How to use the a and i command in Gnu sed to add a newline character using n?












2















In below example, I can use the literal newline characters to add an empty line before and after 3. Is it possible to use n instead? I'm using Gnu sed 4.5.



root@u1804:~# seq 5 | sed -r -e '/3/{i
> ' -e 'a
> ' -e '}'
1
2

3

4
5
root@u1804:~#









share|improve this question























  • Haha, sorry to bother you again. I'm learning sed right now and I just want to make the command a little bit cleaner. If I can use n instead of a literal newline, I can write the command in a single line, which will make it easy to type and read.

    – Ogrish Man
    Jan 6 at 23:38
















2















In below example, I can use the literal newline characters to add an empty line before and after 3. Is it possible to use n instead? I'm using Gnu sed 4.5.



root@u1804:~# seq 5 | sed -r -e '/3/{i
> ' -e 'a
> ' -e '}'
1
2

3

4
5
root@u1804:~#









share|improve this question























  • Haha, sorry to bother you again. I'm learning sed right now and I just want to make the command a little bit cleaner. If I can use n instead of a literal newline, I can write the command in a single line, which will make it easy to type and read.

    – Ogrish Man
    Jan 6 at 23:38














2












2








2








In below example, I can use the literal newline characters to add an empty line before and after 3. Is it possible to use n instead? I'm using Gnu sed 4.5.



root@u1804:~# seq 5 | sed -r -e '/3/{i
> ' -e 'a
> ' -e '}'
1
2

3

4
5
root@u1804:~#









share|improve this question














In below example, I can use the literal newline characters to add an empty line before and after 3. Is it possible to use n instead? I'm using Gnu sed 4.5.



root@u1804:~# seq 5 | sed -r -e '/3/{i
> ' -e 'a
> ' -e '}'
1
2

3

4
5
root@u1804:~#






sed






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Jan 6 at 23:34









Ogrish ManOgrish Man

5771416




5771416













  • Haha, sorry to bother you again. I'm learning sed right now and I just want to make the command a little bit cleaner. If I can use n instead of a literal newline, I can write the command in a single line, which will make it easy to type and read.

    – Ogrish Man
    Jan 6 at 23:38



















  • Haha, sorry to bother you again. I'm learning sed right now and I just want to make the command a little bit cleaner. If I can use n instead of a literal newline, I can write the command in a single line, which will make it easy to type and read.

    – Ogrish Man
    Jan 6 at 23:38

















Haha, sorry to bother you again. I'm learning sed right now and I just want to make the command a little bit cleaner. If I can use n instead of a literal newline, I can write the command in a single line, which will make it easy to type and read.

– Ogrish Man
Jan 6 at 23:38





Haha, sorry to bother you again. I'm learning sed right now and I just want to make the command a little bit cleaner. If I can use n instead of a literal newline, I can write the command in a single line, which will make it easy to type and read.

– Ogrish Man
Jan 6 at 23:38










1 Answer
1






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oldest

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5














If you use n it will work but you'll end up with two newlines before and after as the commands i and a already add a newline before and respectively after the pattern space is printed so



seq 5 | sed  -e '3i\n' -e '3a\n'


prints



1
2


3


4
5


If, for some reason, you want it in one-line you can use multiple -expressions:



seq 5 | sed  -e '3{i' -e '' -e 'a' -e '' -e '}'


though in this case it's easier/shorter to just use the hold space:



 seq 5 | sed  '3{G;H;x;}'





share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    ... or (with GNU sed) {G;H;z;x;} if you need the hold space to be returned to its initial - empty - state after

    – steeldriver
    Jan 7 at 0:49











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1 Answer
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active

oldest

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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

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active

oldest

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active

oldest

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5














If you use n it will work but you'll end up with two newlines before and after as the commands i and a already add a newline before and respectively after the pattern space is printed so



seq 5 | sed  -e '3i\n' -e '3a\n'


prints



1
2


3


4
5


If, for some reason, you want it in one-line you can use multiple -expressions:



seq 5 | sed  -e '3{i' -e '' -e 'a' -e '' -e '}'


though in this case it's easier/shorter to just use the hold space:



 seq 5 | sed  '3{G;H;x;}'





share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    ... or (with GNU sed) {G;H;z;x;} if you need the hold space to be returned to its initial - empty - state after

    – steeldriver
    Jan 7 at 0:49
















5














If you use n it will work but you'll end up with two newlines before and after as the commands i and a already add a newline before and respectively after the pattern space is printed so



seq 5 | sed  -e '3i\n' -e '3a\n'


prints



1
2


3


4
5


If, for some reason, you want it in one-line you can use multiple -expressions:



seq 5 | sed  -e '3{i' -e '' -e 'a' -e '' -e '}'


though in this case it's easier/shorter to just use the hold space:



 seq 5 | sed  '3{G;H;x;}'





share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    ... or (with GNU sed) {G;H;z;x;} if you need the hold space to be returned to its initial - empty - state after

    – steeldriver
    Jan 7 at 0:49














5












5








5







If you use n it will work but you'll end up with two newlines before and after as the commands i and a already add a newline before and respectively after the pattern space is printed so



seq 5 | sed  -e '3i\n' -e '3a\n'


prints



1
2


3


4
5


If, for some reason, you want it in one-line you can use multiple -expressions:



seq 5 | sed  -e '3{i' -e '' -e 'a' -e '' -e '}'


though in this case it's easier/shorter to just use the hold space:



 seq 5 | sed  '3{G;H;x;}'





share|improve this answer













If you use n it will work but you'll end up with two newlines before and after as the commands i and a already add a newline before and respectively after the pattern space is printed so



seq 5 | sed  -e '3i\n' -e '3a\n'


prints



1
2


3


4
5


If, for some reason, you want it in one-line you can use multiple -expressions:



seq 5 | sed  -e '3{i' -e '' -e 'a' -e '' -e '}'


though in this case it's easier/shorter to just use the hold space:



 seq 5 | sed  '3{G;H;x;}'






share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Jan 6 at 23:53









don_crisstidon_crissti

51.7k15141168




51.7k15141168








  • 1





    ... or (with GNU sed) {G;H;z;x;} if you need the hold space to be returned to its initial - empty - state after

    – steeldriver
    Jan 7 at 0:49














  • 1





    ... or (with GNU sed) {G;H;z;x;} if you need the hold space to be returned to its initial - empty - state after

    – steeldriver
    Jan 7 at 0:49








1




1





... or (with GNU sed) {G;H;z;x;} if you need the hold space to be returned to its initial - empty - state after

– steeldriver
Jan 7 at 0:49





... or (with GNU sed) {G;H;z;x;} if you need the hold space to be returned to its initial - empty - state after

– steeldriver
Jan 7 at 0:49


















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