Manual page for SED(1V)
sed - stream editor
SYNOPSIS
sed
[
-n
] [
-e script
] [
-f sfilename
] [
filename ]...
SYSTEM V SYNOPSIS
/usr/5bin/sed
[
-n
] [
-e script
] [
-f sfilename
] [
filename ]...
AVAILABILITY
The System V version of this command is available with the
System V
software installation option. Refer to
[a manual with the abbreviation INSTALL]
for information on how to install optional software.
DESCRIPTION
sed
copies the
filenames
(standard input default) to the
standard output, edited according to a script of commands.
OPTIONS
- -n
-
Suppress the default output.
- -e script
-
script
is an edit command for
sed.
If there is just one
-e
option and no
-f
options, the
-e
flag may be omitted.
- -f sfilename
-
Take the script from
sfilename.
USAGE
sed Scripts
sed scripts
consist of editing commands, one per line, of the
following form:
[ address [, address ] ] function [ arguments ]
In normal operation
sed
cyclically copies a line of input into a
pattern space (unless there is something left after a
D
command),
sequentially applies all commands with
addresses
matching that pattern
space until reaching the end of the script, copies the pattern space
to the standard output (except under
-n),
and finally, deletes the pattern space.
Some commands use a
hold space
to save all or part of the pattern space
for subsequent retrieval.
An
address
is either:
a decimal number linecount, which is cumulative across input files;
a
$,
which addresses the last input line;
or a context address, which is a
/regular expression/
in the style of
ed.1
with the following exceptions:
-
- \?RE?
-
In a context address, the construction
\ ?regular expression?,
where
?
is any character,
is identical to
/regular expression/.
Note: in the context address
\xabc\xdefx,
the second
x
stands for itself, so that the
regular expression is
abcxdef.
- \n
-
Matches a
NEWLINE
embedded in the pattern space.
- .
-
Matches any character except the
NEWLINE
ending the pattern space.
- null
-
A command line with no address selects every pattern space.
- address
-
Selects each pattern space that matches.
- address1 ,address2
-
Selects the inclusive range from the first
pattern space matching
addrress1
to the first pattern space matching
address2.
Selects only one line if
address1
is greater than or equal to
address2.
Comments
If the first nonwhite character in a line is a
`#'
(pound sign),
sed
treats that line as a comment, and ignores it. If, however, the
first such line is of the form:
#n
sed
runs as if the
-n
flag were specified.
Functions
The maximum number of permissible addresses
for each function is indicated in parentheses in the list below.
An argument denoted
text
consists of one or more lines,
all but the last of which end with
\
to hide the
NEWLINE.
Backslashes in text are treated like backslashes in the replacement string
of an
s
command, and may be used to protect initial
SPACE
and
TAB
characters
against the stripping that is done on every script line.
An argument denoted
rfilename
or
wfilename
must terminate the command
line and must be preceded by exactly one
SPACE.
Each
wfilename
is created before processing begins. There can be at most 10 distinct
wfilename
arguments.
- (1)a\
-
- text
-
Append: place
text
on the output before reading the next input line.
- (2)b label
-
Branch to the
`:'
command bearing the
label.
Branch to the end of the script if
label
is empty.
- (2)c\
-
- text
-
Change: delete the pattern space.
With 0 or 1 address or at the end of a 2 address range, place
text
on the output. Start the next cycle.
- (2)d
-
Delete the pattern space. Start the next cycle.
- (2)D
-
Delete the initial segment of the
pattern space through the first
NEWLINE.
Start the next cycle.
- (2)g
-
Replace the contents of the pattern space by the contents of the hold space.
- (2)G
-
Append the contents of the hold space to the pattern space.
- (2)h
-
Replace the contents of the hold space by the contents of the pattern space.
- (2)H
-
Append the contents of the pattern space to the hold space.
- (1)i\
-
- text
-
Insert: place
text
on the standard output.
- (2)l
-
List the pattern space on the standard output in an
unambiguous form.
Non-printing characters are spelled in two digit
ASCII
and long lines are folded.
- (2)n
-
Copy the pattern space to the standard output.
Replace the pattern space with the next line of input.
- (2)N
-
Append the next line of input to the pattern space
with an embedded newline. (The current line number changes.)
- (2)p
-
Print: copy the pattern space to the standard output.
- (2)P
-
Copy the initial segment of the pattern space through
the first
NEWLINE
to the standard output.
- (1)q
-
Quit: branch to the end of the script. Do not start a new cycle.
- (2)r rfilename
-
Read the contents of
rfilename.
Place them on the output before reading
the next input line.
- (2)s/regular expression/replacement/flags
-
Substitute the
replacement
string for instances of the
regular expression
in the pattern space.
Any character may be used instead of
`/'.
For a fuller description see
ed.1
flags
is zero or more of:
-
- n
-
n= 1 - 512.
Substitute for just the
nth
occurrence of the
regularexpression.
