rawlen=$(while read -r; do printf "${REPLY:1:-1}"; done <$1 | wc -c) reallen=$(<$1 tr -d '\n' | wc -c) echo $((reallen - rawlen)) quotedlen=$(sed 's/["\\]/\\&/g;s/.*/"&"/' $1 | tr -d '\n' | wc -c) echo $((quotedlen - reallen))