sed question - UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

blowtorch · #2 (**permalink**) 10-05-2007

Does this help?

Code:

echo "a big black dog" | sed -e 's/big \(.*\) dog/small \1 cat/'
a small black eared cat

The \1 means that the first pattern that matches (.*) (any word) is put in. Similarly, another (second) matching pattern can also be put in. As an example:

Code:

echo "a big black eared dog ran away" | sed -e 's/big \(.*\) dog \(.*\)/small \1 cat \2/'
a small black eared cat ran away