I have a file (file01) with several words that I need to output to another file (file02). I need file02 to be formated to a single column, will all non-alphabet characters removed, except for dash (-) and appostrophe (') characters.

When I use the following, it formats correcly and removes all non-alphabet characters (including ' and -)

tr ' ' '\n' <$FILEDIR/file01 | sed -e 's/[^a-z A-Z]//;/^$/ d' >$FILEDIR/file02


When I try to specify the exclusion of ' and - characters as in below, the command fails. What am I doing wrong?

tr ' ' '\n' <$FILEDIR/file01 | sed -e 's/[^a-z A-Z]//;s/[']//; s/[\-];/^$/ d' >$FILEDIR/file02

Thanks

Omar

Try escaping the ' in ['] with a backslash.

i believe the issue has been resolved in this thread's twin:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=303194

Please do not post the same thread in more than one forum. Picking the most relevant forum and posting it once there makes it easier for other members to help you and keeps the discussion all in one place.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/rules.php

The problem is solved in the Programming forum: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=303194 and this thread is closed.