LinuxQuestions.org - find & replace in multiple files

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find & replace in multiple files

How can I search all *.html files in a directory and it's sub directories for the word "p3nor" and replace them with "p3nis"?

If you use the KDE desktop manager, install the krename package and see if that can solve your problem. (GNOME may have a similar package but I don't use GNOME enough to know it's name.)

Also, you could look at the various -exec options of the find command.

thanks for the replies. I found a script on another forum that would do what I'm after:

# *****************************************************************************************
# find_and_replace_in_files.sh
# This script does a recursive, case sensitive directory search and replace of files
# To make a case insensitive search replace, use the -i switch in the grep call
# uses a startdirectory parameter so that you can run it outside of specified directory - else this script will modify itself!
# *****************************************************************************************

!/bin/bash
# **************** Change Variables Here ************
startdirectory="/your/start/directory"
searchterm="test"
replaceterm="test=ok!"
# **********************************************************

echo "***************************************************"
echo "* Search and Replace in Files Version 01-Aug-2012 *"
echo "***************************************************"

i=0;

for file in $(grep -l -R $searchterm $startdirectory)
do
cp $file $file.bak
sed -e "s/$searchterm/$replaceterm/ig" $file > tempfile.tmp
mv tempfile.tmp $file

let i++;

echo "Modified: " $file
done

echo " *** All Done! *** Modified files:" $i

Please use ***[code][/code]*** tags around your code and data, to preserve the original formatting and to improve readability. Do not use quote tags, bolding, colors, "start/end" lines, or other creative techniques.

That's not a very good script. In particular it relies on the Don't Read Lines With For error. None of the variables are quoted either, the $i variable is never even used, and you have to hard-code the values into the script.

Code:

#!/bin/bash

# **************** Change Variables Here ************

# Alered to use the first 3 arguments by default,

# but will fall back to the entered values if not supplied.



startdirectory="${1:-/your/start/directory}"

searchterm="${2:-test}"

replaceterm="${3:test=ok!}"

# ***************************************************



while IFS='' read -rd '' fname; do



    sed -i "/$searchterm/ s/$searchterm/$replaceterm/ig" "$fname"

    echo "Modified: $fname"



done < <( grep -R -Z -l "$searchterm" "$startdirectory" )



exit 0