9.3.3 Modifiers

After the optional word designator, you can add a sequence of one or more of the following modifiers, each preceded by a ':'.

h

Remove a trailing pathname component, leaving only the head.

t

Remove all leading pathname components, leaving the tail.

r

Remove a trailing suffix of the form '.suffix', leaving the basename.

e

Remove all but the trailing suffix.

p

Print the new command but do not execute it.

q

Quote the substituted words, escaping further substitutions.

x

Quote the substituted words as with 'q', but break into words at spaces, tabs, and newlines.

s/old/new/

Substitute new for the first occurrence of old in the event line. Any delimiter may be used in place of '/'. The delimiter may be quoted in old and new with a single backslash. If '&' appears in new, it is replaced by old. A single backslash will quote the '&'. The final delimiter is optional if it is the last character on the input line.

&

Repeat the previous substitution.

g

Cause changes to be applied over the entire event line. Used in conjunction with 's', as in gs/old/new/, or with '&'.