Insert line

UNIX for Beginners Q & A
1

My file looks like this. When I see dn:, i'd like to insert a line above that. Sorry, i have no idea how to insert a line above so i won't be able to put in a code tage. Thank you so much for your time and assistance on this request.

dn: OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: Groups
dn: CN=test1,OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: zzlwsnobjlwsnRMGroup
objectClass: lwsnrmbootRMTopStruct
cn: test1
name: test1
zzlwsnattrDescription: test1
dn: CN=test2,OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: zzlwsnobjlwsnRMGroup
objectClass: lwsnrmbootRMTopStruct
cn: test2
name: test2
zzlwsnattrDescription: test2
dn: CN=test3,OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: zzlwsnobjlwsnRMGroup
objectClass: lwsnrmbootRMTopStruct
cn: test3
name: test3
zzlwsnattrDescription: test3
2

Please use code tags as required by forum rules!

Actually, without those, your request is close to unreadable. Are you look�ng for dn:, or just dn: ? For the latter, try

sed 's/dn:/\n&/' file

dn: OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: Groups

dn: CN=test1,OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
.
.
.
1 Like
3

That's exact what I wanted sir. Thank you so much. I will not forget to use code tag from now on. Again, thank you.

4

Note that a Unix sed needs two lines

sed '/dn:/i\
' file

I recommend this also for GNU sed.
Reason:

sed '/dn:/i\
newtext' file

is straight forward.
The GNU sed variant is

sed '/dn:/i\newtext' file

but

sed '/dn:/i\\' file

i.e. an additional \ if there is no text :confused:

5

A Perl possibility:

perl -pe '/^dn:/ and print "\n"' loktamann.ldap


dn: OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: Groups

dn: CN=test1,OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: zzlwsnobjlwsnRMGroup
objectClass: lwsnrmbootRMTopStruct
cn: test1
name: test1
zzlwsnattrDescription: test1

dn: CN=test2,OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: zzlwsnobjlwsnRMGroup
objectClass: lwsnrmbootRMTopStruct
cn: test2
name: test2
zzlwsnattrDescription: test2

dn: CN=test3,OU=Groups,O=lwsnrmdata,O=lwsn,DC=cinemark,DC=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: zzlwsnobjlwsnRMGroup
objectClass: lwsnrmbootRMTopStruct
cn: test3
name: test3
zzlwsnattrDescription: test3
6 
awk '/^dn:/{print x}1' file