Visual Studio Code: How to automate a simple regex-find and replace? - regex

Question

I try to create a simple regex-find and replace task in Visual Studio Code.
Currently I copy from the AD some Users to a temporary file in Visual Studio code and remove the "CN=" at the beginning of the line and all the aditional informations after the first "," (regex: ,.*$). This works fine with Find&Replace in VSCode but I have manually to type it in every time I want to remove this.
So the question is, is it possible to automate this kind of task? I know there are some external tools (https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/tasks) but I'm struggling to get it working...
Edit: Example requested (my regex is working, that's not the problem:/. I need an example how to automate this task... )
EXAMPLE
CN=Test User,OU=Benutzer,OU=TEST1,OU=Vert,OU=ES1,OU=HEADQUARTERS,DC=esg,DC=corp
Expected Output
Test User

Answer 1

This extension does the job:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=joekon.ssmacro#overview
It seems like the regex adheres to:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions
Example
Create a file regex.json:
[{
"command": "ssmacro.replace",
"args": {
"info": "strip out EOL whitespace",
"find": "\\s+$",
"replace": "",
"all": true,
"reg": true,
"flag": "gm"
}
}]
"info" is just a reminder, doesn't do anything.
Set a shortcut in keybindings.json:
"key": "ctrl+9",
"command": "ssmacro.macro", "args": {"path": "C:\\...\\regex.json"}
You can batch multiple commands together [{...},{...}] which is useful for applying a whole set of regex operations in one go.

Answer 2

As of today, it seems it's still not possible without an extension. Here are 2 other extensions than the one proposed in the accepted answer (both are also open-source):
● Batch Replacer (but it doesn't work on the documents open in the editor : "you must have a folder open for editing and all files in it will be updated."*)
● Replace Rules: you simply add some rules in your settings.json (open the palette with F1 or ctrl+shift+p and select Preferences: open settings (JSON)).
"replacerules.rules": {
"Remove trailing and leading whitespace": {
"find": "^\\s*(.*)\\s*$",
"replace": "$1"
},
"Remove blank lines": {
"find": "^\\n",
"replace": "",
"languages": [
"typescript"
]
}
}

Answer 3

Extensions folder is : %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions

Answer 4

And here is an extension I wrote that allows you to save find/replaces in a file or searches across files as a named command and/or as a keybinding: Find and Transform. Using the OP's original question, make this setting (in settings.json):
"findInCurrentFile": { // in settings.json
"reduceUserEntry": {
"title": "Reduce User to ...", // will appear in the Command Palette
"find": "CN=([^,]+).*",
"replace": "$1",
"isRegex": true,
// "restrictFind": "selections", // default is entire document
}
},
You could also make that for searches across files with this setting:
"runInSearchPanel": {
"reduceUserEntry": {
"title": "Reduce User to ...", // will appear in the Command Palette
"find": "CN=([^,]+).*",
"replace": "$1",
"isRegex": true
// "filesToInclude": "${fileDirname}"
// "onlyOpenEditors": true
// and more options
}
}
As a standalone keybinding:
{
"key": "alt+r", // whatever keybinding you want
"command": "findInCurrentFile", // or runInSearchPanel
"args": {
"find": "CN=([^,]+).*",
"replace": "$1",
"isRegex": true
The extension can also run multiple finds/replaces - just put them into an array:
"find": ["<some find term 1>", "<some find term 2>", etc.
and the same with replacements, make an array of them.