# man > inplace(3am)

[INPLACE(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/INPLACE/3am/markdown)                          GNU Awk Extension Modules                         [INPLACE(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/INPLACE/3am/markdown)



## NAME
       inplace - emulate sed/perl/ruby in-place editing

## SYNOPSIS
       gawk -i inplace ...

## DESCRIPTION
       The  _inplace_  extension  adds  two  functions named **inplace**___**begin()** and **inplace**___**end()**.  These
       functions are meant to be invoked from the _inplace.awk_ wrapper which is installed  when  _gawk_
       is.

       By  default, each named file on the command line is replaced with a new file of the same name
       whose contents are the results of running the AWK program.  If the user supplies an AWK vari‐
       able named [**inplace::suffix**](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/inplace%3A%3Asuffix/markdown) in a **BEGIN** rule or on the command line, then the _inplace_ extension
       concatenates that suffix onto the original filename and uses the result as a filename for re‐
       naming the original.

       For  backwards  compatibility,  the variable will also check **INPLACE**___**SUFFIX** (in the **awk** name‐
       space) for the suffix to use if [**inplace::suffix**](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/inplace%3A%3Asuffix/markdown) is not set.

       One can disable inplace editing selectively by placing [**inplace::enable](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/inplace%3A%3Aenable/markdown)=0** on the command  line
       prior  to files that should be processed normally.  One can reenable inplace editing by plac‐
       ing [**inplace::enable](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/perldoc/inplace%3A%3Aenable/markdown)=1** prior to files that should be subject to inplace editing.

## BUGS
       While the extension does attempt to preserve ownership and permissions, it makes  no  attempt
       to copy the ACLs from the original file.

       If the program dies prematurely, as might happen if an unhandled signal is received, a tempo‐
       rary file may be left behind.

## EXAMPLE
       gawk -i inplace '_script_' files ...
       gawk -i inplace -f _scriptfile_ files ...

## SEE ALSO
       _GAWK:_ _Effective_ _AWK_ _Programming_, [_filefuncs_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/filefuncs/3am/markdown), [_fnmatch_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/fnmatch/3am/markdown), [_fork_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/fork/3am/markdown), [_ordchr_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ordchr/3am/markdown),  _read__‐
       [_dir_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dir/3am/markdown), [_readfile_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/readfile/3am/markdown), [_revoutput_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/revoutput/3am/markdown), [_rwarray_(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rwarray/3am/markdown).

## AUTHOR
       Andrew Schorr, **<schorr@telemetry-investments.com>**.

## COPYING PERMISSIONS
       Copyright © 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual page provided the
       copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.

       Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual page under  the
       conditions  for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work is distrib‐
       uted under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.

       Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual  page  into  another
       language,  under  the above conditions for modified versions, except that this permission no‐
       tice may be stated in a translation approved by the Foundation.



Free Software Foundation                     Jun 26 2018                                [INPLACE(3am)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/INPLACE/3am/markdown)