Sliding window problem

[LovecraftHP]

Let me first give an example of what I would like to do:

I have an input file consisting of a number of records, each record consisting of 2 fields eg

list lIst
screen skri.n

I want to be able to shift the focus letter of the first field, along with its context (eg 3 letters to the right, 3 letters to the left), as the letters of the second word are processed. Kind of like a window sliding over the word. So the output in this case would be

-,-,-,l,i,s,t,l
-,-,l,i,s,t,-,I
-,l,i,s,t,-,-,s
l,i,s,t,-,-,-,t
-,-,-,s,c,r,e,s
-,-,s,c,r,e,e,k
-,s,c,r,e,e,n,r
s,c,r,e,e,n,-,i
c,r,e,e,n,-,-,.
r,e,e,n,-,-,-,n

My main problem is that I can't seem to shift the focus as the second field is processed. I don't know how to make the window "slide".

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

[CaKiwi]

I'm not sure if I understand the exact criteria you want but this awk program produces the output you posted.

{
a = "---" $1 "---"
k = length($2)
for (j1=1;j1<=k;j1++) {
for (j2=j1;j2<=j1+6;j2++) printf substr(a,j2,1) &quot;,&quot;
print substr($2,j1,1)
}
}
CaKiwi

&quot;I love mankind, it's people I can't stand&quot; - Linus Van Pelt