Counting the number of dots in a string

Question

How do I count the number of dots in a string in BASH? For example

VAR=\"s454-da4_sd.fs_84-df.f-sds.a_as_d.a-565sd.dasd\"

# Variable VAR contains 5 dots
         


        

Answer 1

VAR="s454-da4_sd.fs_84-df.f-sds.a_as_d.a-565sd.dasd"
echo $VAR | tr -d -c '.' | wc -c

tr -d deletes given characters from the input. -c takes the inverse of given characters. together, this expression deletes non '.' characters and counts the resulting length using wc.