Replace-InFiles

Search and replace a pattern in the given files by the replacement

Script

param([string]$pattern = "", [string]$replacement = "", [string]$filePattern = "")

function ReplaceInFile([string]$path, [string]$pattern, [string]$replacement) {
    [System.IO.File]::WriteAllText($path,
        ([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText($path) -replace $pattern, $replacement)
    )
}

try {
	if ($pattern -eq "" ) {         $pattern = Read-Host "Enter the text to search for, e.g. 'Joe' " }
	if ($replacement -eq "" ) { $replacement = Read-Host "Enter the text to replace with, e.g. 'J' " }
	if ($filePattern -eq "" ) { $filePattern = Read-Host "Enter the file search pattern, e.g. '*.c'" }

	$stopWatch = [system.diagnostics.stopwatch]::startNew()
	$files = (Get-ChildItem -path "$filePattern" -attributes !Directory)
	foreach($file in $files) {
		ReplaceInFile $file $pattern $replacement
	}
	[int]$elapsed = $stopWatch.Elapsed.TotalSeconds
	"? Replaced '$pattern' by '$replacement' in $($files.Count) files in $($elapsed)s."
	exit 0 # success
} catch {
	"?? ERROR: $($Error[0]) (script line $($_.InvocationInfo.ScriptLineNumber))"
	exit 1
}

Customize

pattern string

Specifies the text pattern to search for (ask user by default)

replacement string

Specifies the text replacement (ask user by default)

filePattern string

Specifies the file search pattern (ask user by default)