CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxsedand-operator
user8812634
user8812634

Reputation: 15

Fix formatting of && operator with sed

I am trying to write a sed command that adds one space to either side of the && (AND) operator. This is what I have so far:

sed -E 's+(\&\&)|(\s*\&\&\s*)+ & +g test.c

The first condition of no spaces around the && works, so 

if(numberIn==0&&char=='g')

becomes

if(numberIn==0 && char=='g')

But the second condition of 1 or more spaces doesn't work. So this

if(numberIn==0  &&   char=='g')

doesn't change.

The pattern of \s*OPERATOR\s* worked with other binary operators so I'm not sure why it's not working on the and operator. Am I missing something about using sed on the and operator? With the first condition, I noticed that if you replace it with " && " you actually get " && &&" so that's why the substitute pattern is " & ". (This wasn't the case with the OR or EQUALS operators).

Any tips would be appreciated.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1066

Answers (1)

that other guy
that other guy

Reputation: 123690

& in a sed replacement means "insert the matched string".

Use \& to insert a literal ampersand:

$ echo 'foo   && bar' | sed -E 's+(\&\&)|(\s*\&\&\s*)+ \&\& +g'
foo && bar

PS: Get a real code formatted like clang-format.

Upvotes: 2

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