Quickly total and average a column of numbers in terminal

Use awk:

homa.py | awk '{x+=$6; n++} END { print x/n}'

Or paste the results into awk.

Although, since you already are running a python script, it would be better to just add code to the python script to calculate a running average and print it with each value.

1. Copy the column of numbers using rectangle

Hold down the Ctrl key and Left mouse button and drag the mouse to highlight the column of numbers:

NOTE: As soon as you highlight the rectangle it is copied to the clipboard.

2. Run the program n

Then type n + Enter.

Use the middle-mouse button to paste from the clipboard. Then press Enter to tally the results.

3. Install n on your system

The n program is a simple python script:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""
Author: pippim.com
License: GNU GPLv3. (c) 2024
Source: This repository
Description: n - Count, Total, Minimum, Maximum and Average set of numbers.
"""

from __future__ import print_function  # Must be first import
from __future__ import with_statement  # Error handling for file opens
import warnings  # 'warnings' advises which commands aren't supported

print("n - Count, Total, Minimum, Maximum and Average set of numbers.")
print("Paste or input values ('x' + <Enter> to finish):")

n = ""  # Number entered
nl = []  # Number list

while n != 'x':  # Loop until 'x' entered
    try:
        n = input()  # Python 3.x
    except (SyntaxError, NameError):
        n = raw_input()  # Python 2.7.12
    try:
        nl.append(float(n))
    except ValueError:
        break  # A letter was entered

print()
if len(nl) == 0:
    print("Nothing to do. Goodbye.")
    exit()

print("Cnt:", len(nl))
print("Tot:", sum(nl))
print("Min:", min(nl))
print("Max:", max(nl))
print("Avg:", sum(nl) / len(nl))

Copy the above python script to a file named n. The n file should be in your path. If not in your path you must call it with the directory prefix. For example you would have to type /home/me/stuff/n instead of just n.

You need to flag the n program as executable. For example chmod a+x /home/me/stuff/n.

4. Summary

n will take numbers copied not just from gnome-terminal but also from Libre Calc, pyCharm and many other programs that can copy to the system clipboard.

Having to add up or calculate the average for a set of numbers has been a PITA for a long time for me. So I whipped up this little script in just a few minutes. Writing this Q & A actually took longer :)

n should run on any Python version from 2.7.12 to 3.14 or in other words Ubuntu 16.04 through Ubuntu 24.10.

Other Answers

There are other great answers specifically tailored to the question but are not robust. For example another program displays output of WiFi speed from Linux to Android 13 phone:

The n python program still works without any tweaking of awk print positions. Additionally, for myself anyway, awk is frankly awkward to remember the syntax and arguments. Making a script and constantly revising it based on column position doesn't speed up the workflow.

A variation on WinEunuuchs2Unix's answer;

Another way would be:

1. Using Settings to tie a keyboard shortcut (in the example I used Ctrl+Alt+I) to the execution of a script in, say, ~/bin/crunch_numbers.sh;
2. Putting this in ~/bin/crunch_numbers.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

xclip -o |
    awk '
        NR==1 {
            min=$1
            max=$1
        }

        {
            tot+=$1
            $1<min && min=$1
            $1>max && max=$1
        }

        END {
            print "Cnt: "NR+0
            print "Tot: "tot+0
            print "Min: "min+0
            print "Max: "max+0
            print "Avg: "(NR ? tot/NR : 0)
        }
    ' |
    xargs -0 -I{} zenity --info --text={}

This way, the workflow would consist of just:

1. Copying the numbers using the trick shown in WinEunuuchs2Unix's answer;
2. Hitting Ctrl+Alt+I.

The output would be copy-pastable by selecting it / right-clicking it / clicking on "Copy", if needed.

An advantage to this method is that it doesn't require a terminal, which is useful when copying stuff from somewhere else (say Calc).

A disadvantage to this method is that I'm pretty sure WinEunuuchs2Unix's script is more accurate than my script. If floating-point precision is a concern, one should probably combine this method with their script instead.

An alternative using cut to select the sixth column and jq to calculate the average.

The one-liner below allows you to run the script, see the results as they come in, and calculate the average at the end.

python -u homa.py |tee >(trap '' INT; cut -d" " -f 6|jq -s "add / length")

• python -u is to get the output unbuffered when sending it to the pipe, so you can still see the output on stdout while it comes in
• |tee >(...) is to duplicate the output between stdout and the further processing in the pipe
• trap '' INT is to run the pipe when you press Ctrl-C (SIGINT) instead of also killing the pipe before it starts
• cut -d" " -f 6 is to split the lines into columns with space as delimiter and showing only the 6th column
• jq -s "add / length" adds all lines and divides by the number of lines

Python script used for testing:

import random
import time

while True:
   print(f"Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): {random.random()}")
   time.sleep(1)

Example run:

$ python -u homa.py |tee >(trap '' INT; cut -d" " -f 6|jq -s "add / length")
Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): 0.7142522735145004
Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): 0.15049477793122568
Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): 0.8481239436770016
Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): 0.9042829944578701
Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): 0.9699296479456453
Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): 0.3519810376313339
Creating instance rd = NetworkInfo(): 0.11973047167607598
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "homa.py", line 6, in <module>
    time.sleep(1)
0.5798278781190932
KeyboardInterrupt

Of course you can also copy the output with the mouse and use a simpler command to paste the clipboards content into the pipe:

xclip -o|cut -d" " -f 6|jq -s "add / length"