fast search and replace in all files

dbsurf · #1 (**permalink**) 01-25-2008

Hi

I need to find one string in all files and replace tht string with blank space and need to redirect all the files into the same directory again.

now i am using

find ./ -name "*.dmp" | xargs perl -pi -e 's/\\N//g' | sed 's/.$//g'

but now its not redirrecting properly .

its taking too much time for this operation.

Is there any way to search and replace very fast in all thousand files quickly without looping.

jim mcnamara · #2 (**permalink**) 01-25-2008

This removes \N, replaces it with " "and then chops off the last character of each line and inserts a space there. Do you know about dos2unix (or dos2ux)?

Code:

find ./ -name "*.dmp" | xargs perl -pi -e 's/\\N/ /g; s/.$/ /g'

If you want it to run faster try using background processes:

Code:

cnt=0
find ./ -name "*.dmp" |\
while read file do
  perl -pi -e 's/\\N/ /g; s/.$/ /g'  $file  &
  cnt=$cnt+1
  z=$(( $cnt % 10 ))
  if [[ $z -eq 0 ]] ; then
     wait
  fi
done 
wait

This runs ten process at the same time in background. And then waits for completion. The code you proivided does not replace the characters with a space

dbsurf · #3 (**permalink**) 01-25-2008

Hi its giving error message with the use above code
syntax error at line 7: ']' unexpected

vgersh99 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-25-2008

I've edited the original posting by Jim.

dbsurf · #5 (**permalink**) 01-25-2008

Hi

Is it working?

Is it possible to replace the below sed syntax also to the above xargs perl
scenario
sed -e :a -e '/;$/!N;s/\n//; ta' -e 's/;$//' file

KevinADC · #6 (**permalink**) 01-25-2008

Really, the requirements are ridiculous. There is no way to search and replace anything in thousands of files quickly. You might find some ways to faster than others, but nothing is going to be a magic bullet. I suggest you try perls inplace editor, it might be faster than sed although I don't really know.

dbsurf · #7 (**permalink**) 01-25-2008

Hi kevin

Do u know how to replace sed with perl in the below syntax

sed -e :a -e '/;$/!N;s/\n//; ta' -e 's/;$//' file

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