sed: delete all occurrences of a string except the first one

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13
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I have a logfile with timestamps in it. Occasionally there are multiple timestamps in one line. Now I would like to remove all of the timestamps from a line but keep the first one.

I can do s/pattern//2 but that only removes the second occurrence and sed doesn't allow something like s/pattern//2-.

Any suggestions?

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

I should've told that it's the sed of busybox. Sorry for that.
â€“Â Folkert van Heusden
Aug 8 '11 at 12:08

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
13
down vote

favorite

I have a logfile with timestamps in it. Occasionally there are multiple timestamps in one line. Now I would like to remove all of the timestamps from a line but keep the first one.

I can do s/pattern//2 but that only removes the second occurrence and sed doesn't allow something like s/pattern//2-.

Any suggestions?

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

I should've told that it's the sed of busybox. Sorry for that.
â€“Â Folkert van Heusden
Aug 8 '11 at 12:08

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
13
down vote

favorite

I have a logfile with timestamps in it. Occasionally there are multiple timestamps in one line. Now I would like to remove all of the timestamps from a line but keep the first one.

I can do s/pattern//2 but that only removes the second occurrence and sed doesn't allow something like s/pattern//2-.

Any suggestions?

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

I have a logfile with timestamps in it. Occasionally there are multiple timestamps in one line. Now I would like to remove all of the timestamps from a line but keep the first one.

I can do s/pattern//2 but that only removes the second occurrence and sed doesn't allow something like s/pattern//2-.

Any suggestions?

sed

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

edited Aug 8 '11 at 11:05

Caleb

49.2k9146185

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

asked Aug 8 '11 at 6:58

Folkert van Heusden

597515

I should've told that it's the sed of busybox. Sorry for that.
â€“Â Folkert van Heusden
Aug 8 '11 at 12:08

add a commentÂ |Â

I should've told that it's the sed of busybox. Sorry for that.
â€“Â Folkert van Heusden
Aug 8 '11 at 12:08

I should've told that it's the sed of busybox. Sorry for that.
â€“Â Folkert van Heusden
Aug 8 '11 at 12:08

add a commentÂ |Â

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

up vote
4
down vote

accepted

With GNU sed:

sed 's/pattern//2g'

The 2 specifies that the second pattern and all the restg should remove. So this will keep the first one.

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

2

That will only work with GNU sed.
â€“Â StÃ©phane Chazelas
Dec 18 '14 at 8:38

1

Which Cygwin has (a port of, apparently) and MacOS does not. Achh! This solution is so much more elegant.
â€“Â r_alex_hall
Jun 2 '17 at 4:03

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
7
down vote

This should work (replace _ by something else should it clash with your logs):

sed -e 's/pattern/_&/1' -e 's/([^_])pattern//g' -e 's/_(pattern)/1/'

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

1

if you're ever wanting a unique delimiter, use n.
â€“Â mikeserv
Dec 19 '14 at 13:35

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
5
down vote

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//2;t begin'

or without the sed goto:

sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

The generic solutions to remove from the nth (3 for example) position are:

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//4;t begin'
sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//3;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

A slight variation on @jillagre's answer (modified for robustness) could look like:

sed 's/p(attern)/pn1/;s///g;s/n//'

...but in some seds you may need to replace the n in the right-hand side of the first s///ubstitution statement with a literal newline character.

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

add a commentÂ |Â

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4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

up vote
4
down vote

accepted

With GNU sed:

sed 's/pattern//2g'

The 2 specifies that the second pattern and all the restg should remove. So this will keep the first one.

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

2

That will only work with GNU sed.
â€“Â StÃ©phane Chazelas
Dec 18 '14 at 8:38

1

Which Cygwin has (a port of, apparently) and MacOS does not. Achh! This solution is so much more elegant.
â€“Â r_alex_hall
Jun 2 '17 at 4:03

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
4
down vote

accepted

With GNU sed:

sed 's/pattern//2g'

The 2 specifies that the second pattern and all the restg should remove. So this will keep the first one.

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

2

That will only work with GNU sed.
â€“Â StÃ©phane Chazelas
Dec 18 '14 at 8:38

1

Which Cygwin has (a port of, apparently) and MacOS does not. Achh! This solution is so much more elegant.
â€“Â r_alex_hall
Jun 2 '17 at 4:03

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
4
down vote

accepted

With GNU sed:

sed 's/pattern//2g'

The 2 specifies that the second pattern and all the restg should remove. So this will keep the first one.

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

With GNU sed:

sed 's/pattern//2g'

The 2 specifies that the second pattern and all the restg should remove. So this will keep the first one.

