sed(1B) SunOS/BSD Compatibility Package Commands sed(1B)NAMEsed - stream editor
SYNOPSISsed [-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 omit‐
ted.
-f sfilename Takes the script from sfilename.
USAGEsed 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:
· 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/ 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 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 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 cre‐
ated before processing begins. There can be at most 10 distinct wfile‐
name arguments.
(1)a\ Append: place text on the output before reading the
text 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\ Change: delete the pattern space. With 0 or 1 address
text 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\ Insert: place text on the standard output.
text
(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 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
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 charac‐
ters in string1 with the corresponding charac‐
ter 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 match‐
ing `}' 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 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 con‐
text 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 sec‐
ond.
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 regu‐
lar 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.
FILES
usr/ucb/sed BSD sedATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWscpu │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOawk(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 over‐
flow. To overcome these limitations, either combine or break out
scripts, or use a pipeline of sed commands.
SunOS 5.10 28 Mar 1995 sed(1B)
