Need help with SED command

[calredd]

Hi gurus,
I am struggling with a small sed command and thought I could use some of your expertise. I need to replace
the very first occurance of start and end brace with say for ex: XYZ. I have given example below. Appreciate your inputs.
Thanks
Carl

Input:

string (replace) after and after ( dont replace ) ; ( dont )
string (replace) after ( ) ; ( asdf )

string (replace) after and after ( dont replace ) ; ( not to be replaced )

******************************************************
Output:

string (XYZ) after ( stuff ) ; ( asdf )
decimal (XYZ) after ( ) ; ( asdf )

string (XYZ) and after ( stuff ) ; ( )

 

[PHV]

Something like this ?
sed 's!([^)]*)!(XYZ)!' /path/to/input > output

Hope This Helps, PH.
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ181-2886

 

[calredd]

Thank You. It works

 

[SamBones]

Just to add my 2 cents.

You could also put the number of the occurance that you wanted to change. Something like...

sed 's!([^)]*)!(XYZ)![b]1[/b]' /path/to/input > output

This means you can change the second or third occurrance only if you want...

sed 's!([^)]*)!(XYZ)![b]2[/b]' /path/to/input > output

This would change only the second parenthesis.