Learning Linux Shell Scripting - Second Edition

Changing – the c command

The c command is the change command. It allows sed to modify or change existing text with new text. The old text is overwritten with the new:

    $ cat shopping.txt
  

The output is as follows:

    Product     Quantity  Unit_Price  Total_Cost
    Apple        2         3           6
    Orange       2          .8         1.6
    Papaya       2         1.5         3
    Chicken      3         5          15
    Cashew       1        10          10
  

Here is an example:

    $ sed '/Papaya/c
      Papaya is out of stock today !' shopping.txt
  

The output is as follows:

    Product  Quantity  Unit_Price  Total_Cost
    Apple     2         3           6
    Orange    2         .8          1.6
      Papaya is out of stock today !
    Chicken   3        5           15
    Cashew    1       10           10
  

In this example, the line containing the expression Papaya is changed to the new line, Papaya is out of stock today!.