Bash Script search and replace

Question

I have a bash script that isn't properly working, I am new to this type of coding. Any suggestions or help would be great.

I am attempting to change email addresses of an old user with a new user across our PuTTy platform. However not all directories have a certain file, I think there may be a problem with my IF statement. Here is the script I have attempted using:

#!/bin/bash
#set -x

for dirs in *
do
  echo $dirs
  cd $dirs/
  if [ -d "Seadont"]
  then 
   sed -i 's/USER1/USER2/g'
  ls
  fi
done

My results are not correct.

Second problem is that you need to pass an argument to sed — devnull
– devnull, Commented May 19, 2014 at 19:51
And don't need to run cd command since it will fail after first iteration. — anubhava
– anubhava, Commented May 19, 2014 at 19:52
And you don't specify a file name for sed to work on, so it will fail because the -i option cannot rename standard input. If you must use cd, use a sub-shell: ( cd "$dirs/"; ... ) so that when the sub-shell is complete, the original shell hasn't changed directory (so you can cd to another directory). You might do better with for dirs in */Seadont, too. — Jonathan Leffler
– Jonathan Leffler, Commented May 19, 2014 at 20:21

Tiago Lopo · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-19 20:24:55Z

1

Try this:

#!/bin/bash
#set -x

for dirs in * ;do
  echo $dirs
  if [ -d "Seadont"] ;then 
     sed -i.bak 's/USER1/USER2/g' $dirs 
   fi
done

Mind you that it won't work if there are white spaces on "$dirs". I can propose a better solution if it does, but I would need to know current directory.

answered May 19, 2014 at 20:24

Tiago Lopo

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