Awk: filter files based on maximum in column group

Question

I'm trying to filter (or move) folders based on a maximum value in each group in Linux...

For Example: List of filenames in a folder and I'd like to move the one with the greatest Value by Code after sorting by SN,Code,Date

SN-Code-Date-Value  
01-2L-20200417-153542  
01-2L-20200417-155640  --> move to folder  
01-43-20200511-192316  
01-43-20200521-165949  
01-43-20200521-185815  --> move to folder  

Thanks!

Answer 1

sort by keys and timestamp and pick the first record by awk , which will be the first since timestamp sorting in reverse order.

$ sort -t- -k1,2 -k3,4r file | awk -F- '!a[$1,$2]++'

note that this is comparing dates as well, if you want date to be part of the key, add $3 to lookup key as well in the script.