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--- docs:bash:search_and_replace_in_files [2009/05/29 11:31] – created billh
+++ docs:bash:search_and_replace_in_files [2009/06/03 10:45] (current) – billh
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ===== Search and Replace in Files =====
 <code>
-grep -Z -R -l -e 'searchstring' . | xargs -0 sed -i 's/searchstring/replacestring/g'
+grep -Z -R -l -E 'searchpattern' . | xargs -0 sed -i 's/searchpattern/replacestring/g'
 </code>
+===== Advanced Example =====
+  * :!: remember to escape parenthesis when using [[sed]]
+  * this example finds all occurrences of 'oldhostname' where it is not followed by a period, and replaces it with 'newhostname'
+<code>
+grep -Z -R -l -E 'oldhostname[^\.]' . | xargs -0 sed -i 's/oldhostname\([^\.]\)/newhostname\1/g'
+</code>
+===== FreeBSD 5 Example =====
+  * the -Z parameter was different for grep, so it actually wanted %%--null%%
+  * the backup extension for sed was not optional, so '.sed' was used
+<code>
+grep --null -R -l -E 'oldhostname[^\.]' . | xargs -0 -t sed -i '.sed' 's/newhostname\([^\.]\)/xdev\1/g'
+</code>
+===== See Also =====
+  * [[sed]]