How to insert a line in a file between two blocks of known lines (if not already inserted previously), using bash?

Question

I wrote a bash script which can modify php.ini according to my needs.
Now I have to introduce a new change, and I cannot find a clear solution to it.

I need to modify php.ini in order to insert (if not already inserted previously)

extension="memcache.so" 

between the block

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Dynamic Extensions ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

and the block

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Module Settings ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

possibly just before the second one.
Can anyone help me please? Thanks in advance

EDITED: solved by using

if ! grep -Fxq 'extension="memcache.so"' 'php.ini'; then
    line=$(cat 'php.ini' | grep -n '; Module Settings ;' | grep -o '^[0-9]*')
    line=$((line - 2))
    sudo sed -i ${line}'i\extension="memcache.so"' 'php.ini'
fi

Parasiticide

Answer 1

Get the line number using grep -n:

line=$(cat php.ini | grep -n 'Module Settings' | grep -o '^[0-9]*')

Calculate the line to insert the text to:

line=$((line - 3))

Insert it using sed or awk. Examples to insert "newline" on line 45:

sed '45i\newline' file
awk 'NR==45{print "newline"}1'

Backwardation

Answer 2

This might work for you:

 sed '/^; Dynamic Extensions ;$/,/^; Module Settings ;$/{H;//{x;/extension="memcache.so"/{p;d};/;;;\n/{s//&extension="memcache.so"\n/p}};d}' file

This will insert extension="memcache.so" between ; Dynamic Extensions ; and ; Module Settings ; unless extension="memcache.so" is already present.

Literator

Nice, thank you. Anyhow, in this specific example, I need to add extension="memcache.so" unless the same extension hasn't been added before ... other extensions might be (and actually are) present. – Parasiticide

I think you mean "... if the same extension hasn't been added before". Have amended the solution to reflect your comment. – Literator

sorry! Yes: that what I meant :) .. your code now is adding extension="memcache.so" all the times even if already present .. – Parasiticide

Cut-n-paste caught me out! Had an extra =. Solution amended – Literator

Answer 3

You can use the following sed script:

/^;\+$/{
N
/^;\+\n; Module Settings ;$/i extension="memcache.so"
}

Basically it matches these lines:

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Module Settings ;

and inserts before them the desired string (extension="memcache.so")

Edelstein

sorry, I can't understand how to use your suggestion. Which would be the command to fire? – Parasiticide

@LucaBorrione Save the script in a file and execute sed -f <script.sed> php.ini. This will print to stdout, if you want to make the changes in place, use also -i. – Edelstein

Thank you it's working fine. Never done such a thing before. One never stops to learn. A great thank! – Parasiticide