sed(1B)
NAME
sed - stream editor
SYNOPSIS
sed [-n] [-e script] [-f sfilename] [filename]...
DESCRIPTION
The sed utility copies the filenames (standard input
default) to the standard output, edited according to a
script of commands.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-n Suppresses 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
Takes 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 out-
put (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:
o a decimal number linecount, which is cumulative across
input files;
o a $, which addresses the last input line;
o or a context address, which is a /regular expression/
as described on the regexp(5) manual page, with the
following exceptions:
\?RE? In a context address, the construction \?regular
expression?, where ? is any character, is ident-
ical to /regular expression/. Note: in the con-
text 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 pat-
tern space matching address1 to the first pat-
tern 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 func-
tion 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 pro-
tect 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 con-
tents 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 out-
put 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 char-
acter may be used instead of `/'. For a fuller
description see regexp(5). 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.
(2t 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.
Large Files
See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of sed
when encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte (2
**31 bytes).
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 com-
mands, 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 com-
mands 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 an 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 ans 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 expres-
sion.
} expected after \
A \ appeared in a range expression and was not fol-
lowed 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 regu-
lar 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 : com-
mand.
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 charac-
ters.
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.
FILES
usr/ucb/sed
BSD sed
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWscpu |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
SEE ALSO
awk(1), grep(1), lex(1), attributes(5), largefile(5),
regexp(5)
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.
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