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Re: Replace line in file based on pattern

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Hello,

On Sun, Jan 02, 2022 at 05:52:36PM -0500, Paul M. Foster wrote:
> In a script, I'd like to search for a pattern in a file, and replace that
> line entirely with a new line, once (not globally). I've tried
> 
> sed -i s/search/new_line/
> 
> but this only replaces the string itself. I want the script to find the line
> my search term is on, and replace the whole line with my replacement line.

Match the whole line, not just the string.

sed -i 's/^.*search.*$/new line/' filename

The ^ and $ anchor at start and end respectively and the .* matches
everything.

You can instead use sed's 'c' modifier to tell it to replace the
whole line:

sed -i '/search/new line/c' filename

but I personally prefer to give exact matches.

Cheers,
Andy

-- 
https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting

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Thread

Replace line in file based on pattern "Paul M. Foster" <paulf@quillandmouse.com> - 2022-01-03 00:10 +0100
  Re: Replace line in file based on pattern Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2022-01-03 00:20 +0100
    Re: Replace line in file based on pattern "Paul M. Foster" <paulf@quillandmouse.com> - 2022-01-03 03:00 +0100
  Re: Replace line in file based on pattern The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2022-01-03 00:30 +0100
    Re: Replace line in file based on pattern Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2022-01-03 00:50 +0100
      Re: Replace line in file based on pattern The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2022-01-03 02:20 +0100
        Re: Replace line in file based on pattern Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2022-01-03 02:50 +0100
          Re: Replace line in file based on pattern "Paul M. Foster" <paulf@quillandmouse.com> - 2022-01-03 03:30 +0100
            Re: Replace line in file based on pattern Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2022-01-15 13:40 +0100
      Re: Replace line in file based on pattern "Paul M. Foster" <paulf@quillandmouse.com> - 2022-01-03 04:00 +0100
        Re: Replace line in file based on pattern Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2022-01-03 05:10 +0100
          Re: Replace line in file based on pattern "Paul M. Foster" <paulf@quillandmouse.com> - 2022-01-03 14:40 +0100
            Re: Replace line in file based on pattern David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2022-01-04 20:50 +0100
    Re: Replace line in file based on pattern "Paul M. Foster" <paulf@quillandmouse.com> - 2022-01-03 03:00 +0100
      Re: Replace line in file based on pattern john doe <johndoe65534@mail.com> - 2022-01-03 07:50 +0100

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