Linux® Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible

Chapter 16. Introducing sed and gawk

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Working with text files

• Discovering sed

• Exploring gawk

By far, one of the most common functions that people use shell scripts for is working with text files. Between examining log files, reading configuration files, and handling data elements, shell scripts can help automate the mundane tasks of manipulating any type of data contained in text files. However, trying to manipulate the contents of text files using just shell script commands can be somewhat awkward. If you perform any type of data manipulation in your shell scripts, you'll want to become familiar with the sed and gawk tools available in Linux. These tools can greatly simplify any data-handling tasks you need to perform.

Text Manipulation

Chapter 7 showed how to edit text files using different editor programs available in the Linux environment. These editors allow you to easily manipulate text contained in a text file, using simple commands or mouse clicks.

There are times though when you'll find yourself wanting to manipulate text in a text file on the fly, without having to pull out a full-fledged interactive text editor. In these situations, it would be useful to have a simple command line editor that could easily format, insert, modify, or delete text elements automatically.

The Linux system provides two common tools for doing just that. This section describes the two most popular command line editors used in the Linux world, sed and gawk.

The sed editor

The sed editor is ...