Bash

marco271 · 07-14-2003, 11:46 PM

What command can I use in order to delete a line from a regular file?

I use >> to append a line to a file but how can I delete any line from the same file?

Thanks,

marco271

jpbarto · 07-15-2003, 12:12 AM

while it's true you can use a command such as 'echo something >> file.txt' to append a line I'm afraid removal is a little more complicated (not by much though.)

take a look at tools such as sed, awk, and the like.

I've only begun using sed... however something like
sed -e 's/^<pattern to replace>$//' filename.txt
should work.

marco271 · 07-15-2003, 12:42 AM

I would like to try to use only the bash shell.
Do you think there is a way?

acid_kewpie · 07-15-2003, 03:57 AM

sed *IS* only using bash shell...

jpbarto · 07-15-2003, 08:23 AM

marco271, you could even make it look more like a simple command by defining a function in your bash environment (by way of the .bashrc file)

in .bashrc define the following

delline () {
sed -e "s/$1//" $2
}

then from the command line you could execute:
delline some_text textfile.txt

marco271 · 07-15-2003, 03:28 PM

Thanks for your help!

jpbarto · 07-19-2003, 04:30 PM

no problem