1 .\" Copyright (c) 1992, 1993
2 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
4 .\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
5 .\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
7 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
8 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
10 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
11 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
12 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
13 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
14 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
15 .\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
16 .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
17 .\" without specific prior written permission.
19 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
20 .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
21 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
22 .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
23 .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
24 .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
25 .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
26 .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
27 .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
28 .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
31 .\" @(#)sed.1 8.2 (Berkeley) 12/30/93
50 .Op Fl f Ar command_file
57 utility reads the specified files, or the standard input if no files
58 are specified, modifying the input as specified by a list of commands.
59 The input is then written to the standard output.
61 A single command may be specified as the first argument to
63 Multiple commands may be specified by using the
68 All commands are applied to the input in the order they are specified
69 regardless of their origin.
71 The following options are available:
72 .Bl -tag -width indent
74 Interpret regular expressions as extended (modern) regular expressions
75 rather than basic regular expressions (BRE's).
78 manual page fully describes both formats.
80 The files listed as parameters for the
82 functions are created (or truncated) before any processing begins,
88 to delay opening each file until a command containing the related
90 function is applied to a line of input.
92 Append the editing commands specified by the
95 to the list of commands.
96 .It Fl f Ar command_file
97 Append the editing commands found in the file
99 to the list of commands.
100 The editing commands should each be listed on a separate line.
101 .It Fl I Ar extension
102 Edit files in-place, saving backups with the specified
106 is given, no backup will be saved.
107 It is not recommended to give a zero-length
109 when in-place editing files, as you risk corruption or partial content
110 in situations where disk space is exhausted, etc.
112 Note that in-place editing with
114 still takes place in a single continuous line address space covering
115 all files, although each file preserves its individuality instead of
116 forming one output stream.
117 The line counter is never reset between files, address ranges can span
118 file boundaries, and the
120 address matches only the last line of the last file.
122 .Sx "Sed Addresses" . )
123 That can lead to unexpected results in many cases of in-place editing,
127 .It Fl i Ar extension
128 Edit files in-place similarly to
130 but treat each file independently from other files.
131 In particular, line numbers in each file start at 1,
134 address matches the last line of the current file,
135 and address ranges are limited to the current file.
137 .Sx "Sed Addresses" . )
138 The net result is as though each file were edited by a separate
142 Make output line buffered.
144 By default, each line of input is echoed to the standard output after
145 all of the commands have been applied to it.
148 option suppresses this behavior.
152 for compatibility with GNU sed.
154 Make output unbuffered.
159 command is as follows:
161 .Dl [address[,address]]function[arguments]
163 Whitespace may be inserted before the first address and the function
164 portions of the command.
168 cyclically copies a line of input, not including its terminating newline
170 .Em "pattern space" ,
171 (unless there is something left after a
174 applies all of the commands with addresses that select that pattern space,
175 copies the pattern space to the standard output, appending a newline, and
176 deletes the pattern space.
178 Some of the functions use a
180 to save all or part of the pattern space for subsequent retrieval.
182 An address is not required, but if specified must have one of the
184 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
188 cumulatively across input files (or in each file independently
191 option is in effect);
195 character that addresses the last line of input (or the last line
196 of the current file if a
198 option was specified);
201 that consists of a regular expression preceded and followed by a
203 The closing delimiter can also optionally be followed by the
205 character, to indicate that the regular expression is to be matched
206 in a case-insensitive way.
209 A command line with no addresses selects every pattern space.
211 A command line with one address selects all of the pattern spaces
212 that match the address.
214 A command line with two addresses selects an inclusive range.
216 range starts with the first pattern space that matches the first
218 The end of the range is the next following pattern space
219 that matches the second address.
220 If the second address is a number
221 less than or equal to the line number first selected, only that
223 The number in the second address may be prefixed with a
225 to specify the number of lines to match after the first pattern.
226 In the case when the second address is a context
229 does not re-match the second address against the
230 pattern space that matched the first address.
232 first line following the selected range,
234 starts looking again for the first address.
236 Editing commands can be applied to non-selected pattern spaces by use
237 of the exclamation character
240 .Sh "Sed Regular Expressions"
241 The regular expressions used in
243 by default, are basic regular expressions (BREs, see
245 for more information), but extended (modern) regular expressions can be used
251 has the following two additions to regular expressions:
255 In a context address, any character other than a backslash
257 or newline character may be used to delimit the regular expression.
258 The opening delimiter needs to be preceded by a backslash
259 unless it is a slash.
260 For example, the context address
264 Also, putting a backslash character before the delimiting character
265 within the regular expression causes the character to be treated literally.
266 For example, in the context address
268 the RE delimiter is an
272 stands for itself, so that the regular expression is
276 The escape sequence \en matches a newline character embedded in the
278 You cannot, however, use a literal newline character in an address or
279 in the substitute command.
282 One special feature of
284 regular expressions is that they can default to the last regular
286 If a regular expression is empty, i.e., just the delimiter characters
287 are specified, the last regular expression encountered is used instead.
288 The last regular expression is defined as the last regular expression
289 used as part of an address or substitute command, and at run-time, not
291 For example, the command
298 In the following list of commands, the maximum number of permissible
299 addresses for each command is indicated by [0addr], [1addr], or [2addr],
300 representing zero, one, or two addresses.
304 consists of one or more lines.
305 To embed a newline in the text, precede it with a backslash.
306 Other backslashes in text are deleted and the following character
313 functions take an optional file parameter, which should be separated
314 from the function letter by white space.
315 Each file given as an argument to
317 is created (or its contents truncated) before any input processing begins.
