GNU bug report logs - #50361
Error in first example in documentation

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Robert Spanjaard <r.spanjaard <at> arumes.com>
To: bug-sed <at> gnu.org
Subject: Error in first example in documentation
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2021 20:26:19 +0200

On this website...

https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/manual/sed.html#Invoking-sed

In 2.1, the very first example in the documentation states that...

	sed 's/hello/world/' input.txt > output.txt

... replaces ALL occurences of 'hello' to 'world in input.txt.

But the g flag is missing. The provided command only replaces the FIRST 
occurence.

-- 
Kind regards,

Robert Spanjaard

Message #8 received at 50361 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Davide Brini <dave_br <at> gmx.com>
To: Robert Spanjaard <r.spanjaard <at> arumes.com>
Cc: 50361 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#50361: Error in first example in documentation
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2021 12:26:17 +0200

On Fri, 3 Sep 2021 20:26:19 +0200, Robert Spanjaard
<r.spanjaard <at> arumes.com> wrote:

> https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/manual/sed.html#Invoking-sed
>
> In 2.1, the very first example in the documentation states that...
>
> 	sed 's/hello/world/' input.txt > output.txt
>
> ... replaces ALL occurences of 'hello' to 'world in input.txt.
>
> But the g flag is missing. The provided command only replaces the FIRST
> occurence.
>

I guess it depends on how you interpret it...for the following input.txt:

----------
hello
foo
bar
hello
xxx
hello
----------

the given code does indeed replace all occurrences of "hello" to "world".
Perhaps the only thing that is needed is a slightly better wording.

--
D.

Message #11 received at 50361 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Davide Brini <dave_br <at> gmx.com>
To: Robert Spanjaard <r.spanjaard <at> arumes.com>
Cc: 50361 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#50361: Error in first example in documentation
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2021 18:44:46 +0200

(keeping the list in the loop)

On Sat, 4 Sep 2021 17:43:27 +0200, Robert Spanjaard
<r.spanjaard <at> arumes.com> wrote:

> I'm not a regular sed user. I had an HMTL file that had about 70 list
> elements on a single line, and I wanted to change that. So I thought I'd
> use sed to change every occurence of "li><li" into "li>\n<li".
>
> sed 's/<\/li><li>/<\/li>\n<li>/' list.html > formattedlist.html
>
> According to the manual, this should work. This is exactly what the
> manual tells me to do to replace *all* occurences in the file list.html.
>
> That is NOT a matter of interpretation.

Since I foresee this rapidly becoming a sterile discussion, I'll only add
this:

for files that do not have multiple occurrences of the same pattern on a
single line, the statement in the manual is correct. The only thing missing
is a note specifying just that.

Good luck with your replacements.

--
D.

Message #16 received at 50361-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Jim Meyering <jim <at> meyering.net>
To: Davide Brini <dave_br <at> gmx.com>
Cc: 50361-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Robert Spanjaard <r.spanjaard <at> arumes.com>
Subject: Re: bug#50361: Error in first example in documentation
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2021 12:07:31 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Sat, Sep 4, 2021 at 6:46 PM Davide Brini <dave_br <at> gmx.com> wrote:
>
>
> (keeping the list in the loop)
>
> On Sat, 4 Sep 2021 17:43:27 +0200, Robert Spanjaard
> <r.spanjaard <at> arumes.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm not a regular sed user. I had an HMTL file that had about 70 list
> > elements on a single line, and I wanted to change that. So I thought I'd
> > use sed to change every occurence of "li><li" into "li>\n<li".
> >
> > sed 's/<\/li><li>/<\/li>\n<li>/' list.html > formattedlist.html
> >
> > According to the manual, this should work. This is exactly what the
> > manual tells me to do to replace *all* occurences in the file list.html.
> >
> > That is NOT a matter of interpretation.
>
> Since I foresee this rapidly becoming a sterile discussion, I'll only add
> this:
>
> for files that do not have multiple occurrences of the same pattern on a
> single line, the statement in the manual is correct. The only thing missing
> is a note specifying just that.
>
> Good luck with your replacements.

Thank you both. I have addressed this and some related (and unrelated
things I noticed along the way) with the attached patch:

[0001-doc-tighten-clarify-wording-e.g.-re-g-modifier.patch (application/octet-stream, attachment)]

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