sed insert line command OSX

Question

I\'m trying to insert text to the third line in a file using sed, and the syntax I\'ve found on other forums is:

sed -i \'\' \"3i\\ text to insert\" file


        

Answer 1

Here's how to do it in one line syntax

sed -i '' -e "2s/^//p; 2s/^.*/text to insert/" file

• duplicate second line: 2s/^//p;

• replace new line with your text: 2s/^.*/text to insert/