another trim question using tr

AlbertGM · #1 (**permalink**) 03-17-2009

Hi all,

I've been looking for how to eliminate blank spaces in a variable or strings. I've seen several ways, using sed, awk and even python. One of them is use 'tr' command, but it does not work as I expected: For example:

Code:

echo "     stuff      " | tr -s " "

leaves one space ahead and another behind. Why?
I also tried

Code:

echo "     stuff      " | tr -d " "

and it works successfully. However, all samples I've seen with "tr", use -s option (which I guess it means replace) rather than -d option.
I'd like to know why.

Thanks a lot.

Albert.

sunpraveen · #2 (**permalink**) 03-17-2009

Albert, u can use the below. Works on bash and ksh.

Code:

 
echo "     stuff      " | tr -d [:space:]

HTH,

Regards,

Praveen

AlbertGM · #3 (**permalink**) 03-17-2009

Thanks sunpraveen, although it is not exactly what I asked for

. However, it does help

!!!

Albert.

Goldorakk · #4 (**permalink**) 03-17-2009

-d Delete all occurrences of input characters that are specified
-s Replace instances of repeated characters with a single character

Delete vs replace by a single char.

Did you try "-ds" ?

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