Matching numbers to mask it

July 27, 2023

I have a text file like below. It’s a position-based text file. The positions from 13 to 30 represent bank account numbers and need to be masked with an asterisk if a number exists. What’s the best way to do this? My OS is Oracle Solaris 11.4

6220750000610032002137       0000404584               MCKENNES JAITLIN C      0071000280000122
622075000079643811983        0000420000               RICHOTTA AMENDA         0071000240000134
632275079784326217002        0000340000               KOHLDECK CARA           0071000230000146
622101205691399004002904006210000610000               MEIER NICHOLAS          0071000270000222

Expected Outcome

622075000061**********       0000404584               MCKENNES JAITLIN C      0071000280000122
622075000079*********        0000420000               RICHOTTA AMENDA         0071000240000134
632275079784*********        0000340000               KOHLDECK CARA           0071000230000146
622101205691*****************0000610000               MEIER NICHOLAS          0071000270000222

I am trying the below command but getting an error.

gawk '{if (match($0, "[0-9]", 13, 27)) $0 = substr($0, 1, 12) "*" substr($0, 27)}' PAY.EM

gawk: cmd. line:1: {if (match($0, "[0-9]", 13, 27)) $0 = substr($0, 1, 12) "*" substr($0, 27)}
gawk: cmd. line:1:  

                         ^ 4 is invalid as number of arguments for match

>Solution :

As @jared_mamrot comments, it may be difficult to define the ‘best’. Here is a posix-compliant solution just for information:

awk '{s = substr($0, 13, 17); gsub(/[0-9]/, "*", s); print(substr($0, 1, 12) s substr($0, 30))}' PAY.EM

Result:

622075000061**********       0000404584               MCKENNES JAITLIN C      0071000280000122
622075000079*********        0000420000               RICHOTTA AMENDA         0071000240000134
632275079784*********        0000340000               KOHLDECK CARA           0071000230000146
622101205691*****************0000610000               MEIER NICHOLAS          0071000270000222