4.43. How do I replace "C:\SOME\DOS\PATH" in a substitution?

For MS-DOS users, every backslash must be doubled. Thus, to replace "C:\SOME\DOS\PATH" with "D:\MY\NEW\PATH":

     sed "s|C:\\SOME\\DOS\\PATH|D:\\MY\\NEW\\PATH|g" infile >outfile

Remember that DOS pathnames are not case sensitive and can appear in upper or lower case in the input file. If this concerns you, use a version of sed which can ignore case when matching (gsed, ssed, sedmod, sed16).

       @echo off
       :: sample MS-DOS batch file to alter path statements
       :: requires GNU sed with the /i flag for s///
       set old=C:\\SOME\\DOS\\PATH
       set new=D:\\MY\\NEW\\PATH
       gsed "s|%old%|%new%|gi" infile >outfile
       :: or
       ::     sedmod -i "s|%old%|%new%|g" infile >outfile
       set old=
       set new=

Also, remember that under Windows long filenames may be stored in two formats: e.g., as "C:\Program Files" or as "C:\PROGRA~1".