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A script generates log files with tens of kilolines, and most lines are very long. It would be great to make this log human-friendly with a few edits.

At run time, there are helpful environment variables. Say, ${X} corresponds to /usr/projects/draco/vendors/spack.tt.developmental/spack.tt.2017-12-06.with-flags/opt/spack/cray-CNL-haswell/intel-17.0.4/gsl-2.4-zagfxq3p5iorh7viw4gc24bwzlx2tyk7

My goal is to use the environment variables to find lines like

Leaving directory /usr/projects/draco/vendors/spack.tt.developmental/spack.tt.2017-12-06.with-flags/opt/spack/cray-CNL-haswell/intel-17.0.4/gsl-2.4-zagfxq3p5iorh7viw4gc24bwzlx2tyk7

and supplant them with a convenient placeholder, here gsl-install

Leaving directory gsl-install

My efforts include an unsuccessful syntax like this

sed -i -e 's/${X}/gsl-install/g' tedious.log

How can I provide sed an environment variable and have corresponding strings replaced?

$ uname -a
Darwin ***.***.*** 16.7.0 Darwin Kernel Version 16.7.0: Thu Jun 15 17:36:27 PDT 2017; root:xnu-3789.70.16~2/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64
dantopa
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  • Where did that `gsl-install` come from? I don't see it in the origin string. – igal Dec 07 '17 at 00:42
  • Not sure where you are getting `gsl-install` from, but you could quickly convert it to `Leaving directory gsl-2.4-zagfxq3p5iorh7viw4gc24bwzlx2tyk7` – Tigger Dec 07 '17 at 00:42
  • @Tigger: Great observation. There is an issue left out of the problem statement that precludes using your insight. I want to get rid off the darn hashes to allow me to use `diff` across these log files. – dantopa Dec 07 '17 at 00:54

2 Answers2

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You have two problems

  • your environment variable contains '/' characters
  • you are containing your sed argument in single quotes so ${X} is passed unsubstituted

You can use any character as a sed command delimiter. Choose something not likely to be in your search string. And use double quotes around your sed command..
For example:

sed -i -e "s;${X};gsl-install;g" tedious.log
PiedPiper
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To use bash variables in a sed script, you need to break out of single quote, add the variable inside double quotes and go back into the single quote for sed.

Example below:

DAY1=$(date -d "+1days" +%m%d%Y)
DAY2=$(date -d "+2days" +%m%d%Y)
DAY3=$(date -d "+3days" +%m%d%Y)
sed -n -E -e '/\s\s\s*'"($DAY1|$DAY2|$DAY3)"'/p' $file
#or
sed -n -E -e ';\s\s\s*'"($DAY1|$DAY2|$DAY3)"';p' $file
thebtm
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    . . . but see [What characters do I need to escape when using sed in a sh script?](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/33005/65304) - especially since the variable in the OP's case includes forward slash path delimiters – steeldriver Dec 07 '17 at 00:51
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    I was trying to point the in the right direction. – thebtm Dec 07 '17 at 00:55
  • @steeldriver: Yes. Those forward slash delimiters are the crux of the problem. The post is basically: use an environment variable for a path to edit a log file. – dantopa Dec 07 '17 at 00:56
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    @thebtm: Good post. It adds to my knowledge. Yet it is a solution for a slightly different problem. – dantopa Dec 07 '17 at 00:57