using sed to replace two patterns within a larger pattern

Solution 1:

This command converts your input example to your output example:

sed 's|\\|/|g;s|^[^/]*|/enlistments|'

If some of your input contains backslashes in the portion after the /^.*([[:digit:]]+):/ part, then you will have to divide and conquer to prevent those latter backslashes from being replaced.

sed 'h;s/^.*([[:digit:]]\+)://;x;s/^\(.*([[:digit:]]\+):\).*/\1/;s|\\|/|g;s|^[^/]*|/enlistments|;G;s/\n//'

Explanation (steps marked with an asterisk ([*]) apply to both commands):

• h - copy the line to hold space
• s/^.*([[:digit:]]\+):// - delete the first part of the line from the original in pattern space
• x - swap pattern space and hold space
• s/^\(.*([[:digit:]]\+):\).*/\1/ - keep the first part of the line from the copy (discard the last part)
• s|\\|/|g - [*] change all the backslashes to slashes (in the divide-and-conquer version, only the portion in pattern space - the first part of the line - is affected)
• s|^[^/]*|/enlistments| - [*] change whatever appears before the first slash into "/enlistments" - this could be made more selective if needed
• G - append a newline and the contents of hold space onto the end of pattern space
• s/\n// - remove the interior newline