Find and Replace in Files

Replace the specified text in a list of files with new text.
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Updated 1 Sep 2016

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This utility will replace all string matches in the target files with a given string. This is similar to 'Replace all' in the editor, except that it can be used programmatically and on multiple files.
For instance, to replace all occurrences of 'abs' with 'mag':

>> find_and_replace('my_file.m', 'abs', 'mag')

Both the "match" and "replace" inputs can be regular expressions. For instance, we can replace all calls to sqrt(...) with my_sqrt(...), keeping the function's argument by using regular expressions.

>> find_and_replace(file_names, 'sqrt\((.*?)\)', 'my_sqrt\($1\)');

For more examples:

>> help find_and_replace;

Some knowledge of regular expressions is helpful, but not required, to use this tool. See 'Regular Expressions' in MATLAB's documentation.

Cite As

Tucker McClure (2024). Find and Replace in Files (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/42877-find-and-replace-in-files), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

MATLAB Release Compatibility
Created with R2013a
Compatible with any release
Platform Compatibility
Windows macOS Linux
Categories
Find more on Environment and Settings in Help Center and MATLAB Answers
Acknowledgements

Inspired: strrepfile

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Version Published Release Notes
1.1.0.1

Updated license

1.1.0.0

Updated trademarks.

1.0.0.0