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35

11

I can't find any documentation about the sed -e switch, for simple replace, do I need it?

e.g.

sed 's/foo/bar/'

VS

sed -e 's/foo/bar/'

linux shell text sed command

share|improve this question

asked Mar 1 '12 at 8:31

HowardHoward

297145

migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 1 '12 at 17:30

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

• 
  
  
  

  
  13
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Are you sure you didn't find this in man sed?
  
  – BoltClock
  Mar 1 '12 at 8:32
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  4
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You don't find potongs explanation, why not to use "cmd1;cmd2"
  
  – user unknown
  Mar 1 '12 at 22:51
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

35

11

I can't find any documentation about the sed -e switch, for simple replace, do I need it?

e.g.

sed 's/foo/bar/'

VS

sed -e 's/foo/bar/'

linux shell text sed command

share|improve this question

asked Mar 1 '12 at 8:31

HowardHoward

297145

migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 1 '12 at 17:30

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

• 
  
  
  

  
  13
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Are you sure you didn't find this in man sed?
  
  – BoltClock
  Mar 1 '12 at 8:32
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  4
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You don't find potongs explanation, why not to use "cmd1;cmd2"
  
  – user unknown
  Mar 1 '12 at 22:51
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

I can't find any documentation about the sed -e switch, for simple replace, do I need it?

e.g.

sed 's/foo/bar/'

VS

sed -e 's/foo/bar/'

linux shell text sed command

share|improve this question

asked Mar 1 '12 at 8:31

HowardHoward

297145

sed 's/foo/bar/'

sed -e 's/foo/bar/'

share|improve this question

asked Mar 1 '12 at 8:31

HowardHoward

297145

share|improve this question

asked Mar 1 '12 at 8:31

HowardHoward

297145

asked Mar 1 '12 at 8:31

HowardHoward

297145

asked Mar 1 '12 at 8:31

HowardHoward

297145

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

27

This might work for you:

sed -e '/foo/i' -e 'bar' -e '/fred/a' -e 'barny' -e '/harry/c' -e 'potter' file

In each case the i(insert),a(append) and c(change) commands need to be terminated by a newline.

Normally commands can be separated by a ; e.g. /foo/d;/bar/d and grouped by {...} e.g. /foo/{h;d} but for the i,a,c commands the -e provides a way of separating the commands.

The alternative is to use the shell(bash) to insert a newline:

sed '/foo/ibar'$'n''/fred/abarney'$'n''/harry/cpotter' file

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 3 '15 at 6:30

lcd047

5,9561432

answered Mar 1 '12 at 9:16

potong

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  On at least some sed implementations (for instance, on FreeBSD), you also need to end labels and branch commands using newlines/-e, rather than with semicolons. This won't work: sed ':a; /x/ { s/x/y/g; ba }; q' <<< "jxm". But this will: sed -e ':a' -e '/x/ { s/x/y/g; ba' -e '}; q' <<< "jxm"
  
  – dubiousjim
  Oct 16 '12 at 7:35
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I'm not sure how necessary is the must be terminated with a newline phrase means here. When I tested here in my cygwin, this works: sed '/foo/ibar' file. So now that we can fuse together the separate expressions into one, this raises again to the original question: What is the true purpose of the -e ?
  
  – typelogic
  Oct 22 '18 at 17:11
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

23

From the man page:

-e script, --expression=script



    add the script to the commands to be executed

So you can use multiple -e options to build up a script out of many parts.

$ sed -e "s/foo/bar/" -e "/FOO/d"

Would first replace foo with bar and then delete every line containing FOO.

share|improve this answer

answered Mar 1 '12 at 8:33

user16144

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So, you don't need '-e' if you only have one script, right?
  
  – JohnyTex
  Aug 8 '17 at 10:26
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I, too, am searching for the true purpose of -e
  
  – typelogic
  Oct 22 '18 at 17:14
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

0

-e, equivalent to --expression, is optional, unless you are stringing several expressions together (not common) as shown in another Answer.

Aside: ; can be used instead in the same expression to execute several expressions one after the other.

share|improve this answer

answered 25 mins ago

flow2kflow2k

212213

add a comment | 

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27

This might work for you:

sed -e '/foo/i' -e 'bar' -e '/fred/a' -e 'barny' -e '/harry/c' -e 'potter' file

In each case the i(insert),a(append) and c(change) commands need to be terminated by a newline.

Normally commands can be separated by a ; e.g. /foo/d;/bar/d and grouped by {...} e.g. /foo/{h;d} but for the i,a,c commands the -e provides a way of separating the commands.

