How to recall search pattern when writing replace regex pattern in Vim? - regex

Here's the scenario: I've got a big file filled with all sorts of eclectic rubbish that I want to regex. I fiddle around and come up with a perfect search pattern by using the / command and seeing what it highlights.
Now I want to use that pattern to replace with. So, I start typing :%s/ and I cannot recall what the pattern was. Is there some magical keyboard command that will pull in my last search pattern here? If I'm writing a particularly complex regex, I have even opened up a new MacVim window, typed the regex from the first window into a buffer there, then typed it back into the Vim window when writing the replace pattern. There has got to be a better way of doing so.

Found my own answer after having written up the question: Vim tips lists it as substitute last search and can be done in one of two ways.
Using an empty search:
:%s//replace/g
By pressing Ctrl + r then / to recall the material from the search buffer (/ - you can use any other named buffer by substituting the / for the letter representing that buffer).

There is a / register that contains the current search pattern, so you can insert the search pattern into whatever you are typing (either in insert mode or on the command line) with <CTRL-R>/

Another option: after entering the pattern with <CTRL-R>/, edit the command line with <CTRL-F>.
:help cmdwin

Related

How do I join two regular expressions into one in Notepad++?

I've been searching a lot in the web and in here but I can't find a solution to this.
I have to make two replacements in all registry paths saved in a text file as follows:
replace all asterisc with: [#42]
replace all single backslashes with two.
I already have two expressions that do this right:
1st case:
Find: (\*) - Replace: \[#42\]
2nd case:
Find: ([^\\])(\\)([^\\]) - Replace: $1$2\\$3
Now, all I want is to join them together into just one expression so that I can do run this in one time only.
I'm using Notepad++ 6.5.1 in Windows 7 (64 bits).
Example line in which I want this to work (I include backslashes but i don't know if they will appear right in the html):
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\
I already tried separating it with a pipe, like I do in Jscript (WSH), but it doesn't work here. I also tried a lot of other things but none worked.
Any help?
Thanks!
Edit: I have put all the backslashes right, but the page html seem to be "eating" some of them!
Edit2: Someone reedited my text to include an accent that doesn't remove the backslashes, so the expressions went wrong again. But I got it and fixed it. ;-)
Sorry, but this was my first post here. :)
As everyone else already mentioned this is not possible.
But, you can achieve what you want in Notepad++ by using a Macro.
Go to "Macro" > "Start Recording" menu, apply those two search and replace regular expressions, press "Stop Recording", then "Save Current Recorded Macro", there give it a name, assign a shortcut, and you are done. You now can reuse the same replacements whenever you want with one shortcut.
Since your replacement strings are totally different and use data that come not from any capture (i.e. [#42]), you can't.
Keep in mind that replacement strings are only masks, and can not contain any conditional content.

Regular expression to remove comment

I am trying to write a regular expression which finds all the comments in text.
For example all between /* */.
Example:
/* Hello */
When I do this:/\*.*\*/, it behaves odd and nothing is shown. What is wrong with it?
EDIT: The comments can be spread across multiple lines
Unlike the example posted above, you were trying to match comments that spanned multiple lines. By default, . does not match a line break. Thus you have to enable multi-line mode in the regex to match multi-line comments.
Also, you probably need to use .*? instead of .*. Otherwise it will make the largest match possible, which will be everything between the first open comment and the last close comment.
I don't know how to enable multi-line matching mode in Sublime Text 2. I'm not sure it is available as a mode. However, you can insert a line break into the actual pattern by using CTRL + Enter. So, I would suggest this alternative:
/\*(.|\n)*?\*/
If Sublime Text 2 doesn't recognize the \n, you could alternatively use CTRL + Enter to insert a line break in the pattern, in place of \n.
I encountered this problem several years ago and wrote an entire article about it.
If you don't have access to non-greedy matching (not all regex libraries support non-greedy) then you should use this regex:
/\*([^*]|[\r\n]|(\*+([^*/]|[\r\n])))*\*+/
If you do have access to non-greedy matching then you can use:
/\*(.|[\r\n])*?\*/
Also, keep in mind that regular expressions are just a heuristic for this problem. Regular expressions don't support cases in which something appears to be a comment to the regular expression but actually isn't:
someString = "An example comment: /* example */";
// The comment around this code has been commented out.
// /*
some_code();
// */
Just want to add for HTML Comments is is this
\<!--(.|\n)*?-->
Just an additionnal note about using regex to remove comments inside a programming language file.
Warning!
Doing this you must not forget the case where you have the string /* or */ inside a string in the code - like var string = "/*"; - (we never know if you parse a huge code that is not yours)!
So the best is to parse the document with a programming language and have a boolean to save the state of an open string (and ignore any match inside open string).
Again a string delimited by " can contain a \" so pay attention with the regex!
You cannot write a regular expression that would be able to correctly find all comments, or even one type of comments - single-line or multiline.
Regular expressions can only provide a partial match, one that would would cover perhaps 90% of all cases, but that's it.
The syntax for regular expression is so complex, it is only possible to identify them correctly in 100% of cases by doing a full expression evaluation, which in turn is based on tokenizing the code. The latter is a huge task, which is implemented by all AST parsers today. See AST Explorer
Only a proper-written AST parser can tell you precisely where all regular expressions are located in your code. You would have to write a parser then based on that.
Or, you could use one of the existing libraries that already do all that, like decomment.
RegEx examples where any head-on approach is going to stumble, being unable to tell a regular expression from a comment block:
/\// - it will think this reg-ex is a single-line comment
/\/*/ - it will think this reg-ex opens a multi-line comment
The answer which user1919238 wrote works. Just corroborating that here, although the many upvotes probably do give you a clue.
It got rid of all these annoying block comments, put here just to show the usefulness/thank user1919238 for saving time:
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if you want to replace the obnoxious comment from flutter main.dart,
Press cmd +r on mac or cntrl+ r on windows,
type //.* into the box above, leave the box below empty
click .* on the replace dialog, to activate regex,
then click on replace all. this will remove all your comments, you can do this if you want to remove all comments in any file in a flutter.
Additional, to reformat the main.dart
press cmd+a on mac and cntrl+a on windows,
then press cmd+alt(option)+l or cntrl+alt+l, this will reformat the code.
I will attach a picture of the main. dart, the green .* at the top of the page is what you will press to activate the regex.

