Batch Process files in VI

[ImCrunchy]

I'm completely new to scripting and I'm trying to figure out how to write a script that will get a list of all the files in a directory, drilling down through any subdirectories. When I have the list I want to open each file in VI and change the fileformat. So far all I have been able to figure out is that VI can do the batch processing and that "ls -R" gets me the recursive file list. I'm still pretty clueless on how to do the batch process with the VI editor. I think I'm supposed to use the Ex mode but I don't know how to get the list of arguments from the filelist into the editor so they can be processed.

If it matters the files were all written in a Windows editor and have gotten the MS carriage returns so I want to do a :set ff=unix command on all the files without having to go into each file manually, there are over 300 files that need updated.

Thanks for any advice.

[Freston]

If all you want to do is change the carriage return, then sed is your friend.

# Unix2DOS:
sed 's/$/\r/' UNIX_file > DOS_file

# DOS2Unix
sed 's/^M//' DOS_file > UNIX_file

# Or run it 'in place'
sed -i 's/^M//' file

And with find /path -exec $command '{}' \;
you can look through the directories and recursively convert all files in one go. Be sure to read the 'find' man page though.

[egan]

Your distro might have a dos2unix convertor already anyway. Try apropos to see if such a command exists, or installing it from your package manager.

[ImCrunchy]

Thanks guys. I'm unable to use my linux box for a few days but I'll try sed when I get home.