osx - Using sed to change text between tags -

i can't figure out how change changeme changed in file myfile.xml using sed, on mac.

<string name="mytag">changeme</string>

i tried:

sed -i -e "s/\(<string name=\"mytag\">\)\(<\/string>\)/\1changed\2/g" ./myfile.xml

but output silent. help?

there 2 problems:

you're using gnu sed syntax: in bsd sed, version used on osx, -i requires , argument, if empty string (to indicate no backup should created), you must use -i '' (note -i'' not work technical reasons).
- see here overview of differences between gnu , bsd sed.
you're not matching contents of element, as fedorqui points out in helpful answer.
- however, regular expression uses gnu syntax: quantifier \+ (for one or more matches) not supported in bsd sed.
- while can fix replacing \+ posix-compliant \{1,\}, suggest using extended regular expression -e instead - see below.

unless must remain posix-compliant (in case couldn't use -i), recommend using -e option activate support extended regular expressions:

extended regular expressions more powerful , work more you're used other languages (especially respect +, ?, , |); notably:
the syntax becomes cleaner (no need \-escape chars. such (, ), {, , }).

case in point: here's a corrected version of command using -e:

sed -i '' -e 's/(<string name="mytag">)[^>]+(<\/string>)/\1changed\2/g' ./myfile.xml

note i've switched single quotes around sed script, generally better choice:

you protect script possibly unwanted up-front interpretation (expansions) shell.
you won't have \-escape " instances.

Lix