Delete a string in a file using bash script

Question

We have a file which has unformatted xml content in a single line

<sample:text>Report</sample:text><sample:user name="11111111" guid="163g673"/><sample:user name="22222222" guid="aknen1763y82bjkj18"/><sample:user name="33333333" guid="q3k4nn5k2nk53n6"/><sample:user name="44444444" guid="34bkj3b5kjbkq"/><sample:user name="55555555" guid="k4n5k34nlk6n711kjnk5253"/><sample:user name="66666666" guid="1n4k14nknl1n4lb1"/>

If we find a particular string suppose "22222222", i want to remove the entire string that surrounds the matched string. In our case the entire portion around 22222222 i.e., <sample:user name="22222222" guid="aknen1763y82bjkj18"/> should be removed and the file has to be saved.

How can we do it? Please help

See if you've ever acknowledged users by accepting their answers for your questions. stackoverflow.com/users/533315/abhinav?tab=questions — Inian
– Inian, Commented May 18, 2018 at 6:34
@Inian: Your comment is spot on; this one really surprised me, especially considering many would probably feel honored having Jon Skeet personally answer one of their questions. — l'L'l
– l'L'l, Commented May 18, 2018 at 7:14
@l'L'l Then again, it's more probable to have had him answer you than for example me. :D — James Brown
– James Brown, Commented May 18, 2018 at 8:18
@l'L'l .. I dunno. Jon Skeet didn't get a SO score of >1million just by providing high quality answers. As of this writing, Jon has posted 34140 answers to StackOverflow questions. I'm actually sometimes surprised that I come across them so infrequently ... though of course, I never look at Jon's highest-grossing tags. — ghoti
– ghoti, Commented May 18, 2018 at 14:02

KamilCuk · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-18 13:52:07Z

2

You can do it using sed utility by invoking it like this:

sed -i file -e 's/<[^<]*"22222222"[^>]*>//'

edited May 18, 2018 at 13:52

answered May 18, 2018 at 8:30

KamilCuk

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