 75 80 85
10 15 99 95
55 95 70 20
9  35 85 75
         


        

Answer 1

awk '
NR == 1 { min=max=$1 }
{
    for (i=1;i<=NF;i++) {
        min = (min < $i ? min : $i)
        max = (max > $i ? max : $i)
    }
}
END {
    printf "min value = %s\n", (min == "" ? "NaN" : min)
    printf "max value = %s\n", (max == "" ? "NaN" : max)
}
' file

The test resulting in "NaN" is to accommodate empty input files.