Re: [gentoo-user] Multi-file search & replace of text
On 28 Feb, Stroller wrote: > Hi there, > > If I want to automagically replace text in a file, I can use `sed`. I don't > believe that `sed` can be invoked in such a way to change the file in place, > therefore two commands are necessary: > >$ sed 's/Project Gutenberg/Wordsworth Classics/' foo > bar >$ mv bar foo >$ > > Using `grep` I can search *recursively* through directories to find the text > I'm looking for. EG: `grep -R Gutenberg ~` > > I would like to find every instance of $foo in a directory hierarchy and > replace it with $bar. > > Is there any tool that will combine all these operations for me? > > If not, what is the best way to string together grep and sed so that they'll > do what I want? > You might have a look at an old program which is still quite useful The link in the following web page is broken! http://centoshacker.com/kabir/utility/global-search-and-replace-using-the-fgres-utility.html Download from http://wiki.uni-konstanz.de/pitz/fgres.html Helmut. -- Helmut Jarausch Lehrstuhl fuer Numerische Mathematik RWTH - Aachen University D 52056 Aachen, Germany
Re: [gentoo-user] Multi-file search & replace of text
On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 4:41 PM, Stroller
wrote:
>
> On 28 Feb 2010, at 19:06, Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
>>
>> On Sunday 28 February 2010, Stroller wrote:
>>>
>>> ...
>>> $ sed 's/Project Gutenberg/Wordsworth Classics/' foo > bar
>>> $ mv bar foo
>>> $
>>
>> Have a look at sed's "-i" option.
>>
>>> Using `grep` I can search *recursively* through directories to find the
>>> text I'm looking for. EG: `grep -R Gutenberg ~`
>>>
>>> I would like to find every instance of $foo in a directory hierarchy and
>>> replace it with $bar.
>>>
>>> ...
>>
>> A starting point could be (after you make a backup of the whole tree)
>>
>> find /basedir -type f -exec sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' {} +
>
> Many thanks - that looks great!
>
> My only concern is that it is unreliable enough that you state the need to
> backup first. ;)
Why are you concerned about a backup? It is always good to do backups
before changing things. You never know when something might go wrong.
;)
Re: [gentoo-user] Multi-file search & replace of text
On Sunday 28 February 2010, Stroller wrote:
> > A starting point could be (after you make a backup of the whole tree)
> >
> > find /basedir -type f -exec sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' {} +
>
> Many thanks - that looks great!
>
> My only concern is that it is unreliable enough that you state the
> need to backup first. ;)
The problem is that with such a command it's very easy to screw up hundreds or
thousands of files (depending how many you have in the directory tree) in a
non-reversible way, for example due to a slight error in the sed command.
Hence the suggestion of backing up before trying. Alternatively, you can
supply an extension to the -i option, as in -i.bak for example, to have sed
create backup copies of the changed files (which you can then remove when
you've made sure the changes have been successful).
Re: [gentoo-user] Multi-file search & replace of text
On 28 Feb 2010, at 19:06, Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
On Sunday 28 February 2010, Stroller wrote:
...
$ sed 's/Project Gutenberg/Wordsworth Classics/' foo > bar
$ mv bar foo
$
Have a look at sed's "-i" option.
Using `grep` I can search *recursively* through directories to find
the
text I'm looking for. EG: `grep -R Gutenberg ~`
I would like to find every instance of $foo in a directory
hierarchy and
replace it with $bar.
...
A starting point could be (after you make a backup of the whole tree)
find /basedir -type f -exec sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' {} +
Many thanks - that looks great!
My only concern is that it is unreliable enough that you state the
need to backup first. ;)
Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] Multi-file search & replace of text
On Sunday 28 February 2010, Stroller wrote:
> If I want to automagically replace text in a file, I can use `sed`. I don't
> believe that `sed` can be invoked in such a way to change the file in
> place, therefore two commands are necessary:
>
>$ sed 's/Project Gutenberg/Wordsworth Classics/' foo > bar
>$ mv bar foo
>$
Have a look at sed's "-i" option.
> Using `grep` I can search *recursively* through directories to find the
> text I'm looking for. EG: `grep -R Gutenberg ~`
>
> I would like to find every instance of $foo in a directory hierarchy and
> replace it with $bar.
>
> Is there any tool that will combine all these operations for me?
>
> If not, what is the best way to string together grep and sed so that
> they'll do what I want?
A starting point could be (after you make a backup of the whole tree)
find /basedir -type f -exec sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' {} +
