Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 07:53:19 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: Jacob Rhoden <f3z@iprimus.com.au> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: OT: using sed to insert \n at command line Message-ID: <20020618065319.GA68146@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophi> In-Reply-To: <5.1.1.6.0.20020618161418.020a7780@wheresmymailserver.com> References: <5.1.1.6.0.20020618161418.020a7780@wheresmymailserver.com>
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On Tue, Jun 18, 2002 at 04:16:18PM +1000, Jacob Rhoden wrote:
> I've done some searching online and I cant work out how to do this, and I
> was wondering if any of you guys do? This is what I am doing, and when I
> try to insert a \n it doesn't work either way:
>
> input | sed 's/a string/\n/g' | output
> input | sed 's/a string/\\n/g' | output
>
> what is the correct way from the command prompt? Thanks for any help . .
You have to insert a literal newline character into the sed expression
preceded by a backslash:
$ echo "bibble babble" | sed -e 's/ /\
> /g'
bibble
babble
Your ability to do this successfully will be a function of the shell
you're using. It works fine with /bin/sh, but /bin/tcsh is too clever
for it's own good and blows up.
If you need a command that will expand character escapes in the target
of a substitution command try:
% echo "bibble babble" | perl -p -e 's/ /\n/g;'
bibble
babble
Cheers
Matthew
--
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks
Savill Way
Tel: +44 1628 476614 Marlow
Fax: +44 0870 0522645 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK
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