Some metacharacters are valid for one program but not for another. Those that are available to a Unix program are marked by a checkmark (x) in Table 6-1. Items marked with a P are specified by POSIX; double-check your system's version. Full descriptions are provided after the table.
Symbol | ed | ex | vi | sed | awk | grep | egrep | Action |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
. | | | | | | | | Match any character. |
* | | | | | | | | Match zero or more preceding . |
^ | | | | | | | | Match beginning of line/string. |
$ | | | | | | | | Match end of line/string. |
\ | | | | | | | | Escape following character. |
[ ] | | | | | | | | Match one from a set. |
( \) | | | | | | Store pattern for later replay. a | ||
\n | | | | | | Replay subpattern in match. | ||
{ } | | | Match a range of instances. | |||||
\{ \} | | | | Match a range of instances. | ||||
\< \> | | | | Match word's beginning or end. | ||||
+ | | | Match one or more preceding. | |||||
? | | | Match zero or one preceding. | |||||
| | | Separate choices to match. | |||||
( ) | | | Group expressions to match. | |||||
a Stored subpatterns can be replayed during matching. See Table 6-2. |
Note that in ed , ex , vi , and sed , you specify both a search pattern (on the left) and a replacement pattern (on the right). The metacharacters in Table 6-1 are meaningful only in a search pattern.
In ed , ex , vi , and sed , the metacharacters in Table 6-2 are valid only in a replacement pattern.
Symbol | ex | vi | sed | ed | Action |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
\ | | | | | Escape following character. |
\ n | | | | | Text matching pattern stored in \ ( \ ). |
& | | | | | Text matching search pattern. |
~ | | | Reuse previous replacement pattern. | ||
% | | Reuse previous replacement pattern. | |||
\u \U | | | Change character(s) to uppercase. | ||
\l \L | | | Change character(s) to lowercase. | ||
\E | | | Turn off previous \U or \L . | ||
\e | | Turn off previous \u or \l . |