replace string in XML with sed

chiru_h · #1 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008

Greetings,
I have an XML : file.xml

Code:

<component>
       <name>abcd</name>
       <value>1234</value>
</component>

I am using sed to replace abcd with the desired value dynamically without knowing the actual value.

Code:

sed 's/<name>[-[:alnum:]./]\{1,\}<\/name>/<name>ijkl<\/name>/' file.xml > newfile.xml

I don't have any issues with this command in Linux but on Solaris machine, I am getting the error:

Quote:

sed: command garbled: /<name>[-[:alnum:]./]\{1,\}<\/name>/<name>ijkl<\/name>/

If I remove >[-[:alnum:]./]\{1,\} and put the actual value, it is fine. But I have do it dynamically as I use it within the script to replace the existing value with the given value.

Can somebody please advise.

Thanks,
Chiru

reborg · #2 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008

I am surprised it works anywhere, the command is garbled in at least one way. There are 4 / characters in your expression.

I'm not at a solaris box right now, but I'm pretty sure Solaris sed does not support [::] format expressions, so you would get more change from something like:

Code:

sed 's#<name>\([^<][^<]*\)</name>#<name>SOMETHING</name>#' file.xml

Franklin52 · #3 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008

If you replace the whole line this should be suffice:

Code:

sed 's#<name>.*#<name>SOMETHING</name>#' file.xml

Regards

ghostdog74 · #4 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008

you should use a tool specifically for parsing XML, not sed. (although it still can be done)

chiru_h · #5 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008

Thanks Reborg/Franklin..both of them work, but am using Reborg's as the other one is changing in some other places where I don't need.

What will be the easiest way of XML parsing - in the sense that I can use as part of the shell script I have which does several other tasks as well.

Thanks,
Chiru

era · #6 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008

The least painful way depends on your other requirements. If the file is simple then simple line-oriented shell utilities you are familiar with should usually suffice. If you need to do anything which requires any real understanding of XML structures (nesting, sibling and similar relationships, conditionals etc) then it probably makes sense to get at least some introductory familiarity to some proper XML tool. There are several formalisms to choose from and many tools which implement them; personally, I've been able to get things done with xsltproc after the first shock of trying to understand what got into the heads of the people who came up with the specifications for this.

fpmurphy · #7 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008

The best way of handling this type of problem is using XSLT and a stylesheet.

Here is a stylesheet (file.xsl) which will do what you want:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

<xsl:param name="NAME"/>

<xsl:template match="name">
    <name><xsl:value-of select="$NAME"/></name>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="*|text()|@*">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/>
        <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Assuming for the purpose of this example that you want to change "abcd" to "Finnbarr" and that you have xsltproc installed on your system, here is how you would do the transformation together with the resulting output:

Code:

$ xsltproc -param NAME "'Finnbarr'" file.xsl file.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<component>
       <name>Finnbarr</name>
       <value>1234</value>
</component>
$

Note the double and single quotes around the vale of the NAME parameter. These are required.

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Search, replace string in file1 with string from (lookup table) file2?	gstuart	Shell Programming and Scripting	9	06-08-2009 06:11 AM
replace string	sam99	Shell Programming and Scripting	4	03-04-2008 01:39 AM
SED Replace String Help	prash184u	Shell Programming and Scripting	2	01-23-2008 01:57 AM
replace a string	melanie_pfefer	Shell Programming and Scripting	11	01-17-2008 10:57 AM
Replace string B depending on occurence of string A	hemangjani	Shell Programming and Scripting	1	12-05-2006 05:10 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