Shell variables in sed when using paths

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Shell variables in sed when using paths

The normal syntax for sed is: Code: sed "s/FINDTHIS/REPLACEBYTHIS/" but when you have a case where REPLACEBYTHIS contains the forward slash character, that syntax will fail. For example, say that you have a shell variable MY_LOG_PATH=/var/log/here and there is a configuration file containing a setting like Code: app.log.path = REALLOGPATH/log.txt and you want to replace REALLOGPATH by the content of $MY_LOG_PATH.

You can use nearly any character to delimit the regex and replacement text. A common replacement for / in sed expressions is #, especially when / appears in the pattern or replacement text.

I have a sed script which reads sed -e 's/@@/\xOA/g' file1 file2. It results in the file being displayed with the change. How can I have it transfer the file file with the replaced characters in place.

ok good

Originally Posted by Don Johnston I have a sed script which reads sed -e 's/@@/\xOA/g' file1 file2. It results in the file being displayed with the change. How can I have it transfer the file file with the replaced characters in place.

sed '...' file1 > file2

Depending on your version of sed and how portable it needs to be use sed -i ... the '-i' switch stands for in place see the sed manpage for further details.