# If you'd like to omit non-matching lines from the result; add ';d' to the end of the expression.
sed -E 's/(?<=\.{3})(\S+?)/i/gm;t' <<< " x <- c(
\".. ........ ....... \",
\"... ........ ....... \",
\". ..... ....... . .. ... .... \",
\".. ..... ........... .... \"
) "
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for SED, please visit: https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/manual/html_node/The-_0022s_0022-Command.html