remove comments from php file using sed

Question

i'm trying to edit a php config file using sed in a bash script. I'm stuck on removing comments from particular lines. I want to uncomment line:

// $CFG->phpunit_prefix = 'phpu_';

I tried command that worked for me to replace/update paths:

"s%// $CFG->phpunit_prefix%$CFG->phpunit_prefix%" config.php

But it doesn't work in this case.

If you want to strip out comments (why do you need to) then I'd suggest using NikiC's PHP parser rather than sed — Mark Baker
– Mark Baker, Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 10:22
@Mark you mean you don't wanna use the horrendous token_get_all() and friends directly? :) — Tom Fenech
– Tom Fenech, Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 10:30
I'm stripping comments using a bash script, that is being executed by Continuous Integration server — Tomasz Kowalczyk
– Tomasz Kowalczyk, Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 10:30
Sounds like a job for an environment-specific config file, ideally. — Tom Fenech
– Tom Fenech, Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 10:31
@TomFenech - Not if I can help it; but NikiC's parser is actually very good, and handles recreating the modified file again — Mark Baker
– Mark Baker, Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 10:32

Tom Fenech · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-09 10:22:57Z

3

I think your issue is simply that you're using double quotes, so $CFG is being expanded by the shell. Change to single quotes:

sed 's%// $CFG->phpunit_prefix%$CFG->phpunit_prefix%' config.php

In general, I'd recommend always using single quotes except in the rare case that you're using a shell variable as part of a sed command (which comes with its own set of pitfalls).

For increased readability and to avoid repeating yourself, use a capturing group:

sed 's%// \($CFG->phpunit_prefix\)%\1%' config.php

To debug this kind of issue, use set -x, which will show you that the command you're executing is different to the one you intended to use.

edited Nov 9, 2015 at 10:22

answered Nov 9, 2015 at 10:15

Tom Fenech

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