Replace REGEX in Powershell

Question

I am trying to modify an HTML file using Powershell, but replacing [DISPLAY_NAME] is not possible because of the [ and ] symbols.

(Get-Content ".\hi4.htm") -replace '[DISPLAY_NAME]', 'tulpa' | Set-Content '.\hi4.htm'

But output looks like the following. Please check and help.

<httulpatulpa>
<botulpatulpa>
<ttulpabtulpatulpa tulpattulpatulpatulpa="wtulpatulpath: 579tulpax;" bortulpatulpar="5" ctulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpactulpatulpag="0" ctulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpag="0">
<tbotulpatulpa>
<tr>
<ttulpa tulpattulpatulpatulpa="fotulpat-ftulpatulpatulpatulpatulpa: Htulpatulpavtulpattulpactulpa, tulpartulpatulpatulpa, tulpatulpatulpatulpa-tulpatulpartulpaf; fotulpat-tulpatulpaztulpa: 18tulpax; wtulpatulpath: 577tulpax;" htulpatulpaght="64"><tulpatrotulpag>  [tulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpatulpa] </tulpatrotulpag>&tulpabtulpatulpa;<tulpatulpag tulpattulpatulpatulpa="fot

If you're literally replacing `'[DISPLAY_NAME]'`, you can do it with a string replace. You don't need regex to replcae a literal string. — erik258, Oct 29 '19 at 17:06
escape the brackets with backslash... e.g: `-replace '\[DISPLAY_NAME\]'` — Avshalom, Oct 29 '19 at 17:07
Instead of using the regex-enabled `-replace` operator, consider using the non-regex-enabled [`.replace()` method](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.string.replace?view=netframework-4.8). — Jeff Zeitlin, Oct 29 '19 at 17:12
This is XML or HTML. Don't parse it with a regex. Use a dedicated parser. — Daniel Mann, Oct 29 '19 at 17:28

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 29 '19 at 17:16

As the comments have indicated, there's no need to use the -replace operator (which uses the regex engine) for something as simple as this. Just use the normal String.Replace method.

(Get-Content ".\hi4.htm").Replace('[DISPLAY NAME]','tulpa') | Set-Content '.\hi4.htm'

If you insist on using regex, you need to escape the special characters in your string like this.

 (Get-Content ".\hi4.htm") -replace '\[DISPLAY_NAME\]', 'tulpa' | Set-Content '.\hi4.htm'

Thanks Ryan, It works for me. – Ravi Kiran Mekala Nov 19 '19 at 18:06 — Ravi Kiran Mekala, Nov 19 '19 at 18:06

codewario · Answer 2 · 2019-10-29T17:24:44.633

You absolutely can replace [DISPLAY_NAME], you just need to escape the [] when using the -replace operator. To use your provided code above, note the change below:

(Get-Content ".\hi4.htm") -replace '\[DISPLAY_NAME\]', 'tulpa' | Set-Content '.\hi4.htm'

You can also use the [string].Replace method as well, which does not use regex, just a string to look for to replace:

(Get-Content ".\hi4.htm").Replace('[DISPLAY_NAME]', 'tulpa') | Set-Content '.\hi4.htm'

Replace REGEX in Powershell

2 Answers2