"tr -s '\n' ' ' < $file" giving different output when running standalone and in shell script

Asked Jun 13 '16 at 13:16

Active Jun 13 '16 at 13:16

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I am creating a shell script where I am using tr command to remove new line character and then use grep command to find dialog tag something like this

_linesContainingDialog="$(tr -s '\n' ' ' < $file | grep -oP '(?<=<af:dialog).*?(?= </af:dialog>)')"

When running this line alone in terminal

tr -s '\n' ' ' < $file | grep -oP '(?<=<af:dialog).*?(?= </af:dialog>)'

It gives me 7 distinct line

But when I run this in shell script and echo _linesContainingDialog, it gives me only one line. It seems, all 7 lines are jumbled up into one line when I run in shell script.

Request you to let me know what can I do different to get 7 distinct lines in shell script

asked Jun 13 '16 at 13:16

Dipen Adroja

3

You have to quote the parameter as in `echo "$_linesContainingDialog`". – Benjamin W. Jun 13 '16 at 13:28
Moreover you can avoid using `tr` by using `-z` option in `grep` – anubhava Jun 13 '16 at 13:37
@anubhava Doesn't `grep -z` expect lines to be terminated by NUL `\0` – Andreas Louv Jun 13 '16 at 13:38
`-z` treats the input as a set of lines – anubhava Jun 13 '16 at 13:44

"tr -s '\n' ' ' < $file" giving different output when running standalone and in shell script

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