Perl find file and then replace string in file

moos3 · 07-28-2009, 08:40 AM

I have script that I'm working on that updates a username in all the files that are called blah.inc for my framework. since i host a bunch of these web apps i need to do it to all of them. so I need to figure out how to update these files automagically with out me watching it to call vim every time. heres what I have so far

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl
#
# search for a file in all subdirectories
#
if ($#ARGV != 0){
        print "usage: Find filename\n";
        exit;
}
$filename = $ARGV[0];

# look in current directory
$dir = `pwd`;
chop($dir);
&searchDirectory($dir);

sub searchDirectory {
    local($dir);
    local(@lines);
    local($line);
    local($file);
    local($subdir);

    $dir = $_[0];

    # check for permission
    if(-x $dir) {

        # search this directory
        @lines = `cd $dir; ls -l | grep $filename`;
        foreach $line (@lines) {
            $line =~ m/\s+(\S+)$/is;
            $file = $1;
            if ($file eq 'config.inc'){
                print "Found $file in $dir\n";
            }
        }

        # search any sub directories
        @lines = `cd $dir; ls -l`;
        foreach $line (@lines) {
            if($line =~ /^d/) {
                $line =~ /\s+(\S+)$/;
                $subdir = $dir."/".$1;
                &searchDirectory($subdir);
            }
        }
    }
}

This finds the files but now i need to figure out how to do s/bob/fred/g on those files

PMP · 07-28-2009, 09:37 AM

use sed

sed -i 's/foo/bar/' <filename>

bigearsbilly · 07-28-2009, 09:40 AM

perl -pi.bak -e 's/THIS/THAT/g' files

man find2perl

moos3 · 07-28-2009, 12:45 PM

can I call sed like that in a perl script?

Sergei Steshenko · 07-28-2009, 04:39 PM

To OP: your script is full of global variables. Why ?

And no, you do not need to call 'sed' from a Perl script - Perl has the 's' operator.

In order to perform search and replace operation in file you need to open the files - source for reading, destiantion - for writing. Since you are a newbie, do not even try to edit files in-place. It's a bad idea almost always.

You can, however, edit a file in memory.

bigearsbilly · 07-29-2009, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moos3

can I call sed like that in a perl script?

I showed you the perl equivalent!

or if you want it in a script.

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

local $^I = ".bak"; # in place editing with backup file

@ARGV = qw(file1 file2 file3); # set this to your list of files
while (<>) {
   s/THIS/THAT/g;
}

if you don't want a backup use:

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl -i

@ARGV = qw(file1 file2 file3);
while (<>) {
   s/THIS/THAT/g;
}

simplesss

your find script is bad. why are you calling grep from perl??????
use File::Find or glob

e.g:

Code:

@ARGV = (<*.txt>,<*.doc>);

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