#!/bin/bash DATAFILE=/tmp/fake-datafile #----- collect the datas > ${DATAFILE} for s in $(seq 1 20) do v=$(./fake-values -s -t 1 2> /dev/null) echo $s $v >> ${DATAFILE} done #----- do dome useless computations awk ' NR==1 { debut = $2 } { print $2-debut, $3 } ' \ < ${DATAFILE}