How to remove XML tags from Unix command line?

Question

I am grepping an XML File, which gives me output like this:

data
more data
...

Note, this is a fl

Answer 1

Give this a try:

grep -Po '<.*?>\K.*?(?=<.*?>)' inputfile

Explanation:

Using Perl Compatible Regular Expressions (-P) and outputting only the specified matches (-o):

• <.*?> - Non-greedy match of any characters within angle brackets
• \K - Don't include the preceding match in the output (reset match start - similar to positive look-behind, but it works with variable-length matches)
• .*? - Non-greedy match stopping at the next match (this part will be output)
• (?=<.*?>) - Non-greedy match of any characters within angle brackets and don't include the match in the output (positive look-ahead - works with variable-length matches)