sed(1)
sed --
stream editor
Synopsis
sed [-n] [-e script] [-f sfile] [file . . .]
Description
sed
copies the named
file
(standard input default) to the standard output,
edited according to a script of commands.
The
-f
option causes the script to be taken from file
sfile;
these options accumulate.
If there is just one
-e
option and no
-f
options,
the flag
-e
may be omitted.
The
-n
option suppresses the default output.
sed processes supplementary code set characters,
and recognizes supplementary code set characters
in script file comments (see below)
according to the locale specified in the LC_CTYPE
environment variable [see LANG on
environ(5)],
except as noted under the y command below.
In regular expressions, pattern searches are performed
on characters, not bytes, as described on
ed(1).
A script consists of editing commands, one per line,
of the following form:
[address [, address]] function [arguments]
In normal operation,
sed
cyclically copies a line of input into a
pattern space
(unless there is something left after
a
D
command),
applies in sequence
all commands whose
addresses
select that pattern space,
and at the end of the script copies the pattern space
to the standard output (except under
-n)
and deletes the pattern space.
Some of the commands use a
hold space
to save all or part of the
pattern space
for subsequent retrieval.
An
address
is either a decimal number that counts
input lines cumulatively across files, a
$
that
addresses the last line of input, or a context address,
that is,
a /regular expression/
in the style of
ed(1)
modified thus:
-
In a context address, the construction
\?regular expression?,
where
?
is any character,
is identical to
/regular expression/.
NOTE:
In the context address
\xabc\xdefx,
the second
x
stands for itself, so that the
regular expression is
abcxdef.
-
The escape sequence
\n
matches a
new-line
embedded
in the pattern space.
-
A period ``.''
matches any character except the
terminal
new-line of the pattern space.
-
A command line with no addresses selects every pattern space.
-
A command line with
one address selects each pattern space that matches the address.
-
A command line with
two addresses selects the inclusive range from the first
pattern space that matches the first address through
the next pattern space that matches
the second address.
If the line that matches the first address also matches the second address,
it is selected as both the start and finish of the range. That is, only
one line is selected in this case.
If the second address is a number less than or equal
to the line number selected by the first address,
only the line corresponding to the
first address is selected.
Thereafter the process is repeated, looking again for the
first address.
Editing commands can be applied only to non-selected pattern
spaces by use of the negation function
``!''
(below).
In the following list of functions the
maximum number of permissible addresses
for each function is indicated in parentheses.
The
text
argument
consists of one or more lines,
all but the last of which end with
``\''
to hide the
new-line.
Backslashes in text are treated like backslashes
in the replacement string of an
s
command.
The
rfile
or
wfile
argument
must terminate the command
line and must be preceded by exactly one blank.
Each
wfile
is created before processing begins.
There can be at most 10 distinct
wfile
arguments.
(1)a\-
text-
Append.
Place
text
on the output before
reading the next input line.
(2)b label-
Branch to the
:
command bearing the
label.
If
label
is empty, branch to the end of the script.
(2)c\-
text-
Change.
Delete the pattern space.
Place
text
on the output.
Start the next cycle.
(2)d-
Delete the pattern space.
Start the next cycle.
(2)D-
Delete the initial segment of the
pattern space through the first new-line.
Start the next cycle.
(0)E-
Delete the contents of the hold space.
(2)g-
Replace the contents of the pattern space
by the contents of the hold space.
(2)G-
Append the contents of the hold space to the pattern space.
(2)h-
Replace the contents of the hold space by the contents of the pattern space.
(2)H-
Append the contents of the pattern space to the hold space.
(1)i\-
text-
Insert.
Place
text
on the standard output.
(2)l-
List the pattern space on the standard output in an
unambiguous form.
Non-printable characters are displayed in octal notation
and long lines are folded.
(2)n-
Copy the pattern space to the standard output.
Replace the pattern space with the next line of input.
(2)N-
Append the next line of input to the pattern space
with an embedded new-line.
(The current line number changes.)
(2)p-
Print.
Copy the pattern space to the standard output.
(2)P-
Copy the initial segment of the pattern space through
the first new-line to the standard output.
(1)q-
Quit.
Branch to the end of the script.
Do not start a new cycle.
(2)r rfile-
Read the contents of
rfile.
Place them on the output before reading
the next input line.
(2)s/regular expression/replacement/flags-
Substitute the
replacement
string for instances of the
regular expression
in the pattern space.
Any character may be used instead of
/.
For a fuller description see
ed(1).
flags
is zero or more of:
n-
n= 1 - 512.
Substitute for just the
nth
occurrence of the
regular expression.
g-
Global.
Substitute for all nonoverlapping instances of the
regular expression
rather than just the
first one.
p-
Print the pattern space if a replacement was made.
w wfile-
Write.
Append the pattern space to
wfile
if a replacement
was made.
(2)t label-
Test.
Branch to the
:
command bearing the
label
if any
substitutions have been made since the most recent
reading of an input line or execution of a
t.
If
label
is empty, branch to the end of the script.
(2)w wfile-
Write.
Append the pattern space to
wfile.
The first occurrence of w will cause wfile to be cleared.
Subsequent invocations of w will append.
Each time the sed command is used, wfile is overwritten.
(2)x-
Exchange the contents of the pattern and hold spaces.
(2)y/string1/string2/-
Transform.
Replace all occurrences of characters in
string1
with the corresponding characters in
string2.
string1
and
string2
must have the same number of characters.
The result is not guaranteed when supplementary code set
characters are specified in the strings.
(2)! function-
Don't.
Apply the
function
(or group, if
function
is
{)
only to lines
not
selected by the address(es).
(0): label-
This command does nothing; it bears a
label
for
b
and
t
commands to branch to.
(1)=-
Place the current line number on the standard output as a line.
(2){-
Execute the following commands through a matching
``}''
only when the pattern space is selected.
(0)-
An empty command is ignored.
(0)#-
If a
``#''
appears as the first character on a line of a script file,
then that entire line is treated as a comment, with one exception:
if a
``#'' appears on the first line and the
character after the ``#''
is an ``n'', then the default output will be suppressed.
The rest of the line after
``#n''
is also ignored.
A script file must contain at least one non-comment line.
Comments may contain supplementary code set characters.
Files
/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxcore.abi-
language-specific message file [See LANG on
environ(5).]
References
awk(1),
ed(1),
grep(1)
© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 25 April 2004