Question

I have a template file I want to copy and then edit from a script, inserting content at specific template points. For example, my template file might be something like,

...
rm -rf SomeDirectory
make install
#{INSERT-CONTENT-HERE}
do-something-else
...

In another script, I want to add content at “#{INSERT-CONTENT-HERE}” within a loop, i.e.

for i in c; do
  # Write content to the template file copy at the correct point.
done

I think sed is the right tool, but I’m not familiar enough to know the syntax, and the man page isn’t helping.

Answer 1

You can copy the output of all the commands into a temporary file and then copy the contents of that entire file into the template file:

TEMPFILE=`mktemp` && (
  for i in c
    echo "SomeTextBasedOn $i" >> $TEMPFILE
  done
  sed -i '/{INSERT-CONTENT-HERE}/r '$TEMPFILE targetfile
  rm $TEMPFILE
)