• Introduction
• Basic Usage of sed
• Common Use Cases
• Advanced sed Techniques
• Common Errors
• Conclusion

Introduction

The sed command is a stream editor used for parsing and transforming text in Linux. It is a powerful tool for text manipulation.

Basic Usage of sed

Syntax

The basic syntax of sed is:

sed [options] 'command' file

Example

To replace “old” with “new” in a file:

sed 's/old/new/' filename.txt

Common Use Cases

• In-Place Editing: Use the -i option to edit files in place.

  sed -i 's/old/new/g' filename.txt
  

Advanced sed Techniques

Using Regular Expressions

sed supports regular expressions for complex pattern matching.

Combining Commands

You can combine multiple sed commands using the -e option.

sed -e 's/old/new/g' -e 's/foo/bar/g' filename.txt

Common Errors

• File Not Found: Ensure the file path is correct.
• Invalid Command: Check the syntax if you receive an error.

Conclusion

Mastering the sed command is essential for effective text processing and manipulation in Linux.