This script cuts between the first and last character(s).

cut_between.sh

#!/bin/bash
#
#    Authors: Abdelouahed Haitoute and Mathijs Möhlmann
#
#    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
#    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
#    (at your option) any later version.
#
#    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#    GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
#
#
#    Argument = -c character(s) or (-f character(s) and -l character(s))
#
#    Any suggestions and pull requests are welcome on GitHub!
#    

usage()
{
cat << EOF
usage: $0 -c character(s) or (-f character(s) and -l character(s))

This script cuts between the first and last character(s).

OPTIONS:
   -h      Show this message
   -c      The first and last character(s) which must be cut.
   -f      The first character(s) which must be cut. This option must be used with the -l option.
   -i      Includes the character(s) on output.
   -l      The last character(s) which must be cut. This option must be used with the -f option.
   -v      Verbose
EOF
}

CHARACTER=
CHARACTER_INCLUDED=false
CHARACTER_INCLUDED_CMD=cat
FIRST_CHARACTER=
LAST_CHARACTER=
VERBOSE=false
while getopts "hc:f:il:v" OPTION
do
     case $OPTION in
         h)
             usage
             exit 1
             ;;
         c)
             CHARACTER=$OPTARG
             ;;
         f)
             FIRST_CHARACTER=$OPTARG
             ;;
         i)
             CHARACTER_INCLUDED=true
             ;;
         l)
             LAST_CHARACTER=$OPTARG
             ;;
         v)
             VERBOSE=true
             ;;
         ?)
             usage
             exit
             ;;
     esac
done

shift $((OPTIND-1))
# now do something with $@

if [[ -z $CHARACTER ]]; then
     if [[ -z $FIRST_CHARACTER ]] || [[ -z $LAST_CHARACTER ]]; then
          usage
          echo "ERROR: First and/or last character are missing."
          exit 1
     else
          DELIMITER=($FIRST_CHARACTER $LAST_CHARACTER)
     fi
else
     DELIMITER=($CHARACTER $CHARACTER)
fi

if $CHARACTER_INCLUDED; then
     CHARACTER_INCLUDED_CMD="sed s/^/${DELIMITER[0]}/;s/$/${DELIMITER[1]}/"
fi

if [[ -z $@ ]]; then
     read input; INPUT=$input;
else
     INPUT=$@
fi
     
if $VERBOSE; then
     echo "Remaining args: $INPUT"
     echo "Delimiters between the quotes: First is \"${DELIMITER[0]}\" and last is \"${DELIMITER[1]}\""
     echo "Included_cmd: ${CHARACTER_INCLUDED_CMD}"
fi

# After a couple of tries, we think we got it.
#
# echo "$INPUT" | cut -d${DELIMITER[0]} -f 2- | rev | cut -d${DELIMITER[1]} -f 2- | rev | ${CHARACTER_INCLUDED_CMD}
# echo "$INPUT" | sed 's/^.*'${DELIMITER[0]}'\(.*\)'${DELIMITER[1]}'.*$/\1/g' | ${CHARACTER_INCLUDED_CMD}
# echo "$INPUT" | perl -pe 's|^.*?'${DELIMITER[0]}'(.*)'${DELIMITER[1]}'.*?$|\1|' | ${CHARACTER_INCLUDED_CMD}

TMP=${INPUT#*${DELIMITER[0]}}
echo ${TMP%${DELIMITER[1]}*} | ${CHARACTER_INCLUDED_CMD}