Pound symbol is not displayed in Linux file

UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users
1

Hi All,

I am trying to copy a test from database into a file, basically that is what our application do. We will process all values and store it in a Linux file. When i look the database I am seeing as below

spend (�000's)

but after processing and stored to a file , i am seeing as below

spend (�000's)

Can you let me know how can i make my Linux to accept the pound symbol

Thanks in Advance

2

Could also be a character set / translation issue (UTF8 ? ISO Latin ? other ?)
and/or a tty display problem ( xterm ? vt100 ? other ?)

3

My database and Linux are in roman8 char set

4

Not sure what OS, shell, etc., you're using, but this trick might work for you if you have a keyboard with a number pad (far right of the keyboard).

At the shell type:
var1="<press ALT+0187>" This will store the � symbol in var1
var2="<press ALT+0163>" This will store the � symbol in var2

To test at the shell run the following after creating the variables:

echo "spend (�000's)" | sed -e "s|$var1|$var2|g"
spend (�000's)

To update the file run:

sed -i.BKUP -e "s|$var1|$var2|g" file

This will perform the replacement on the file and make a backup of the original (file.BKUP).

Hope this helps.