Hello all, the title makes this sound simple, and maybe it should be.

This is by code:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
cp ch25.txt ch25.fn.tex
n=`grep -c '^\[' ch25_footnotes.txt`

for i in {1..$n}
do
        `grep '^\[$i\]' ch25_footnotes.txt > temp`
        r=`awk -F] '{print $2}' temp`
        `sed 's/\[$i\]/\\footnote{$r}/' ch25.fn.tex`
done

This is what I am trying to do. I have a file like this:
That contains a body of text with footnotes markers, that are of exactly that format [i]. Square brackets are not used otherwise in the text... at least no patters of the form [integer] exist except for footnote markers.

I have a another file of the footnote text, like this
What that code I wrote is attempting to do is:
I am not all that great with scripting, but this is my thought process and what I have tried. Right now... nothing happens. I execute the script, and it just hangs, and I have to break the script.

In case you are wondering, I am just trying to typeset Marx's Das Kapital for posterity and easier reading. I do not plan on printing or distributing... just taking a freely available reading material and making it pretty.

Thank you!