Using SED to replace long string - but got unterminated substitute in regular expression

Question

hi trying to replace the following string with a long one :

@x@ 

with string that I got from the command line:

read test    
sed -i --backup 's/@x@/'${test}'/g' file.json README.md

but it is working only for 1 word, it is not working if there is space between word . even between quotes

sed: 1: "s/@x@/string test string: unterminated substitute in regular expression

Answer 1

if case you run it on MacOS and struggling with "unterminated substitute in regular expression", there is an easier explanation for this:

MacOS has slightly other version of sed than usually is on linux. -i requires a parameter. If you have none, just add "" after -i

sed -i "" --backup 's/@x@/'${test}'/g' file.json README.md

or for example if you just have to delete dome line, this works on linux, but brings “invalid command code” on MacOS

sed -i 39d filenamehere.log

and this works on MacOS

sed -i "" 39d filenamehere.log