Question: I have a file named "output.txt" having data in format:

```
400949703|2000025967912|20130614010652|20130614131543
355949737|2144050263|20120407100407|20120407101307
355499738|2144500262|20110911010901|20110911135601

```

I am executing an awk command as shown below:

```
awk -F"|" '{num1="`echo $3| cut -c1-8`"; print $num1}' output.txt

```

My expected output is :

```
20130614
20120407
20110911

```

But I am getting output as what is actually the input.

```
400949703|2000025967912|20130614010652|20130614131543
355949737|2144050263|20120407100407|20120407101307
355499738|2144500262|20110911010901|20110911135601

```

Not able to find out the reason. My task is to compare the 1st 8 characters in 3rd and 4th column. But stucked at this part only.

Experts, kindly help me to get the way, where I am missing.

Answer: 
The IDE will display the escape characters (\") but when the string is used they won't be there

Try writing it to the console and checking if it's correct
I'd prefer to use code like this:

```
var demo = string.Join(
    ",", 
    Enumerable.Range(1, count)
        .Select(n => string.Format("\"{0}\"", n)));

```

Breaking it down a bit...

```
Enumerable.Range(1, count) //Gives a list of integers from 1 to count

.Select(n => string.Format("\"{0}"\"", n) //Surrounds each integer with double quotes

string.Join(...) //Joins the strings above using the comma

```