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  • This will only work if there is an even number of fields. Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 12:26
  • @terdon - nope - it works for whatever. Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 12:27
  • No, try it with an odd number of fields. The last one is printed and it shouldn't be. Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 12:31
  • @terdon - why shouldn't it be? There is no following field to cancel it out? The asker states they want to remove odd columns followed by an even column. The last column is not followed by an even column - it does exactly what it should, and removes as little as possible. Assuming some data should go is bad practice in my opinion. Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 12:32
  • No they don't: "So I need the values from the even columns unchanged and of the odd columns, if there's a negative value, keep the - only and if there's a positive value, discard it." Odd fields should never be printed, the only information they should impart is whether they were negative. Yours prints positive odd fields. Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 12:33