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:

• banana → nana, batman!
• bananananananana → nanananananana, 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. ↩