Powershell: Recursively Replace String in Select Sub-files of a Directory

Question

I'm using Powershell on Windows XP and am trying to write a command that will:

1. read all .bat,.cfg, and .config files
2. replace a string (it's actually the path...these files were all moved)
3. overwrite the existing files with the new one (same name, same location, etc.)

I am not a Powershell user, but I have managed to piecemeal the following together:

gci -r -include "*.bat","*.config","*.cfg" 
    | gc 
    | foreach { $_ -replace "D:","C:\path" } 
    | sc ??.FullName

I'm fairly certain that I've taken care of #1 and #2, but am having trouble figuring out #3 (passing the filename to variable that can be referenced in sc). Any thoughts? Also, let me know if you need any additional information.

EDIT:

I managed to work out an answer (see below), but is there a better way to do this?

CB. · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-06 20:46:12Z

17

try:

gci -r -include "*.bat","*.config","*.cfg" |
 foreach-object { $a = $_.fullname; ( get-content $a ) |
 foreach-object { $_ -replace "D:","C:\path" }  | 
set-content $a }

edited Jul 6, 2012 at 20:46

answered Jul 6, 2012 at 20:38

CB.

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3 Comments

David C Over a year ago

Thanks! It works, though you missed a bracket after "C:\path".

Pxtl Over a year ago

Okay, this is a good fix, but the indenting here is really really difficult to read. If you leave a brace open, please indent!

René Nyffenegger Over a year ago

When I tried this, a BOM marker was added to the modified files.

Russell Munro · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-23 03:00:37Z

4

If you want to use the above code on ALL FILES use this code, note the top line:

gci -r *.* |
foreach-object { $a = $_.fullname; ( get-content $a ) |
foreach-object { $_ -replace "master81","master" }  | 
set-content $a }

if you leave out *.* you may get errors because you are trying to edit folders.

[Get-Content], UnauthorizedAccessException

answered Jul 23, 2019 at 3:00

Russell Munro

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Comments

David C · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-06 20:47:31Z

0

I recognized that I needed an extra variable. One way to do this is by integrating a for-loop into the outer portion of the command. I used:

foreach ($f in gci -r -include "*.bat") 
    { (gc $f.fullname) |
       foreach { $_ -replace "D:","C:\path" }  |
       sc $f.fullname 
    }

edited Jul 6, 2012 at 20:47

answered Jul 6, 2012 at 20:37

David C

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