Average of multiple files without considering missing values

Question

I want to calculate the average of 15 files:- ifile1.txt, ifile2.txt, ....., ifile15.txt. Number of columns and rows of each file are same. But some of them are missing values.

Answer 1

Use this:

paste ifile*.txt | awk '{n=f=0; for(i=1;i<=NF;i++){if($i*1){f++;n+=$i}}; print n/f}'

• paste will show all files side by side
• awk calculates the averages per line:
  • n=f=0; set the variables to 0.
  • for(i=1;i<=NF;i++) loop trough all the fields.
  • if($i*1) if the field contains a digit (multiplication by 1 will succeed).
  • f++;n+=$i increment f (number of fields with digits) and sum up n.
  • print n/f calculate n/f.