AWK: Splitting a string into sub-strings of length X

string-split.awk

Using AWK to split a line of text into sub-strings:

To split a line of text at column X, followed by a new line (or whatever) - even if the input it less than a multiple of X.
If something other than a NEWLINE is desired substitute it, use "& " or "& value=" etc...
You may want to play around with BEGIN{} & END{} blocks if you plan on getting fancy.
Handy for reformatting a mangled SSH or GPG key!

DATA="$(dd if=/dev/urandom bs=512 count=1 | base64 -w0)"

by pipe
echo $DATA | awk '{gsub(/.{64}/,"&\n")}1'

by file
awk '{gsub(/.{2048}/,"&\n")}1' /path/to/file

by process substitution
awk '{gsub(/.{2048}/,"&\n")}1' <(echo $DATA )

use tr to remove the input TAB or NEWLINE, or whatever else
tr '\t|\n' ' '

eg. Use V for VISUAL LINE highlight of lines to see...
vi <(man bash | tr '\t|\n' ' ' | awk '{gsub(/.{64}/,"&\n")}1')