sed: unterminated s command from bash script

Question

This exact code was working in another script. I copied the function over and now it keeps giving the unterminated 's' command error.

sed "
        s@<%BRANCH-NAME%>@${_loc_name}@g
        s@<%BRANCH-ADDR%>@${_loc_strt}@g
        s@<%BRANCH-CTY%>@${_loc_city}@g
        s@<%CUST-NAME%>@${_pat_name}@g
        s@<%CUST-ADDR%>@${_pat_addr}@
        s@<%CUST-CTY%>@${_pat_city}@
        s@<%BARCODE%>@${_barcode}@g
        s@<%DATE%>@${_date}@
        s@<%TITLE%>@${_title}@
        s@<%AUTHOR%>@${_auth}@
        s@<%PRICE%>@${_price}@" "$_template"

In response to requests for possible values:

These are huge files and this function is in a for loop. I use it to format forms for mailing. More info here: BASH: importing data from flat file into template

So this function worked for certain directories but I've hit a snag with this recent one.

I grepped for slash characters on the advice of kev below ...none found except '/'. Possibly 'silent' newlines.

find ./ -name "mail.TMP" -type f -exec grep -E '\n' {} \;

possible values would be things like:

${pat_name}

Hermann Hesse c/o His Mother

${loc_name}

Pandora SR home c/o Harmony City Hall

So ...maybe it's a quoting issue?

Do any of your ${_loc_name}, ${_loc_strt}, etc. variables contain an @ character? — Keith Thompson
– Keith Thompson, Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 22:04
Is this a sed script or are you using it inside regular bash script? If it is a sed script then you don't need sed and the quotes. If it is inside regular script then you need to add option -e. — jaypal singh
– jaypal singh, Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 22:16
@JaypalSingh: No, you don't need -e; sed s/this/that/ is equivalent to sed -e s/this/that/. (The -e option is probably necessary in some ambiguous cases, but this isn't one of them.) And the question title says it's a bash script. — Keith Thompson
– Keith Thompson, Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 22:59
@KeithThompson You're right!! Sorry about that. Then as you stated in the comments earlier, it could be that variable has @ which is throwing it off. — jaypal singh
– jaypal singh, Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 23:03

kev · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-12 01:19:03Z

1

$ _loc_name=$'xxx\nyyy'
$ echo '<%BRANCH-NAME%>' | sed "s@<%BRANCH-NAME%>@${_loc_name}@g"
sed: -e expression #1, char 21: unterminated `s' command

Does any $var contain newline? Please echo them all to check.

$ echo "$_loc_name"
xxx
yyy

answered Jan 12, 2012 at 1:19

kev

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4 Comments

Bubnoff Over a year ago

I believe that's the issue ...though it's actually a name field eg.,. These are massive files --- is there a way to

Bubnoff Over a year ago

As I was saying --- is there a way to quote around this?

Jonah Bishop Over a year ago

I see two articles that talk about stripping white space from a variable (which may help you): article 1 and article 2. Are these replacement variables read in from some file? If so, article 1 might be what you want.

Bubnoff Over a year ago

@JonahBishop - Dude, I think you're right about white space. I'm using the IFS to push this through a for loop -- specifically mentioned in the article you mention. Wil;l lokk at this more closely tomorrow. Thanks!

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