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

edited Oct 5 '16 at 16:14

terdonâ™¦

123k28232406

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

answered Dec 18 '14 at 8:24

ÃŽÂ±Ã’Â“sÃÂ½ÃŽÂ¹ÃŽÂ·

16k92563

2

That will only work with GNU sed.
â€“Â StÃ©phane Chazelas
Dec 18 '14 at 8:38

1

Which Cygwin has (a port of, apparently) and MacOS does not. Achh! This solution is so much more elegant.
â€“Â r_alex_hall
Jun 2 '17 at 4:03

add a commentÂ |Â

2

That will only work with GNU sed.
â€“Â StÃ©phane Chazelas
Dec 18 '14 at 8:38

1

Which Cygwin has (a port of, apparently) and MacOS does not. Achh! This solution is so much more elegant.
â€“Â r_alex_hall
Jun 2 '17 at 4:03

That will only work with GNU sed.
â€“Â StÃ©phane Chazelas
Dec 18 '14 at 8:38

Which Cygwin has (a port of, apparently) and MacOS does not. Achh! This solution is so much more elegant.
â€“Â r_alex_hall
Jun 2 '17 at 4:03

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
7
down vote

This should work (replace _ by something else should it clash with your logs):

sed -e 's/pattern/_&/1' -e 's/([^_])pattern//g' -e 's/_(pattern)/1/'

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

1

if you're ever wanting a unique delimiter, use n.
â€“Â mikeserv
Dec 19 '14 at 13:35

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
7
down vote

This should work (replace _ by something else should it clash with your logs):

sed -e 's/pattern/_&/1' -e 's/([^_])pattern//g' -e 's/_(pattern)/1/'

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

1

if you're ever wanting a unique delimiter, use n.
â€“Â mikeserv
Dec 19 '14 at 13:35

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
7
down vote

This should work (replace _ by something else should it clash with your logs):

sed -e 's/pattern/_&/1' -e 's/([^_])pattern//g' -e 's/_(pattern)/1/'

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

This should work (replace _ by something else should it clash with your logs):

sed -e 's/pattern/_&/1' -e 's/([^_])pattern//g' -e 's/_(pattern)/1/'

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:41

jlliagre

45.2k578125

1

if you're ever wanting a unique delimiter, use n.
â€“Â mikeserv
Dec 19 '14 at 13:35

add a commentÂ |Â

1

if you're ever wanting a unique delimiter, use n.
â€“Â mikeserv
Dec 19 '14 at 13:35

if you're ever wanting a unique delimiter, use n.
â€“Â mikeserv
Dec 19 '14 at 13:35

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
5
down vote

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//2;t begin'

or without the sed goto:

sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

The generic solutions to remove from the nth (3 for example) position are:

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//4;t begin'
sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//3;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
5
down vote

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//2;t begin'

or without the sed goto:

sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

The generic solutions to remove from the nth (3 for example) position are:

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//4;t begin'
sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//3;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
5
down vote

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//2;t begin'

or without the sed goto:

sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

The generic solutions to remove from the nth (3 for example) position are:

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//4;t begin'
sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//3;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//2;t begin'

or without the sed goto:

sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

The generic solutions to remove from the nth (3 for example) position are:

sed -e ':begin;s/pattern//4;t begin'
sed -e 's/(pattern)/1n/;h;s/.*n//3;s/pattern//g;H;g;s/n.*n//'

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

edited Aug 30 at 23:06

Isaac

7,18111035

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

answered Aug 8 '11 at 11:50

jfg956

3,10711223

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

A slight variation on @jillagre's answer (modified for robustness) could look like:

sed 's/p(attern)/pn1/;s///g;s/n//'

...but in some seds you may need to replace the n in the right-hand side of the first s///ubstitution statement with a literal newline character.

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

A slight variation on @jillagre's answer (modified for robustness) could look like:

sed 's/p(attern)/pn1/;s///g;s/n//'

...but in some seds you may need to replace the n in the right-hand side of the first s///ubstitution statement with a literal newline character.

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

A slight variation on @jillagre's answer (modified for robustness) could look like:

sed 's/p(attern)/pn1/;s///g;s/n//'

...but in some seds you may need to replace the n in the right-hand side of the first s///ubstitution statement with a literal newline character.

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

A slight variation on @jillagre's answer (modified for robustness) could look like:

sed 's/p(attern)/pn1/;s///g;s/n//'

...but in some seds you may need to replace the n in the right-hand side of the first s///ubstitution statement with a literal newline character.

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

answered Dec 19 '14 at 13:32

mikeserv

44.4k564150

add a commentÂ |Â

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