find-replace

find-replace is a shell script for performing global find and replace operations using sed. It provides a user-friendly wrapper around sed, making it easier to manage and apply complex text transformations across multiple files.

Origins

This script is based on an example from the book "Unix Power Tools", but has been modified and enhanced for improved functionality and ease of use.

Features

• Use a separate file to store sed commands for reusability
• Check changes before applying them
• Edit the source file containing sed commands
• Apply changes to multiple files at once
• Diff output for easy review

Usage

find-replace.sh options (-cers) file-to-edit [files-to-edit]

Options

• -c: Check the results of the operation (uses bat for colorized diff output)
• -e: Edit the source file containing sed commands
• -h: Print the help message
• -r: Run the operation
• -s (file): Use a specific source file for sed commands

Default Source File

• By default, the script looks for sed commands in ~/.find-replace.sed.
• You can change this by modifying the DEFAULT_SRC variable in the script.
• Add as many sed replacements as you need to this file, one per line

   cat ~/.find-replace.sed
  
   s#region#area#
  

Examples

1. Set up your commands:

   find-replace.sh -e
   

2. See diffs of changes:

   find-replace.sh -c my_script.py your_script.py
   

   Here's an example of what the diff output looks like:

   

3. Run the script on multiple files:

   find-replace.sh -r *.py
   

4. Use with find to process files recursively:

   find . -name "*.py" | xargs find-replace.sh -c
   

Requirements

• Bash
• sed
• bat (for colorized diff output)

Installation

1. Clone this repository or download the find-replace.sh script.
2. Make the script executable:

   chmod +x find-replace.sh
   

3. Optionally, move the script to a directory in your PATH for easy access.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This script is open-source software. Please include appropriate attribution if you use or modify this script.