preload
Nov 25

Search and replace with linux in files

Bash, Linux, MacOS No Comments »

To replace a string in all files inside a folder you can create a bash file:

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vi replace.sh

Put inside this file:

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#!/bin/bash
for file in $(ls -1);
do
sed 's/me/you/g' $file > /tmp/dummy.txt;
mv /tmp/dummy.txt $file;
done

Save it and make it executeable (chmod 777 replace.sh)

In this case the string “me” will be replace with “you” in all files of the actual folder and the files will be overridden.
Another example
Your want to replace the tag <b> with <strong> in all files inside a special folder. Further you want to backup the original files with suffix .old and the new files will be overridden.
Simply type on the console:
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for file in $(ls -1);
do
mv $file $file.old
sed 's/&lt;b&gt;/&lt;strong&gt;/g' $file.old &gt;  $file;
done
You can modify the script(s). Maybe by adding parameters etc.

Another option is to use sed with -i command or direct editing:

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for file in $(ls -1);
do
sed -i 's/text_to_replace/text_replacement/g' $file
done
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