Find and Replace

I hate using sed and xargs in tandem with find for doing mass replacements. There are multiple approaches one can take, the simplest being

find . -type f -exec sed -i 's/<find>/<replace>/g' {} +

However remembering this syntax and all its idosyncracies is annoying. So I was on the lookout for emacs native ways of approaching the same.

The first being using M-x rgrep:

1. Enter the search term
2. Then limit the search to files if needed
3. It presents you with a *grep* buffer
4. Use M-x grep-chage-to-grep-edit-mode to make the grep buffer editable
5. M-x replace-regexp to perform the find and replace

This modifies all the buffers but doesn’t save them, you can switch to ibuffer:

1. Type * u to mark all unsaved files
2. Save them all using S
3. Close them using D