sed

Purpose

Copy a file to standard output after editing according to a set of commands.

Syntax

sed [options] [editing_commands] [file]

Options

-e’instructions’ applies the editing instructions to the file.

-f scriptfile applies editing commands from scriptfile.

-n suppresses default output.

Description

The sed command is known as the stream editor—it copies a file to standard output while applying specified editing commands. If you do not specify a file, it reads from the standard input. To use the stream editor, you have to learn its editing commands, which are very similar to the ones the ed editor uses (described in Chapter 11).