Replace all the lines between two lines using powershell

Question

I have a Config file and I want to replace all the lines between two lines using powershell Here is my code:

 $HttpPath = "C:\Oracle\Middleware\Oracle_Home\user_projects\domains\my_domain\config\fmwconfig\components\OHS\ohs1\httpd.conf"
 $NewLine = 'Options -Indexes'
 $Pattern = '(?<=<Directory />).*?(?=</Directory>)'
(Get-Content -Path $HttpPath -Raw) | ForEach-Object {
  $_ -replace $Pattern,$NewLine
 } | Set-Content -Path $HttpPath

Here is text of config the file:

 <Directory />
 AllowOverride none
 Require all denied
 </Directory>

I want to replace two lines of "Hi" and "Hello" with one line "Options -Indexes". Result should look like:

<Directory />
Options -Indexes
</Directory>

This script works if the file content be like:

<Directory /> AllowOverride none Require all denied </Directory>

Then Output be like:

<Directory />Options -Indexes</Directory>

But as the content of file splits in separate lines, this does not works.

If this is xml, it is better to treat it as such. Yet <Directory /> is a self-closed tag and </Directory> is a close tag... Anyways, you might try to use Get-Content -Raw to get the file as a single text [String] rather than an array of lines ([String[]]). — iRon
– iRon, Commented Apr 1, 2020 at 11:19
This script suppose to remove two lines between <Directory /> and </Directory> and replace it with "Options -Indexes". But now no changes get applied with the script. — Ritu
– Ritu, Commented Apr 1, 2020 at 11:38
<Directory /> is a start tag, and "/" here is a directory path. </Directory> is closing-tag for it. — Ritu
– Ritu, Commented Apr 1, 2020 at 11:40
This script applies the change if all the content present in one line. But does not work for multiple lines as mentioned in the problem statement. — Ritu
– Ritu, Commented Apr 1, 2020 at 11:46

AdminOfThings · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-01 12:33:27Z

0

You can do the following:

$Pattern = '(?s)(?<=<Directory />\r?\n).*?(?=</Directory>)'
$NewLine = "{0}{1}" -f 'Options -Indexes',[Environment]::NewLine
(Get-Content http.conf -raw) -replace $Pattern,$NewLine | Set-Content http.conf

Explanation:

Using the -Raw switch of Get-Content allows you to work with multiple lines without having to store previous line outputs. It reads the entire file as a single string instead of an array of strings.

The s modifier (used with syntax (?s)) is the single-line modifier. It allows the regex character . to match newline characters, which you will have since your target text is between two other lines.

The mechanism (?<=text) is a positive lookbehind assertion from the current position. It expects text to be behind the current position. \r?\n matches 0 or 1 carriage return and 1 newline. text will not be removed here.

The mechanism (?=text) is a positive lookahead assertion checking that text is ahead of the current position. text will not be removed here.

-f is the string format operator. This is not required, but it is a useful way to construct a string with programmable parts.

edited Apr 1, 2020 at 12:33

answered Apr 1, 2020 at 12:27

AdminOfThings

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2 Comments

Ritu Over a year ago

Thanks. This works. But the closing-tag is coming one step above with the new line added. How to shift that closing-tag to separate line?

AdminOfThings Over a year ago

That must mean [Environment]::NewLine is not working for you. You could replace it with "`r`n".

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