sed(1B) SunOS/BSD Compatibility Package Commands sed(1B)
sed - stream editor
sed [-n] [-e script] [-f sfilename] [filename]...
The sed utility copies the filenames (standard input default) to the
standard output, edited according to a script of commands.
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.
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 pat-
tern space (unless there is something left after a D command), sequen-
tially 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:
+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 excep-
tions:
\ ?RE?
In a context address, the construction \?regular expres-
sion?, 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 pat-
tern 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 address1 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 indi-
cated 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 pat-
tern space with the next line of input.
(2)N Append the next line of input to the pattern space with an embed-
ded 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 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 replace-
ment was made.
(2)t label
Test: branch to the `:' command bearing the label if any substi-
tutions 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**31bytes).
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 transla-
tion tables in y commands all require sed to store data inter-
nally.
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 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 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 expres-
sion.
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.
usr/ucb/sed
BSD sed
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Availability |SUNWscpu |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
awk(1), grep(1), lex(1), attributes(5), largefile(5), regexp(5)
There is a combined limit of 200 -e and -f arguments. In addition,
there are various internal size limits which, in rare cases, may over-
flow. To overcome these limitations, either combine or break out
scripts, or use a pipeline of sed commands.
SunOS 5.9 28 Mar 1995 sed(1B)