Re: Replace line in file based on pattern
On Sun, Jan 02, 2022 at 06:20:15PM -0500, The Wanderer wrote:
> If you mean that you want to only replace the first matching line in the
> file, but leave any subsequent matching lines alone... I've never
> actually had occasion to do that, but a bit of Googling (for 'sed first
> match only') found me
>
> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/148451/how-to-use-sed-to-replace-only-the-first-occurrence-in-a-file
>
> which looks like at least the seed of a way to do it; see also below.
Why does everyone think sed is an appropriate tool for this? It's
some sort of malevolent meme, I swear.
unicorn:~$ printf %s\\n foo foo foo | awk '!done && /foo/{$0="bar"; done=1} 1'
bar
foo
foo
Of course, given the ORIGINAL question, the best tool is neither of these.
It's something like ansible or puppet. Or if you insist on jury-rigging
crap together with stone knives and bearskins, ssh and patch.
See also <http://backreference.org/2011/01/29/in-place-editing-of-files/>.
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