How to effectively search and replace in Vim by first "testing" or "preview" the search part?

Sometimes I want to search and replace in Vim using the s/search_for/replace_with/options format, but the search_for part becomes a complicated regex that I can't get right the first time.
I have set incsearch hlsearch in my .vimrc so Vim will start highlighting as I type when I am searching using the /search_for format. This is useful to first "test"/"preview" my regex. Then once I get the regex I want, I apply to the s/ to search and replace.
But there is two big limitation to this approach:
It's a hassle to copy and paste the regex I created in / mode to s/ mode.
I can't preview with matched groups in regex (ie ( and )) or use the magic mode \v while in /.
So how do you guys on SO try to do complicated regex search and replace in Vim?
Test your regex in search mode with /, then use s//new_value/. When you pass nothing to the search portion of s, it takes the most recent search.
As #Sam Brink also says, you can use <C-r>/ to paste the contents of the search register, so s/<C-r>//new_value/ works too. This may be more convenient when you have a complicated search expression.
As already noted, you can practice the search part with /your-regex-here/. When that is working correctly, you can use s//replacement/ to use the latest search.
Once you've done that once, you can use & to repeat the last s/// command, even if you've done different searches since then. You can also use :&g to do the substitute globally on the current line. And you could use :.,$&g to do the search on all matches between here (.) and the end of the file ($), amongst a legion of other possibilities.
You also, of course, have undo if the operation didn't work as you expected.
As the others have noted I typically use s//replacement/ to do my replacements but you can also use <C-r>/ to paste what is in the search register. So you can use s/<C-r>//replacement/ where the <C-r>/ will paste your search and you can do any last minute changes you want.
<C-r> inserts the contents of a register where the cursor is
The / register holds the most recent search term
:registers will display the contents of every register so you can see whats available.
Since Neovim 0.1.7 there is the Incremental (“live”) :substitute function. (so this only works in Neovim!)
To enable it set the incommand option:
:set inccommand=split
It was announced here: https://neovim.io/news/2016/11/

How can I match the beginning of a line in dreamweaver with regex?

