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Adding text from a variable using sed (Or awk) with punctuation

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# 1  
Old 04-17-2017
Adding text from a variable using sed (Or awk) with punctuation
Hi All,

I would have though this would have been simple, but...

I have text in a variable that I need to insert into a bunch of other files... The text is simple:

Code:
text='-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
This content is or could contain personal information. Please ensure that you are authorized to see this data! BLA BLA BLA!!!
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+'

Then , I do a simple:

Code:
sed "/##body/a $text" account_request_WHATEVER.vm

This searches for the ##body tag in the file and adds the variable text right after it... or so I thought...

Code:
sed: -e expression #1, char 475: unknown command: `-'

For some reason, its reading the first dash (-) in the text file EVEN THOUGH I have used single "Ticks" around them.

awk does something similar:

Code:
awk: /##body/{print;print "-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
awk:                      ^ unterminated string

Any ideas!

Thanks!
Joe
# 2  
Old 04-17-2017
Try escaping the <new line> chars when assigning the text variable:

Code:
text='-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+\
This content is or could contain personal information.\
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+'

Please be aware that some sed versions NEED a \<new line> combination after the a command.

The awk doesn't do "something similar" - it's just seeing an unterminated string in your post.
This User Gave Thanks to RudiC For This Post:
joeg1484
# 3  
Old 04-17-2017
Quote:
Originally Posted by RudiC
Try escaping the <new line> chars when assigning the text variable:

Code:
text='-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+\
This content is or could contain personal information.\
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+'

Please be aware that some sed versions NEED a \<new line> combination after the a command.

The awk doesn't do "something similar" - it's just seeing an unterminated string in your post.

Hi RudiC,

This works GREAT! However, it also removes all the lines after adding the new lines...

I need to keep the lines that exist after inserting the text... For example, ther are ##endbody and some other formatting commands afterwards.

Thanks again!

---------- Post updated at 10:20 AM ---------- Previous update was at 10:09 AM ----------

There another issue that I solved using this:

Code:
sed "0,/##body/s//##body\n$text/"

there were multiple ##body tags LOL... So, I search and replaced the first option.

Thanks again for the help on this!
Joe
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