Add string after another string with special characters

heliode · #1 (**permalink**) 03-21-2008

Hello everyone,

I'm writing a script to add a string to an XML file, right after a specified string that only occurs once in the file. For testing purposes I created a file 'testfile' that looks like this:

Code:

And this is the script as far as I've managed:

Code:

XMLSTRING="<thema xmlns=\"x-schema:df.ase\" uid=\"asd_F\" displayname=\"Jdddf 1\" asd_jg_id=\"6\" asd_jg_id_an=\"F\"/>"

awk '{ if ( $0 ~ /4/ ) {
        printf( "%s\n%s\n", $0, "'"$XMLSTRING"'" );
     }else{
        print $0;
     }
}' testfile

In this case, what I want it to to is to find '4' (will be a string in an XML file later) and to insert the value of $XMLSTRING on the line underneath. This all works fine when $XMLSTRING has a value without any strange characters, but in this case I get an error:

Code:

awk: cmd. line:2: 	 	printf( "%s\n%s\n", $0, "<thema xmlns=\"x-schema:df.ase\" uid=\"asd_F\" displayname=\"Jdddf 1\" asd_jg_id=\"6\" asd_jg_id_an=\"F\"/>" );
awk: cmd. line:2: 	 	                                                ^ syntax error

In case the formatting mangles this, the syntax error points to the first ':' in the inserted string.

My question is; in what way can I handle this so that it does print the string correctly? What I'm looking for in this case, is this:

Code:

1
2
3
4
<thema xmlns="x-schema:df.ase" uid="asd_F" displayname="Jdddf 1" asd_jg_id="6" asd_jg_id_an="F"/>
5
6
7
7
8
9

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Franklin52 · #2 (**permalink**) 03-21-2008

Place the xml string within single quotes and use an awk variable.
This should work:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

XMLSTRING='<thema xmlns=\"x-schema:df.ase\" uid=\"asd_F\" displayname=\"Jdddf 1\" asd_jg_id=\"6\" asd_jg_id_an=\"F\"/>'

awk -v var="$XMLSTRING" '
  {if ( $0 ~ /4/ ) {
    printf( "%s\n%s\n", $0, var )
  }
  else {
    print $0
  }
}' testfile

Regards

heliode · #3 (**permalink**) 03-21-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franklin52

Place the xml string within single quotes and use an awk variable.
This should work:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

XMLSTRING='<thema xmlns=\"x-schema:df.ase\" uid=\"asd_F\" displayname=\"Jdddf 1\" asd_jg_id=\"6\" asd_jg_id_an=\"F\"/>'

awk -v var="$XMLSTRING" '
  {if ( $0 ~ /4/ ) {
    printf( "%s\n%s\n", $0, var )
  }
  else {
    print $0
  }
}' testfile

Regards

Wow, that worked, thanks! I didn't know you could pass variables to awk like that, this is great!

Thanks again!

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
How to change only the x first characters of a string?	Juha	Shell Programming and Scripting	2	09-28-2007 08:17 AM
Removing characters from a string	mh53j_fe	Shell Programming and Scripting	3	06-03-2005 12:35 PM
Need help to extract a string delimited by any special character	kumariak	Shell Programming and Scripting	24	06-03-2005 09:20 AM
replacing string with special character ???	imppayel	Shell Programming and Scripting	4	12-08-2004 05:07 AM
removing characters from end of string	el_toro	Shell Programming and Scripting	4	07-14-2002 08:02 PM

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:


	Powered by