[SOLVED] How to delete everything from a file, once a particular pattern is found, including the pattern

ansh007 · 03-07-2017, 07:52 AM

I Have a file say as below :

abcd qwer asd
sjdfhhf 234
jshdfg kkll ierr
Active abcd err
jhhs cbhhf jhsdse
joiyyer ffhh

Pattern to look for : Active
How I want the new file :
abcd qwer asd
sjdfhhf 234
jshdfg kkll ierr

That is delete everything from the point where the pattern is found.

What I tried:
sed -e '/Active/ { N; d; }' FILE > fil1

it only removed the line that contains Active, not all of them.

Turbocapitalist · 03-07-2017, 08:15 AM

sed needs to be told that you want to continue matching through to the end of the file which is marked by a dollar sign $ :

Code:

sed -e '/Active/,$d' File > fil1

Ranges are specified with a comma, so you can delete between two patterns (including the patterns) like this:

Code:

sed -e '/start/,/stop/d'

Or specify a number, such as the first line, and delete from that line number through to the matched pattern:

Code:

sed -e '1,/stop/d'

Though if the stop pattern is not found, the deletions will carry on to the end of the file.