how can i delete columns beginning and ending with parenthesis in a file

Question

how can i delete columns beginning and ending with parenthesis in a file

Expectd Input - content of input.txt

ABC (BCD) EFG          


        

Answer 1

Usage
awk '{print $0" "}' foo.txt | awk -f foo.awk

foo.awk

BEGIN {
    RS=ORS=" "
}

{
    n=length($0)
    if (!n) next
    split($0, s, "")
}

s[1]=="(" && s[n]==")" {
    # it is column like (abcd), skip it
    next
}

s[1]=="(" {
    # stop printing
    f=1
}

!f {
    print $0
}

s[n]==")" {
    # start printing again
    f=0
}