Help with SED and variable for regexpr

[dev44]

Hi,

I want to be able to find a string and then print the next line. The string is a variable. If I hard code it in the below line, it works but it won't take a variable. I have tried double quotes; single quotes; back slashes, etc. Maybe not the right combo or syntax though.

cat file|sed -n '/$VAR/{n;p;}'

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Hi:

You need double quotes to allow the shell to expand the variable:

# VAR=whatever
# sed -n "/$VAR/{n;p;}" file

Notice that the 'cat' into a pipe is superfluous. The 'sed' reads STDIN just fine, saving you a process.

Regards!

...JRF...

[dev44]

Yay...thanks!!

[Dennis Handly]

Note: GNU grep has a -A # option to print context around your match.