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A simple mass search & replace tool

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sr

A simple mass Search & Replace tool.

To install:

$ brew install nvie/tap/sr

First search, then replace

The idea for sr is as follows: run it with just the -s (= search) flag first. You can preview the results and iterate on your regular expression until it produces the matches you're looking for. Then add the -r (replace) flag to write files.

Unless you specify explicit files/directories, it will only search and replace in files tracked by Git. It will never write to binary files.

$ sr -s 'banana'

Check if those results match your expectations, then add an -r 'replacement' string to replace them all:

$ sr -s 'banana' -r 'mango'

Please note that this is a destructive operation. It does not make a backup1. Please only use this on files checked into Git, and after checking the preview results (before adding the -r 'replacement' flag).

$ sr -s 'banana' -r 'mango'              # All files known to Git
$ sr -s 'banana' -r 'mango' src/         # All files under src/**
$ sr -s 'banana' -r 'mango' src/**/*.js  # JavaScript files only
$ sr -s 'banana' -r 'mango' README.md    # Just in README.md
$ sr -s 'banana' -r 'mango' .            # All files under this root

Regexes and match groups

The argument to -s is a regex.

Example:

$ sr -s 'ba(na)+' -r '$1, batman!'

Will replace:

  • banananana, batman!
  • banananananananananananananana, batman!

NOTE: A $ has special meaning in regexes as well as in most shells. Therefore, always quote the arguments to -s and -r with single (') quotes, so those $ will not get interpreted by your shell.

Another example, using named match groups:

$ sr -is '(?P<greet>hi|hello) (?P<name>.*?)!' -r 'Why ${greet}, ${name}!!'

Will replace:

  • hi Alice!Why hi, Alice!!
  • HELLO Bob!Why HELLO, Bob!!

Footnotes

  1. Yet. Perhaps I'll add this feature later.