Replace version number in file with sed in Bash script

Question

In my project.pro file I have:

DEFINES += VERSION=\\\"1.13.1\\\"

I'd like to replace whatever the current version number is, with a new one in a Bash script:

VERSION_MAJOR=1
VERSION_MINOR=14
VERSION_PATCH=1

sed -i "s/\([0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+\)/\1${VERSION_MAJOR}.${VERSION_MINOR}.${VERSION_PATCH}/" project.pro

Why is that not working?

So far I have managed to get either no matches at all or then some weird replace-only-the-last-number substitutions.

It's some Qt project file garbage so that the value gets correctly passed on to the compiler as a string. The compiler must get -DVERSION=\"1.13.1\". — juzzlin
– juzzlin, Commented Jan 6, 2020 at 18:12

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-06 18:26:07Z

1

You may use this sed:

sed -i.bak -E "s/[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+/$VERSION_MAJOR.$VERSION_MINOR.$VERSION_PATCH/" project.pro

Few problems in your attempt:

Without extended regex mode (-E), + cannot be used unescaped.
dot needs to be escaped in a regex
No need to use a capture group and back-reference \1.

PS: .bak is extension of backup file so that you can get original file, in case of a wrong substitution.

edited Jan 6, 2020 at 18:26

answered Jan 6, 2020 at 18:19

anubhava

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2 Comments

juzzlin Over a year ago

What is that .bak ? It doesn't matter if it's there or not.

anubhava Over a year ago

Added a note about .bak in answer.

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