The alternative is to use the shell(bash) to insert a newline:

sed '/foo/ibar'$'n''/fred/abarney'$'n''/harry/cpotter' file

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 3 '15 at 6:30

lcd047

5,9561432

answered Mar 1 '12 at 9:16

potong

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  On at least some sed implementations (for instance, on FreeBSD), you also need to end labels and branch commands using newlines/-e, rather than with semicolons. This won't work: sed ':a; /x/ { s/x/y/g; ba }; q' <<< "jxm". But this will: sed -e ':a' -e '/x/ { s/x/y/g; ba' -e '}; q' <<< "jxm"
  
  – dubiousjim
  Oct 16 '12 at 7:35
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I'm not sure how necessary is the must be terminated with a newline phrase means here. When I tested here in my cygwin, this works: sed '/foo/ibar' file. So now that we can fuse together the separate expressions into one, this raises again to the original question: What is the true purpose of the -e ?
  
  – typelogic
  Oct 22 '18 at 17:11
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

27

This might work for you:

sed -e '/foo/i' -e 'bar' -e '/fred/a' -e 'barny' -e '/harry/c' -e 'potter' file

In each case the i(insert),a(append) and c(change) commands need to be terminated by a newline.

Normally commands can be separated by a ; e.g. /foo/d;/bar/d and grouped by {...} e.g. /foo/{h;d} but for the i,a,c commands the -e provides a way of separating the commands.

The alternative is to use the shell(bash) to insert a newline:

sed '/foo/ibar'$'n''/fred/abarney'$'n''/harry/cpotter' file

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 3 '15 at 6:30

lcd047

5,9561432

answered Mar 1 '12 at 9:16

potong

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  On at least some sed implementations (for instance, on FreeBSD), you also need to end labels and branch commands using newlines/-e, rather than with semicolons. This won't work: sed ':a; /x/ { s/x/y/g; ba }; q' <<< "jxm". But this will: sed -e ':a' -e '/x/ { s/x/y/g; ba' -e '}; q' <<< "jxm"
  
  – dubiousjim
  Oct 16 '12 at 7:35
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I'm not sure how necessary is the must be terminated with a newline phrase means here. When I tested here in my cygwin, this works: sed '/foo/ibar' file. So now that we can fuse together the separate expressions into one, this raises again to the original question: What is the true purpose of the -e ?
  
  – typelogic
  Oct 22 '18 at 17:11
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

This might work for you:

sed -e '/foo/i' -e 'bar' -e '/fred/a' -e 'barny' -e '/harry/c' -e 'potter' file

In each case the i(insert),a(append) and c(change) commands need to be terminated by a newline.

Normally commands can be separated by a ; e.g. /foo/d;/bar/d and grouped by {...} e.g. /foo/{h;d} but for the i,a,c commands the -e provides a way of separating the commands.

The alternative is to use the shell(bash) to insert a newline:

sed '/foo/ibar'$'n''/fred/abarney'$'n''/harry/cpotter' file

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 3 '15 at 6:30

lcd047

5,9561432

answered Mar 1 '12 at 9:16

potong

sed -e '/foo/i' -e 'bar' -e '/fred/a' -e 'barny' -e '/harry/c' -e 'potter' file

sed '/foo/ibar'$'n''/fred/abarney'$'n''/harry/cpotter' file

share|improve this answer

edited Jun 3 '15 at 6:30

lcd047

5,9561432

answered Mar 1 '12 at 9:16

potong

edited Jun 3 '15 at 6:30

lcd047

5,9561432

edited Jun 3 '15 at 6:30

lcd047

5,9561432

-e script, --expression=script



    add the script to the commands to be executed

$ sed -e "s/foo/bar/" -e "/FOO/d"

-e script, --expression=script



    add the script to the commands to be executed

$ sed -e "s/foo/bar/" -e "/FOO/d"

-e script, --expression=script



    add the script to the commands to be executed

$ sed -e "s/foo/bar/" -e "/FOO/d"

-e script, --expression=script



    add the script to the commands to be executed

$ sed -e "s/foo/bar/" -e "/FOO/d"

0

-e, equivalent to --expression, is optional, unless you are stringing several expressions together (not common) as shown in another Answer.

Aside: ; can be used instead in the same expression to execute several expressions one after the other.

share|improve this answer

answered 25 mins ago

flow2kflow2k

212213

add a comment | 

0

-e, equivalent to --expression, is optional, unless you are stringing several expressions together (not common) as shown in another Answer.

Aside: ; can be used instead in the same expression to execute several expressions one after the other.

share|improve this answer

answered 25 mins ago

flow2kflow2k

212213

add a comment | 

-e, equivalent to --expression, is optional, unless you are stringing several expressions together (not common) as shown in another Answer.

Aside: ; can be used instead in the same expression to execute several expressions one after the other.

share|improve this answer

answered 25 mins ago

flow2kflow2k

212213

share|improve this answer

answered 25 mins ago

flow2kflow2k

212213

answered 25 mins ago

flow2kflow2k

212213

answered 25 mins ago

flow2kflow2k

212213