SED command gives unknown option to `s' error

Question

I have a file like this:

1 = zara
2 = gucci

I want to write a bash script which read two variables and decides to change the number in one of lines to a new number. I have this script for this purpose:

pattern="$num[[:space:]]=[[:space:]].*"
sed -ie 's,'"$pattern"','"$num"',\ =\ '"$newBrandName"',' $fileLocation

Variables num, newBrandName and fileLocation have the right value; I have checked this by echo command.

But when I run the script, I get this error:

sed: -e expression #1, char 52: unknown option to `s'

The output of echo on the SED command is this:

sed -ie s,1[[:space:]]=[[:space:]].*,1\ =\ sign, /root/info.info

Can anyone help me with the regex?

@tripleee, I didn't find anything related to my question from the your suggested link. — Zeinab Abbasimazar, Aug 10 '14 at 08:52
@NoDataFound, could you please explain me how to get the echo of the sed command? — Zeinab Abbasimazar, Aug 10 '14 at 08:52
Huh? You already have two separate replies explaining the issue. — tripleee, Aug 10 '14 at 09:26
Just put "echo" before the command. That's what I do to get the pattern. — NoDataFound, Aug 10 '14 at 14:01

konsolebox · Answer 1 · 2014-08-10T07:52:44.523

1

The form of s is s/regexp/replacement/. You can't have multiple expressions on it. Try this instead:

sed -i -e '/^${num}[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*/s|.*|$num = $newBrandName|" "$fileLocation"

It would find the line matching ^${num}[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]* and replace everything on it with $num = $newBrandName.

You also should separate -i and -e so e would not be interpreted as the backup suffix for -i.

edited Aug 10 '14 at 07:52

answered Aug 10 '14 at 07:47

konsolebox

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it gives me this: `sed: -e expression #1, char 62: unknown option to `s' ` – Zeinab Abbasimazar Aug 10 '14 at 09:01
@ZeinabAbbasi What was the command you used? – konsolebox Aug 10 '14 at 14:02
I used this: `sed -i -e '/^${num}[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*/s|.*|$num = $newBrandName|" "$fileLocation"'` – Zeinab Abbasimazar Aug 11 '14 at 05:11

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 10 '14 at 07:49

0

If think it's because you have an extraneous , left :

pattern="$num[[:space:]]=[[:space:]].*"
sed -ie 's,'"$pattern"','"$num"',\ =\ '"$newBrandName"',' $fileLocation
--------------------------------^

You might consider escaping it, or use another character like @.

answered Aug 10 '14 at 07:49

NoDataFound

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Thank you; removing the character solved the problem. – Zeinab Abbasimazar Aug 10 '14 at 09:26

SED command gives unknown option to `s' error

2 Answers2