replace strings with sed

[minus0]

Hello All,

I am trying to replace a string in multiple files using sed but its not fully doing what I am trying to.
say I have myvariable=blah blah in multiple files, the value of myvariable is different in different files. I want to replace whatever the value of myvariable to TEMP1.
I tried
sed 's/myvariable=/myvariable=TEMP1/g' file1 > file1.new

but the result in file1.new was
myvariable=TEMP1blah blah

I need just myvariable=TEMP1

any help is appreciated.

 

[pmcmicha]

Do this:

sed "s/myVariable=oldstuff/myVariable=newstuff/g" file1 > file1.new

You weren't replacing the old value for the variable.

 

[minus0]

Do this:

> sed "s/myVariable=oldstuff/myVariable=newstuff/g" file1 > file1.new

> You weren't replacing the old value for the variable

oldstuff could be different in each file which is why I am looking at the variable to be replaced but not the value of the variable itself.

 

[CaKiwi]

You need to be able to specify what delimits blah blah. If it is the end of the line, use

sed "s/myVariable=.*/myVariable=newstuff/g" file1 > file1.new

CaKiwi

"I love mankind, it's people I can't stand" - Linus Van Pelt

 

[minus0]

thanks for the tip CaKiwi - that helped

 

[minus0]

ok, now running into a different issue

how do I refer to a variable from a sed script. for example,
#!/bin/ksh

fileName=temp

sed 's/UNIQUE_NAME=.*/UNIQUE_NAME=$fileName/' $File > $File.new

# mv $File.new $File

now when I do a diff on the File.new and File
I see that UNIQUE_NAME is having a value $fileName. How do I make sed to get the value of the variable fileName?

Thanks for any help

 

[CaKiwi]

Use double quotes instead of single quotes around the sed command.

CaKiwi

"I love mankind, it's people I can't stand" - Linus Van Pelt

 

[minus0]

never mind guys - figured it out. In case some one else runs into a similar issue I am including what I did to get it to work

old way
sed 's/UNIQUE_NAME=.*/UNIQUE_NAME=$fileName/' $File > $File.new

new
sed "s/UNIQUE_NAME=.*/UNIQUE_NAME=$fileName/" $File > $File.new

 

[PHV]

Try this:

sed 's/UNIQUE_NAME=.*/UNIQUE_NAME='"$fileName"'/' $File > $File.new && mv $File.new $File

or this:

echo '1,$s/UNIQUE_NAME=.*/UNIQUE_NAME='"$fileName"'/\nwq' | ex $File

Hope This Help
PH.