How can I replace a newline with its escape sequence?

Using sed to make text that contains certain characters suitable for use in string literals is straightforward:

sed "s/\\/\\\\/g"

sed "s/\"/\\\"/g"

But how can I do something similar with a text file containing newline characters?

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

sed won't show you the new line character in the find portion, sed is old too, like a legacy program. You could use perl, it has equivalents to sed's find and replace.

– barlop
Jan 18 '18 at 4:08

add a comment |

Using sed to make text that contains certain characters suitable for use in string literals is straightforward:

sed "s/\\/\\\\/g"

sed "s/\"/\\\"/g"

But how can I do something similar with a text file containing newline characters?

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

sed won't show you the new line character in the find portion, sed is old too, like a legacy program. You could use perl, it has equivalents to sed's find and replace.

– barlop
Jan 18 '18 at 4:08

add a comment |

Using sed to make text that contains certain characters suitable for use in string literals is straightforward:

sed "s/\\/\\\\/g"

sed "s/\"/\\\"/g"

But how can I do something similar with a text file containing newline characters?

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

Using sed to make text that contains certain characters suitable for use in string literals is straightforward:

sed "s/\\/\\\\/g"

sed "s/\"/\\\"/g"

But how can I do something similar with a text file containing newline characters?

sed awk

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

asked Aug 12 '15 at 13:34

Melab

3371921

sed won't show you the new line character in the find portion, sed is old too, like a legacy program. You could use perl, it has equivalents to sed's find and replace.

– barlop
Jan 18 '18 at 4:08

add a comment |

sed won't show you the new line character in the find portion, sed is old too, like a legacy program. You could use perl, it has equivalents to sed's find and replace.

– barlop
Jan 18 '18 at 4:08

sed won't show you the new line character in the find portion, sed is old too, like a legacy program. You could use perl, it has equivalents to sed's find and replace.

– barlop
Jan 18 '18 at 4:08

add a comment |

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

Use:

sed ':a;N;$!ba;s/n/\n/g'

Which uses the answer from How can I replace a newline (n) using sed? substituting an escaped newline character as the replacement to match the question here.

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

add a comment |

sed is line based, and this can cause issues when trying to replace newline characters.

the official documentation for sed makes a specific reference to newline characters and states they are stripped off before being passed to sed.

I would suggest that 'tr' would probably be a better fit here.

as an example, to replace newline characters with spaces:

tr 'n' ' ' < inputfile

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

Won't [rn] be cleaner?

– theoden
Aug 12 '15 at 14:03

I guess that all depends on the source data and requirements. OP only referred to newline. I would recommend to try both and see which produces the best result. YMMV.

– David Moylan
Aug 12 '15 at 14:10

I tried using tr "n" "\n" before I posted this question and it just replaced the newline characters with backslashes. It seems to only turn a sequence into one character only.

– Melab
Aug 12 '15 at 20:12

@Melab correct. the 'tr' command will only do a single character replacement.

– David Moylan
Aug 15 '15 at 0:04

So then how does it help at all?

– Melab
Aug 17 '15 at 0:41

|
show 1 more comment

I'd like to extend David Moytan's solution:

cat /etc/passwd | perl -e 'while(<>) { $_ =~ s/[rn]/__NEWLINE__/g; print "$_" }'

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

add a comment |

I had this problem too.

You can use the a function to start every newline with the proper escape sequence, then pipe the resulting function into echo -n which suppresses newlines.

echo -n $(sed 'a

\n');

Stick whatever you're sed-ing in the parentheses before the sed command.

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

add a comment |

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4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

Use:

sed ':a;N;$!ba;s/n/\n/g'

Which uses the answer from How can I replace a newline (n) using sed? substituting an escaped newline character as the replacement to match the question here.

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

add a comment |

Use:

sed ':a;N;$!ba;s/n/\n/g'

Which uses the answer from How can I replace a newline (n) using sed? substituting an escaped newline character as the replacement to match the question here.

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

add a comment |

Use:

sed ':a;N;$!ba;s/n/\n/g'

Which uses the answer from How can I replace a newline (n) using sed? substituting an escaped newline character as the replacement to match the question here.

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

Use:

sed ':a;N;$!ba;s/n/\n/g'

Which uses the answer from How can I replace a newline (n) using sed? substituting an escaped newline character as the replacement to match the question here.

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

edited Feb 7 at 20:59

Mikey T.K.

2,17731941

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

answered Feb 19 '18 at 3:19

vossad01

1314

add a comment |

sed is line based, and this can cause issues when trying to replace newline characters.

the official documentation for sed makes a specific reference to newline characters and states they are stripped off before being passed to sed.

I would suggest that 'tr' would probably be a better fit here.

as an example, to replace newline characters with spaces:

tr 'n' ' ' < inputfile

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

Won't [rn] be cleaner?

– theoden
Aug 12 '15 at 14:03

I guess that all depends on the source data and requirements. OP only referred to newline. I would recommend to try both and see which produces the best result. YMMV.

– David Moylan
Aug 12 '15 at 14:10

I tried using tr "n" "\n" before I posted this question and it just replaced the newline characters with backslashes. It seems to only turn a sequence into one character only.

– Melab
Aug 12 '15 at 20:12

@Melab correct. the 'tr' command will only do a single character replacement.

– David Moylan
Aug 15 '15 at 0:04

So then how does it help at all?

– Melab
Aug 17 '15 at 0:41

|
show 1 more comment

sed is line based, and this can cause issues when trying to replace newline characters.

the official documentation for sed makes a specific reference to newline characters and states they are stripped off before being passed to sed.

