Unix shell - using TR to replace new lines with spaces

Unix shell - using TR to replace new lines with spaces

There are a few ways of replacing new lines with other characters. Below I'll show a few examples for replacing new lines in strings or standard input/output.

Replace new lines with spaces:

Code:

# cat test.file
     In the first synopsis form, the characters in string1 are translated into
     the characters in string2 where the first character in string1 is trans-
     lated into the first character in string2 and so on.  If string1 is
     longer than string2, the last character found in string2 is duplicated
     until string1 is exhausted.

     In the second synopsis form, the characters in string1 are deleted from
     the input.

     In the third synopsis form, the characters in string1 are compressed as
     described for the -s option.

     In the fourth synopsis form, the characters in string1 are deleted from
     the input, and the characters in string2 are compressed as described for
     the -s option.

     The following conventions can be used in string1 and string2 to specify
     sets of characters:

     character  Any character not described by one of the following conven-
                tions represents itself.

Code:

# tr '\n' ' \n' < test.file
     In the first synopsis form, the characters in string1 are translated into      the characters in string2 where the first character in string1 is trans-      lated into the first character in string2 and so on.  If string1 is      longer than string2, the last character found in string2 is duplicated      until string1 is exhausted.       In the second synopsis form, the characters in string1 are deleted from      the input.       In the third synopsis form, the characters in string1 are compressed as      described for the -s option.       In the fourth synopsis form, the characters in string1 are deleted from      the input, and the characters in string2 are compressed as described for      the -s option.       The following conventions can be used in string1 and string2 to specify      sets of characters:       character  Any character not described by one of the following conven-                 tions represents itself. 

Below I will replace new lines with a comma (,):

Code:

# tr '\n' ',\n' < test.file
     In the first synopsis form, the characters in string1 are translated into,     the characters in string2 where the first character in string1 is trans-,     lated into the first character in string2 and so on.  If string1 is,     longer than string2, the last character found in string2 is duplicated,     until string1 is exhausted.,,     In the second synopsis form, the characters in string1 are deleted from,     the input.,,     In the third synopsis form, the characters in string1 are compressed as,     described for the -s option.,,     In the fourth synopsis form, the characters in string1 are deleted from,     the input, and the characters in string2 are compressed as described for,     the -s option.,,     The following conventions can be used in string1 and string2 to specify,     sets of characters:,,     character  Any character not described by one of the following conven-,                tions represents itself.,,

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