replace columns UNIX with awk

Question

I want to replace data in spcific column that the user gives with id, with a value that again is given by the user. So the user gives the id of the row, the column, and the

Answer 1

You code does not match your requirement at all:

the user gives the id of the row, the column, and the value to replace

which I would interpret with

awk -v row=2 -v col=3 -v new_value="Hello World" '
    BEGIN { FS = OFS = "|" }
    NR == row {$col = new_value}
    {print}
' persons.dat.txt

Note the use of variables here:

• an unadorned variable is like C, replace with the variable's value (usage of the "row" variable
• the $ symbol is like an operator that references the value of the field number given by the value (here, "$col")