title: Converting dates in AWK
body: <p>I have a file containing many columns of text, including a timestamp along the lines of <code>Fri Jan 02 18:23</code> and I need to convert that date into <code>MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM</code> format.</p>
  
  <p>I have been trying to use the standard `date' tool with awk getline to do the conversion, but I can't quite figure out how to pass the fields into the 'date' command in the format it expects (quoted with " or 's,) as getline needs the command string enclosed in quotes too.</p>
  
  <p>Something like <code>"date -d '$1 $2 $3 $4' +'%D %H:%M'" | getline var</code></p>
  
  <p>Now that I think about it, I guess what I'm really asking is how to embed awk variables into a string.</p>