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Replace every second instance of delimeter

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# 1  
Old 02-29-2016
Replace every second instance of delimeter
Hi,

Need help on replacing every second instance of delimeter.

Scenario:
Code:
var="Name1,Value1,Name2,Value2,Name3,Value3,Name4,Value"

I want every second "," to replace with "|"

I tried like below
Code:
echo $var| sed 's/,/|/2'

But, it's not working.

Expected output:

Code:
"Name1,Value1|Name2,Value2|Name3,Value3|Name4,Value"

TIA
# 2  
Old 02-29-2016
How about
Code:
echo $var| sed 's/,\([^,]*\),/,\1|/g'
Name1,Value1|Name2,Value2|Name3,Value3|Name4,Value

This User Gave Thanks to RudiC For This Post:
Sumanthsv
# 3  
Old 02-29-2016
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sumanthsv
Hi,

Need help on replacing every second instance of delimeter.
Scenario:
Code:
var="Name1,Value1,Name2,Value2,Name3,Value3,Name4,Value"

I want every second "," to replace with "|"
I tried like below
Code:
echo $var| sed 's/,/|/2'

But, it's not working.
Expected output:
Code:
"Name1,Value1|Name2,Value2|Name3,Value3|Name4,Value"

TIA
Hello Sumanthsv,

Following may help you in same.
Code:
awk -F, '{for(i=1;i<=NF;i++){OFS=i%2==0?",":"|";Q=Q?Q OFS $i:$i};print Q;Q=""}'  Input_file

Output will be as follows.
Code:
var="Name1,Value1|Name2,Value2|Name3,Value3|Name4,Value"

If you doesn't want to read from Input_file then use following command.
Code:
echo $var | awk -F, '{for(i=1;i<=NF;i++){OFS=i%2==0?",":"|";Q=Q?Q OFS $i:$i};print Q;Q=""}'

Where variable named var has same value which you have posted into your post.

Thanks,
R. Singh
Last edited by RavinderSingh13; 03-01-2016 at 01:04 AM.. Reason: Removed a spelling typo.
This User Gave Thanks to RavinderSingh13 For This Post:
Sumanthsv
# 4  
Old 02-29-2016
Here are two other ways to do what you seem to want; one with sed and one just using shell built-ins. (Note that in this suggested code the string assigned to var starts with a <tab> followed by a <space> and ends with a <space> followed by a <tab> and all of the spaces and tabs are preserved in the output):
Code:
#!/bin/ksh
var='	 Name 1,Value 1,"Name 2",Value 2,Name 3 , Value 3 	'
printf '%s\n' "$var"|sed 's/\([^,]*,[^,]*\),/\1|/g'

(	IFS=","
	set -- $var
	while [ $# -gt 2 ]
	do	printf '%s,%s|' "$1" "$2"
		shift 2
	done
	[ $# -eq 0 ] && echo ''
	[ $# -eq 1 ] && printf '%s\n' "$1"
	[ $# -eq 2 ] && printf '%s,%s\n' "$1" "$2"
)

The above script produces the output:
Code:
	 Name 1,Value 1|"Name 2",Value 2|Name 3 , Value 3 	
	 Name 1,Value 1|"Name 2",Value 2|Name 3 , Value 3

(unfortunately, the CODE tags seem to be stripping off the trailing <space> and <tab> characters on the last line). So too verify that the spaces and tabs were preserved, when that script's output is piped through od -bc, the output is:
Code:
0000000   011 040 116 141 155 145 040 061 054 126 141 154 165 145 040 061
          \t       N   a   m   e       1   ,   V   a   l   u   e       1
0000020   174 042 116 141 155 145 040 062 042 054 126 141 154 165 145 040
           |   "   N   a   m   e       2   "   ,   V   a   l   u   e    
0000040   062 174 116 141 155 145 040 063 040 054 040 126 141 154 165 145
           2   |   N   a   m   e       3       ,       V   a   l   u   e
0000060   040 063 040 011 012 011 040 116 141 155 145 040 061 054 126 141
               3      \t  \n  \t       N   a   m   e       1   ,   V   a
0000100   154 165 145 040 061 174 042 116 141 155 145 040 062 042 054 126
           l   u   e       1   |   "   N   a   m   e       2   "   ,   V
0000120   141 154 165 145 040 062 174 116 141 155 145 040 063 040 054 040
           a   l   u   e       2   |   N   a   m   e       3       ,    
0000140   126 141 154 165 145 040 063 040 011 012                        
           V   a   l   u   e       3      \t  \n                        
0000152

This was tested using a Korn shell, but should work with any POSIX-conforming shell.

Note that using printf '%s\n' "$var" instead of echo $var protects you in cases where the expansion of $var contains any <tab> characters; adjacent <space> characters; and depending on what operating system and shell you're using, any backslash characters (\) that could yield unexpected transformations.
This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
Sumanthsv
# 5  
Old 03-01-2016
Thanks a lot...Its working fine.
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