Problem:
^.+ matches only the first line of the source code in dreamweaver. I need it to match each line so that I can wrap each full line in P tags. I have 500 files to do this in.
I know ^ should match the beginning of a line and I also know that multi-line mode must be enabled for it to work on each line and not just at the beginning of the file. I also know dreamweaver uses javascript source code.
Is lack of multi-line mode the problem? Is there any way to turn it on in dreamweaver? I tried using /m at the beginning search to enable multi-line mode, but that didn't work either.
I'm open to any solution for my current problem, even if it involves a different program. However, a fix for dreamweaver is ideal, 2nd place is a way to do this in notepad++, 3rd place is a way do to this in python or something (I only know javascript, you'll have to spell it out exactly in another language).
Thank you,
robert
p.s.
I found I can "select all > right click > selection > indent" to add two spaces to the beginning of each line in dreamweaver. This allows me to find the beginning of each line with / {2,}/. I really don't want to select all > indent on all 500 files, but i'm about to start since I've already spent a few hours bludgeoning dreamweaver.
Don't use Dreamweaver for this - use Notepad++ (since you are familiar with it) at its regular expression support is superior.
If you are comfortable with a more robust scripting language (Python, Ruby, Perl, etc.) then that would be an ever better way to do it.
The way that I might do this in DW would not involve using the find-replace tool's "Regular Expression" option, but instead using just plain old matching on a CrLf.
In the Find portion, since you can't directly enter a CrLf, you'll have to copy one to your clipboard beforehand and paste it in where needed.
In the Replace portion, replace with:
</p>[CrLf]
<p>
Again, be sure to paste in a proper "[CrLf]". This will work on all but the very first and very last lines of your document, so I know this isn't a 100% solution. There are probably better solutions using other tools that someone else can recommend!
Good luck!
-Mike
I had a flash of insight right after posting. (isn't that the way of it?)
Dreamweaver can find the end of each line with \r\n so instead of trying to work forward, i should have just worked backwards.
search: (.+)(\r\n)
replace: <p>$1</p>$2
[\w\W]* matches anything, including a newline. Its greedy, so it fact it matches everything.

Regex to change to sentence case

I'm using Notepad++ to do some text replacement in a 5453-row language file. The format of the file's rows is:
variable.name = Variable Value Over Here, that''s for sure, Really
Double apostrophe is intentional.
I need to convert the value to sentence case, except for the words "Here" and "Really" which are proper and should remain capitalized. As you can see, the case within the value is typically mixed to begin with.
I've worked on this for a little while. All I've got so far is:
(. )([A-Z])(.+)
which seems to at least select the proper strings. The replacement piece is where I'm struggling.
Find: (. )([A-Z])(.+)
Replace: \1\U\2\L\3
In Notepad++ 6.0 or better (which comes with built-in PCRE support).
Regex replacement cannot execute function (like capitalization) on matches. You'd have to script that, e.g. in PHP or JavaScript.
Update: See Jonas' answer.
I built myself a Web page called Text Utilities to do that sort of things:
paste your text
go in "Find, regexp & replace" (or press Ctrl+Shift+F)
enter your regex (mine would be ^(.*?\=\s*\w)(.*)$)
check the "^$ match line limits" option
choose "Apply JS function to matches"
add arguments (first is the match, then sub patterns), here s, start, rest
change the return statement to return start + rest.toLowerCase();
The final function in the text area looks like this:
return function (s, start, rest) {
return start + rest.toLowerCase();
};
Maybe add some code to capitalize some words like "Really" and "Here".
In Notepad++ you can use a plugin called PythonScript to do the job. If you install the plugin, create a new script like so:
Then you can use the following script, replacing the regex and function variables as you see fit:
import re
#change these
regex = r"[a-z]+sym"
function = str.upper
def perLine(line, num, total):
for match in re.finditer(regex, line):
if match:
s, e = match.start(), match.end()
line = line[:s] + function(line[s:e]) + line[e:]
editor.replaceWholeLine(num, line)
editor.forEachLine(perLine)
This particular example works by finding all the matches in a particular line, then applying the function each each match. If you need multiline support, the Python Script "Conext-Help" explains all the functions offered including pymlsearch/pymlreplace functions defined under the 'editor' object.
When you're ready to run your script, go to the file you want it to run on first, then go to "Scripts >" in the Python Script menu and run yours.
Note: while you will probably be able to use notepad++'s undo functionality if you mess up, it might be a good idea to put the text in another file first to verify it works.
P.S. You can 'find' and 'mark' every occurrence of a regular expression using notepad++'s built-in find dialog, and if you could select them all you could use TextFX's "Characters->UPPER CASE" functionality for this particular problem, but I'm not sure how to go from marked or found text to selected text. But, I thought I would post this in case anyone does...
Edit: In Notepad++ 6.0 or higher, you can use "PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expression) Search/Replace" (source: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/notepad-plus/?title=Regular_Expressions) So this could have been solved using a regex like (. )([A-z])(.+) with a replacement argument like \1\U\2\3.
The questioner had a very specific case in mind.
As a general "change to sentence case" in notepad++
the first regexp suggestion did not work properly for me.
while not perfect, here is a tweaked version which
was a big improvement on the original for my purposes :
find: ([\.\r\n][ ]*)([A-Za-z\r])([^\.^\r^\n]+)
replace: \1\U\2\L\3
You still have a problem with lower case nouns, names, dates, countries etc. but a good spellchecker can help with that.