How do I replace a string with a newline using a b

Question

I have the following input:

Value1|Value2|Value3|Value4@@ Value5|Value6|Value7|Value8@@ Value9|etc...

In my bash script I would like to replace the @@ with a newline. I have tried various things with sed but I'm not having any luck:

line=$(echo ${x} | sed -e $'s/@@ /\\\n/g')

Ultimately I need to parse this whole input into rows and values. Maybe I am going about it wrong. I was planning to replace the @@ with newlines and then loop through the input with setting IFS='|' to split up the values. If there is a better way please tell me, I am still a beginner with shell scripting.

Answer 1

This wraps up using perl to do it, and gives some simple help.

$ echo "hi\nthere"
hi
there

$ echo "hi\nthere" | replace_string.sh e
hi
th
re

$ echo "hi\nthere" | replace_string.sh hi


there

$ echo "hi\nthere" | replace_string.sh hi bye
bye
there

$ echo "hi\nthere" | replace_string.sh e super all
hi
thsuperrsuper

replace_string.sh

#!/bin/bash

ME=$(basename $0)
function show_help()
{
  IT=$(cat <<EOF

  replaces a string with a new line, or any other string, 
  first occurrence by default, globally if "all" passed in

  usage: $ME SEARCH_FOR {REPLACE_WITH} {ALL}

  e.g. 

  $ME :       -> replaces first instance of ":" with a new line
  $ME : b     -> replaces first instance of ":" with "b"
  $ME a b all -> replaces ALL instances of "a" with "b"
  )
  echo "$IT"
  exit
}

if [ "$1" == "help" ]
then
  show_help
fi
if [ -z "$1" ]
then
  show_help
fi

STRING="$1"
TIMES=${3:-""}
WITH=${2:-"\n"}

if [ "$TIMES" == "all" ]
then
  TIMES="g"
else
  TIMES=""
fi

perl -pe "s/$STRING/$WITH/$TIMES"