329 functions all accept additional arguments.
330 The following synopses indicate which arguments have to be separated from
331 the function letters by white space characters.
333 Two of the functions take a function-list.
336 functions separated by newlines, as follows:
337 .Bd -literal -offset indent
347 can be preceded by white space and can be followed by white space.
348 The function can be preceded by white space.
351 must be preceded by a newline, and may also be preceded by white space.
353 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXX" -compact
354 .It [2addr] function-list
355 Execute function-list only when the pattern space is selected.
361 to standard output immediately before each attempt to read a line of input,
362 whether by executing the
364 function or by beginning a new cycle.
369 function with the specified label.
370 If the label is not specified, branch to the end of the script.
374 Delete the pattern space.
375 With 0 or 1 address or at the end of a 2-address range,
377 is written to the standard output.
380 Delete the pattern space and start the next cycle.
383 Delete the initial segment of the pattern space through the first
384 newline character and start the next cycle.
387 Replace the contents of the pattern space with the contents of the
391 Append a newline character followed by the contents of the hold space
392 to the pattern space.
395 Replace the contents of the hold space with the contents of the
399 Append a newline character followed by the contents of the pattern space
406 to the standard output.
410 Write the pattern space to the standard output in a visually unambiguous
412 This form is as follows:
414 .Bl -tag -width "carriage-returnXX" -offset indent -compact
429 Nonprintable characters are written as three-digit octal numbers (with a
430 preceding backslash) for each byte in the character (most significant byte
432 Long lines are folded, with the point of folding indicated by displaying
433 a backslash followed by a newline.
434 The end of each line is marked with a
438 Write the pattern space to the standard output if the default output has
439 not been suppressed, and replace the pattern space with the next line of
443 Append the next line of input to the pattern space, using an embedded
444 newline character to separate the appended material from the original
446 Note that the current line number changes.
449 Write the pattern space to standard output.
452 Write the pattern space, up to the first newline character to the
456 Branch to the end of the script and quit without starting a new cycle.
461 to the standard output immediately before the next attempt to read a
465 cannot be read for any reason, it is silently ignored and no error
468 .It [2addr]s/regular expression/replacement/flags
469 Substitute the replacement string for the first instance of the regular
470 expression in the pattern space.
471 Any character other than backslash or newline can be used instead of
472 a slash to delimit the RE and the replacement.
473 Within the RE and the replacement, the RE delimiter itself can be used as
474 a literal character if it is preceded by a backslash.
478 appearing in the replacement is replaced by the string matching the RE.
479 The special meaning of
481 in this context can be suppressed by preceding it by a backslash.
486 is a digit, is replaced by the text matched
487 by the corresponding backreference expression (see
490 A line can be split by substituting a newline character into it.
491 To specify a newline character in the replacement string, precede it with
496 in the substitute function is zero or more of the following:
497 .Bl -tag -width "XXXXXX" -offset indent
499 Make the substitution only for the
501 occurrence of the regular expression in the pattern space.
503 Make the substitution for all non-overlapping matches of the
504 regular expression, not just the first one.
506 Write the pattern space to standard output if a replacement was made.
507 If the replacement string is identical to that which it replaces, it
508 is still considered to have been a replacement.
510 Append the pattern space to
512 if a replacement was made.
513 If the replacement string is identical to that which it replaces, it
514 is still considered to have been a replacement.
516 Match the regular expression in a case-insensitive way.
522 function bearing the label if any substitutions have been made since the
523 most recent reading of an input line or execution of a
526 If no label is specified, branch to the end of the script.
529 Append the pattern space to the
533 Swap the contents of the pattern and hold spaces.
535 .It [2addr]y/string1/string2/
536 Replace all occurrences of characters in
538 in the pattern space with the corresponding characters from
540 Any character other than a backslash or newline can be used instead of
541 a slash to delimit the strings.
546 a backslash followed by any character other than a newline is that literal
547 character, and a backslash followed by an ``n'' is replaced by a newline
551 .It [2addr]!function-list
552 Apply the function or function-list only to the lines that are
554 selected by the address(es).
557 This function does nothing; it bears a label to which the
564 Write the line number to the standard output followed by a newline
568 Empty lines are ignored.
573 and the remainder of the line are ignored (treated as a comment), with
574 the single exception that if the first two characters in the file are
576 the default output is suppressed.
577 This is the same as specifying the
579 option on the command line.
583 .Ev COLUMNS , LANG , LC_ALL , LC_CTYPE
586 environment variables affect the execution of
597 when piped from another command:
598 .Bd -literal -offset indent
599 echo "An alternate word, like bar, is sometimes used in examples." | sed 's/bar/baz/'
602 Using backlashes can sometimes be hard to read and follow:
603 .Bd -literal -offset indent
604 echo "/home/example" | sed 's/\\/home\\/example/\\/usr\\/local\\/example/'
607 Using a different separator can be handy when working with paths:
608 .Bd -literal -offset indent
609 echo "/home/example" | sed 's#/home/example#/usr/local/example#'
612 Replace all occurances of
618 without creating a backup of the file:
619 .Bd -literal -offset indent
620 sed -i '' -e 's/foo/bar/g' test.txt
631 utility is expected to be a superset of the
639 options, the prefixing
641 in the second member of an address range,
644 flag to the address regular expression and substitution command are
647 extensions and may not be available on other operating systems.
656 .An Diomidis D. Spinellis Aq Mt dds@FreeBSD.org
658 Multibyte characters containing a byte with value 0x5C
661 may be incorrectly treated as line continuation characters in arguments to the
667 Multibyte characters cannot be used as delimiters with the