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Insert a hyphen between two delimiters using sed

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# 1  
Old 06-20-2016
Insert a hyphen between two delimiters using sed
Hey guys,

I have a file that is delimited by | and I am trying to write a sed command to
convert this:

Code:
abc|def||ghi|jkl||||mnop

into this:

Code:
abc|def|-|ghi|jkl|-|-|-|mnop


The output I am getting out of:

Code:
sed -e "s/[|]+/[|-|]/g" /tmp/opt.del > /tmp/opt2.del

is like:

Code:
abc|def|-|ghi|jkl|-|(ignoring this one)|-|mnop




Moderator's Comments:
Mod Comment Please use code tags as required by forum rules!
Last edited by RudiC; 06-20-2016 at 09:14 AM.. Reason: Added code tags.
# 2  
Old 06-20-2016
That's not what I get from your command; must be special with your sed version. For your problem, try
Code:
sed -e ":L; s/||/|-|/g;tL" file
abc|def|-|ghi|jkl|-|-|-|mnop

# 3  
Old 06-20-2016
I am getting something like this with your command

Code:
"The label :L; s/||/|-|/g;tL is greater than eight characters."

Moderator's Comments:
Mod Comment PLEASE use code tags as required by forum rules!


May be our seds are of different versions.
Last edited by RudiC; 06-20-2016 at 09:58 AM.. Reason: Added code tags (again!).
# 4  
Old 06-20-2016
Please, try:
Code:
perl -pe 's/\|(?=\|)/\|-/g' file

This User Gave Thanks to Aia For This Post:
prohank
# 5  
Old 06-21-2016
Thanks @Aia that did exactly what I wanted.

Got to do some studying on perl. Can this be achieved using sed or awk?

@RudiC Will take care next time. Thanks for your inputs too.
# 6  
Old 06-21-2016
Many Unix sed have parser bugs with semicolon.
I recommend multi-line
Code:
sed '
:L
s/||/|-|/g
tL
' file

Or at least multi -e (less readable, but a must with t/csh that is not multi-line capable)
Code:
sed -e ':L' -e 's/||/|-|/g;tL' file

This User Gave Thanks to MadeInGermany For This Post:
prohank
# 7  
Old 06-21-2016
This should work:
Code:
awk 'BEGIN{FS=OFS="|"}{for(i=1;i<=NF;i++)if($i=="")$i="-"}1' /tmp/opt.del > /tmp/opt2.del

If you are trying this on a Solaris/SunOS system, change awk to /usr/xpg4/bin/awk or nawk.
This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
prohank
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