sed replace content within double quotes

Question

I need to replace the versionName in a xml file from a shell script using sed.

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    package="com.example.sed"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="UNKNOWN VERSION NAME">

I've gotten so far as to search for a line containing versionName but how to tell sed to replace everything within the double quotes coming directly after versionName?

sed -i .old '/versionName/ s/WHAT TO WRITE?/NEW VERSION NAME/' AndroidManifest.xml

it would be better to use `xmlstarlet` – Aquarius Power Sep 25 '21 at 21:34 — Aquarius Power, Sep 25 '21 at 21:34

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 04 '15 at 07:06

8

Replace not-", like this:

sed -i .old '/android:versionName/ s/="[^"][^"]*"/="NEW VERSION NAME"/' AndroidManifest.xml

answered Jun 04 '15 at 07:06

lcd047

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Note that this depends on the line-breaks as entered in the question, with one attribute per line. If the XML gets reformatted and the non-significant whitespace is collapsed, then you'll need the attribute name to be part of the match and replacement: `s/\(android:versionName\)="[^"]*"/\1="NEW VERSION NAME"/` (I've also changed to permit empty string - again, just in case. – Toby Speight Jun 04 '15 at 07:40
1

@TobySpeight Well, there's always [this warning](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/701166/can-you-provide-some-examples-of-why-it-is-hard-to-parse-xml-and-html-with-a-reg). But assuming the OP has a tight control over how the XML is generated, it can still be done the easy way. – lcd047 Jun 04 '15 at 10:55

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 04 '15 at 08:15

Considering the nature of xml and the version number, it is actually very safe to use a simpler command:

sed -i '/versionName/s/".*"/"NEW VERSION NAME"/' AndroidManifest.xml

P.S. in my opinion, it is very important to be able to simplify your shell script based on specific circumstances and reasonable assumptions.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 04 '15 at 07:51

sed 's/\([[:blank:]]android:versionName="\)[^"]*"/\1Your New Value"/' YourFile

assuming that all section that have android:versionName will be changed
with GNU sed still better with replacing [[:blan:k]] by \(^\|[[:blank:]]\) (and a -i if direct modification avoiding temporary file)

sed replace content within double quotes

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