I would suggest that 'tr' would probably be a better fit here.

as an example, to replace newline characters with spaces:

tr 'n' ' ' < inputfile

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

Won't [rn] be cleaner?

– theoden
Aug 12 '15 at 14:03

I guess that all depends on the source data and requirements. OP only referred to newline. I would recommend to try both and see which produces the best result. YMMV.

– David Moylan
Aug 12 '15 at 14:10

I tried using tr "n" "\n" before I posted this question and it just replaced the newline characters with backslashes. It seems to only turn a sequence into one character only.

– Melab
Aug 12 '15 at 20:12

@Melab correct. the 'tr' command will only do a single character replacement.

– David Moylan
Aug 15 '15 at 0:04

So then how does it help at all?

– Melab
Aug 17 '15 at 0:41

|
show 1 more comment

sed is line based, and this can cause issues when trying to replace newline characters.

the official documentation for sed makes a specific reference to newline characters and states they are stripped off before being passed to sed.

I would suggest that 'tr' would probably be a better fit here.

as an example, to replace newline characters with spaces:

tr 'n' ' ' < inputfile

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

sed is line based, and this can cause issues when trying to replace newline characters.

the official documentation for sed makes a specific reference to newline characters and states they are stripped off before being passed to sed.

I would suggest that 'tr' would probably be a better fit here.

as an example, to replace newline characters with spaces:

tr 'n' ' ' < inputfile

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:01

David Moylan

973

Won't [rn] be cleaner?

– theoden
Aug 12 '15 at 14:03

I guess that all depends on the source data and requirements. OP only referred to newline. I would recommend to try both and see which produces the best result. YMMV.

– David Moylan
Aug 12 '15 at 14:10

I tried using tr "n" "\n" before I posted this question and it just replaced the newline characters with backslashes. It seems to only turn a sequence into one character only.

– Melab
Aug 12 '15 at 20:12

@Melab correct. the 'tr' command will only do a single character replacement.

– David Moylan
Aug 15 '15 at 0:04

So then how does it help at all?

– Melab
Aug 17 '15 at 0:41

|
show 1 more comment

Won't [rn] be cleaner?

– theoden
Aug 12 '15 at 14:03

I guess that all depends on the source data and requirements. OP only referred to newline. I would recommend to try both and see which produces the best result. YMMV.

– David Moylan
Aug 12 '15 at 14:10

I tried using tr "n" "\n" before I posted this question and it just replaced the newline characters with backslashes. It seems to only turn a sequence into one character only.

– Melab
Aug 12 '15 at 20:12

@Melab correct. the 'tr' command will only do a single character replacement.

– David Moylan
Aug 15 '15 at 0:04

So then how does it help at all?

– Melab
Aug 17 '15 at 0:41

Won't [rn] be cleaner?

– theoden
Aug 12 '15 at 14:03

I guess that all depends on the source data and requirements. OP only referred to newline. I would recommend to try both and see which produces the best result. YMMV.

– David Moylan
Aug 12 '15 at 14:10

I tried using tr "n" "\n" before I posted this question and it just replaced the newline characters with backslashes. It seems to only turn a sequence into one character only.

– Melab
Aug 12 '15 at 20:12

@Melab correct. the 'tr' command will only do a single character replacement.

– David Moylan
Aug 15 '15 at 0:04

So then how does it help at all?

– Melab
Aug 17 '15 at 0:41

|
show 1 more comment

I'd like to extend David Moytan's solution:

cat /etc/passwd | perl -e 'while(<>) { $_ =~ s/[rn]/__NEWLINE__/g; print "$_" }'

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

add a comment |

I'd like to extend David Moytan's solution:

cat /etc/passwd | perl -e 'while(<>) { $_ =~ s/[rn]/__NEWLINE__/g; print "$_" }'

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

add a comment |

I'd like to extend David Moytan's solution:

cat /etc/passwd | perl -e 'while(<>) { $_ =~ s/[rn]/__NEWLINE__/g; print "$_" }'

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

I'd like to extend David Moytan's solution:

cat /etc/passwd | perl -e 'while(<>) { $_ =~ s/[rn]/__NEWLINE__/g; print "$_" }'

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

answered Aug 12 '15 at 14:11

theoden

529519

add a comment |

I had this problem too.

You can use the a function to start every newline with the proper escape sequence, then pipe the resulting function into echo -n which suppresses newlines.

echo -n $(sed 'a

\n');

Stick whatever you're sed-ing in the parentheses before the sed command.

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

add a comment |

I had this problem too.

You can use the a function to start every newline with the proper escape sequence, then pipe the resulting function into echo -n which suppresses newlines.

echo -n $(sed 'a

\n');

Stick whatever you're sed-ing in the parentheses before the sed command.

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

add a comment |

I had this problem too.

You can use the a function to start every newline with the proper escape sequence, then pipe the resulting function into echo -n which suppresses newlines.

echo -n $(sed 'a

\n');

Stick whatever you're sed-ing in the parentheses before the sed command.

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

I had this problem too.

You can use the a function to start every newline with the proper escape sequence, then pipe the resulting function into echo -n which suppresses newlines.

echo -n $(sed 'a

\n');

Stick whatever you're sed-ing in the parentheses before the sed command.

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

edited Jan 18 '18 at 1:31

RockPaperLizard

3,184133671

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

answered Jan 18 '18 at 1:10

Kaeden Wile

add a comment |

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