Question

How can I use sed to replace this line

char * path_list_[1] = { "/some/random/path" };

with this line

char * path_list_[2] = { "lib/foo", "lib/bar" };

in a file named source.c

Notes:
* The path is really random.
* Your solution should only change this line in source.c
* I’m only interested in a sed oneliner.

You can use this Python regex as a starting point:

text = re.sub('static const char \* path_list_\[1\] = \{ "[^"]*" \};', 
    'static const char * path_list_[2] = { "lib/sun", "lib/matlab" };', text)

Answer 1

Based on the Python regex you gave:

echo 'char * path_list_[1] = { "/some/random/path" };' | \
    sed -E -e 's/char \* path_list_\[1\] = \{ "[^"]*" \};/char * path_list_[2] = { "lib\/sun", "lib\/matlab" };/'

outputs

char * path_list_[2] = { "lib/sun", "lib/matlab" };

or alternately

echo 'static const char * path_list_[1] = { "/some/random/path" };' | \
    sed -E -e 's/static const char \* path_list_\[1\] = \{ "[^"]*" \};/static const char * path_list_[2] = { "lib\/sun", "lib\/matlab" };/'

outputs

static const char * path_list_[2] = { "lib/sun", "lib/matlab" };

(This is done using the FreeBSD-type sed included in Mac OS X.)