Replace two characters using one sed command

Question

I'm trying to remove the = and ] characters using one sed command:

# echo "A=[A]" | sed s'/[=\]]/ /g' A=[A]

Something is wrong with this syntax?

I Expect the following results from sed

# echo "A=[A]" | ....sed A [A

Should that expected result have one space in it or two or none? Because it currently has one, and those other options require slightly different solutions. — Ladadadada
– Ladadadada, Commented Feb 21, 2013 at 10:32
If you want the result to replace every occurrence of "[" and "A" with a space, I'd use tr. One of those "using the wrong tool (i.e, overly complex) for the job" situations. — Belmin Fernandez
– Belmin Fernandez, Commented Feb 27, 2013 at 0:59

Dom · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-21 10:22:00Z

6

echo "A=[A]" | sed s'/[]=]/ /g'

A [A

answered Feb 21, 2013 at 10:22

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Jake Stubbs · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-21 10:23:00Z

You can use the '-e' flag to execute multiple substitutes, for example:

# echo "A = [A]" | sed -e 's/=//' -e 's/]//' A [A

It might be possible to match both '=' and ']' in a single substitute but even if it is, I don't think it'll provide much benefit over using '-e'.

user9517 · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-21 10:39:13Z

It's probably easier to use tr to do something like this as it doesn't involve messing with REs

echo "A=[A]<-" | tr "]=" " " A [A <-

3 Answers 3