# Find Long Lines With awk


When working with code or text files, you may need to find lines that exceed a certain character limit, especially when following coding standards that enforce line length limits.

You can use `awk` to find lines longer than a specific number of characters. For example, the following command shows you the line numbers and character counts for any lines longer than 80 characters in the file `app.js`:

```command
awk 'length > 80 {print NR": "length" chars"}' app.js
```

You'll receive output that looks like the following:

```output
15: 85 chars
23: 92 chars
47: 106 chars
```

Here's how it works:

- **`length`**: `awk`'s built-in function that returns the length of the current line
- **`> 80`**: The condition that checks if the line length exceeds 80 characters
- **`{print NR": "length" chars"}`**: The action to perform when the condition is true:
  - `NR` is `awk`'s built-in variable for the current line number
  - `length` shows the actual character count
  - The output format shows both line number and character count

You can adjust the character limit by changing the number:

```command
awk 'length > 120 {print NR": "length" chars"}' filename.py
```

To see the actual content of long lines, include the line text by using `#0`:

```command
awk 'length > 80 {print NR": "length" chars - "$0}' filename.js
```

This is useful for identifying lines that you'll need to reformat to meet coding standards or readability guidelines.