- g
-
Global: substitute for all nonoverlapping instances of the
regular expression
rather than just the first one.
- p
-
Print the pattern space if a replacement was made.
- w wfilename
-
Write: append the pattern space to
wfilename
if a replacement was made.
- (2)t label
-
Test: branch to the
`:'
command bearing the
label
if any
substitutions have been made since the most recent
reading of an input line or execution of a
t.
If
label
is empty, branch to the end of the script.
- (2)w wfilename
-
Write: append the pattern space to
wfilename.
- (2)x
-
Exchange the contents of the pattern and hold spaces.
- (2)y/string1/string2/
-
Transform: replace all occurrences of characters in
string1
with the corresponding character in
string2.
The lengths of
string1
and
string2
must be equal.
- (2)! function
-
Do not: apply the
function
(or group, if
function
is
`{')
only to lines
not
selected by the address(es).
- (0): label
-
This command does nothing; it bears a
label
for
b
and
t
commands to branch to.
Note: the maximum length of
label
is seven characters.
- (1)=
-
Place the current line number on the standard output as a line.
- (2){
-
Execute the following commands through a matching
`}'
only when the pattern space is selected. Commands are separated by
`;'.
- (0)
-
An empty command is ignored.
System V sed Scripts
Initial
SPACE
and
TAB
characters are
not
stripped from text lines.
DIAGNOSTICS
- Too many commands
-
The command list contained more than 200 commands.
- Too much command text
-
The command list was too big for
sed
to handle. Text in the
a,
c,
and
i
commands, text read in by
r
commands, addresses, regular expressions and replacement strings in
s
commands, and translation tables in
y
commands all require
sed
to store data internally.
- Command line too long
-
A command line was longer than 4000 characters.
- Too many line numbers
-
More than 256 decimal number linecounts were specified as addresses in the
command list.
- Too many files in w commands
-
More than 10 different files were specified in
w
commands or
w
options for
s
commands in the command list.
- Too many labels
-
More than 50 labels were specified in the command list.
- Unrecognized command
-
A command was not one of the ones recognized by
sed.
- Extra text at end of command
-
A command had extra text after the end.
- Illegal line number
-
An address was neither a decimal number linecount, a
$,
nor a context address.
- Space missing before filename
-
There was no space between a
r
or
w
command, or the
w
option for a
s
command, and the filename specified for that command.
- Too many {'s
-
There were more
{
than
}
in the list of commands to be executed.
- Too many }'s
-
There were more
}
than
{
in the list of commands to be executed.
- No addresses allowed
-
A command that takes no addresses had an address specified.
- Only one address allowed
-
A command that takes one address had two addresses specified.
- ``\digit'' out of range
-
The number in a
\n
item in a regular expression or a replacement string in a
s
command was greater than 9.
- Bad number
-
One of the endpoints in a range item in a regular expression (that is, an item
of the form {n} or {n,m}) was not a number.
- Range endpoint too large
-
One of the endpoints in a range item in a regular expression was greater than
255.
- More than 2 numbers given in \{ \}
-
More than two endpoints were given in a range expression.
- } expected after \
-
A
\
appeared in a range expression and was not followed by a
}.
- First number exceeds second in \{ \}
-
The first endpoint in a range expression was greater than the second.
- Illegal or missing delimiter
-
The delimiter at the end of a regular expression was absent.
- \( \) imbalance
-
There were more
\(
than
\),
or more
\)
than
\(,
in a regular expression.
- [ ] imbalance
-
There were more
[
than
],
or more
]
than
[,
in a regular expression.
- First RE may not be null
-
The first regular expression in an address or in a
s
command was null (empty).
- Ending delimiter missing on substitution
-
The ending delimiter in a
s
command was absent.
- Ending delimiter missing on string
-
The ending delimiter in a
y
command was absent.
- Transform strings not the same size
-
The two strings in a
y
command were not the same size.
- Suffix too large - 512 max
-
The suffix in a
s
command, specifying which occurrence of the regular expression should be
replaced, was greater than 512.
- Label too long
-
A label in a command was longer than 8 characters.
- Duplicate labels
-
The same label was specified by more than one
:
command.
- File name too long
-
The filename specified in a
r
or
w
command, or in the
w
option for a
s
command, was longer than 1024 characters.
- Output line too long.
-
An output line was longer than 4000 characters long.
- Too many appends or reads after line n
-
More than 20
a
or
r
commands were to be executed for line
n.
- Hold space overflowed.
-
More than 4000 characters were to be stored in the
hold space.
SEE ALSO
awk.1
ed.1
grep.1v
lex.1
[a manual with the abbreviation TEXT]
BUGS
There is a combined limit of 200
-e
and
-f
arguments. In addition, there are various internal size limits which,
in rare cases, may overflow. To overcome these limitations, either
combine or break out scripts, or use a pipeline of
sed
commands.
Created by unroff & hp-tools.
© somebody (See intro for details). All Rights Reserved.
Last modified 11/5/97