sed question

[Jerry Peek]

In article <1492 at uwmacc.UUCP> jwp at uwmacc.UUCP (Jeffrey W Percival) writes:
> sed(1) allows you to give the script on the command line like this:
> 
> 	sed -e 'script' file1 > file2
> 
> Some of the sed commands, like a\ and i\ seem to need additional
> lines of input.  I know that if I use the "-f sedfile" option I
> can stash the commands in a file, but is there a way I can use
> "append" and "insert" with the -e option?

Yes, but the way you do it depends on which shell you're using.
For example, in Bourne or Korn shells, you can do:
	$ sed -e '1a\
	> hi\
	> there' file1 > file2
	$
(the >'s are Bourne-shell secondary prompts).

To avoid "Unmatched '." errors in the C-shell, you have to use extra
backslashes:
	% sed -e '1a\\
	hi\\
	there' file1 > file2
	%
(in this case, csh won't give a secondary prompt).

--Jerry Peek, UNIX Training Instructor, Tektronix, Inc.
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