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author | Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org> |
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date | Sun, 23 Feb 2014 23:39:13 +0100 |
parents | 1dea14d4c738 |
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1 *pattern.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2014 Feb 08 |
7 | 2 |
3 | |
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar | |
5 | |
6 | |
7 Patterns and search commands *pattern-searches* | |
8 | |
9 The very basics can be found in section |03.9| of the user manual. A few more | |
10 explanations are in chapter 27 |usr_27.txt|. | |
11 | |
12 1. Search commands |search-commands| | |
13 2. The definition of a pattern |search-pattern| | |
14 3. Magic |/magic| | |
15 4. Overview of pattern items |pattern-overview| | |
16 5. Multi items |pattern-multi-items| | |
17 6. Ordinary atoms |pattern-atoms| | |
18 7. Ignoring case in a pattern |/ignorecase| | |
714 | 19 8. Composing characters |patterns-composing| |
20 9. Compare with Perl patterns |perl-patterns| | |
21 10. Highlighting matches |match-highlight| | |
7 | 22 |
23 ============================================================================== | |
3153 | 24 1. Search commands *search-commands* |
7 | 25 |
26 */* | |
27 /{pattern}[/]<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of | |
28 {pattern} |exclusive|. | |
29 | |
30 /{pattern}/{offset}<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of | |
31 {pattern} and go |{offset}| lines up or down. | |
32 |linewise|. | |
33 | |
34 */<CR>* | |
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35 /<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the |
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36 latest used pattern |last-pattern| with latest used |
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37 |{offset}|. |
7 | 38 |
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39 //{offset}<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the |
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40 latest used pattern |last-pattern| with new |
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41 |{offset}|. If {offset} is empty no offset is used. |
7 | 42 |
43 *?* | |
44 ?{pattern}[?]<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th previous | |
45 occurrence of {pattern} |exclusive|. | |
46 | |
47 ?{pattern}?{offset}<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th previous | |
48 occurrence of {pattern} and go |{offset}| lines up or | |
49 down |linewise|. | |
50 | |
51 *?<CR>* | |
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52 ?<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th occurrence of the |
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53 latest used pattern |last-pattern| with latest used |
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parents:
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54 |{offset}|. |
7 | 55 |
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56 ??{offset}<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th occurrence of the |
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57 latest used pattern |last-pattern| with new |
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58 |{offset}|. If {offset} is empty no offset is used. |
7 | 59 |
60 *n* | |
61 n Repeat the latest "/" or "?" [count] times. | |
62 |last-pattern| {Vi: no count} | |
63 | |
64 *N* | |
65 N Repeat the latest "/" or "?" [count] times in | |
66 opposite direction. |last-pattern| {Vi: no count} | |
67 | |
68 *star* *E348* *E349* | |
69 * Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the | |
70 word nearest to the cursor. The word used for the | |
71 search is the first of: | |
72 1. the keyword under the cursor |'iskeyword'| | |
73 2. the first keyword after the cursor, in the | |
74 current line | |
75 3. the non-blank word under the cursor | |
76 4. the first non-blank word after the cursor, | |
77 in the current line | |
78 Only whole keywords are searched for, like with the | |
79 command "/\<keyword\>". |exclusive| {not in Vi} | |
80 'ignorecase' is used, 'smartcase' is not. | |
81 | |
82 *#* | |
83 # Same as "*", but search backward. The pound sign | |
84 (character 163) also works. If the "#" key works as | |
85 backspace, try using "stty erase <BS>" before starting | |
86 Vim (<BS> is CTRL-H or a real backspace). {not in Vi} | |
87 | |
88 *gstar* | |
89 g* Like "*", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word. | |
90 This makes the search also find matches that are not a | |
91 whole word. {not in Vi} | |
92 | |
93 *g#* | |
94 g# Like "#", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word. | |
95 This makes the search also find matches that are not a | |
96 whole word. {not in Vi} | |
97 | |
98 *gd* | |
99 gd Goto local Declaration. When the cursor is on a local | |
100 variable, this command will jump to its declaration. | |
101 First Vim searches for the start of the current | |
102 function, just like "[[". If it is not found the | |
103 search stops in line 1. If it is found, Vim goes back | |
104 until a blank line is found. From this position Vim | |
105 searches for the keyword under the cursor, like with | |
106 "*", but lines that look like a comment are ignored | |
107 (see 'comments' option). | |
108 Note that this is not guaranteed to work, Vim does not | |
109 really check the syntax, it only searches for a match | |
110 with the keyword. If included files also need to be | |
111 searched use the commands listed in |include-search|. | |
112 After this command |n| searches forward for the next | |
113 match (not backward). | |
114 {not in Vi} | |
115 | |
116 *gD* | |
117 gD Goto global Declaration. When the cursor is on a | |
118 global variable that is defined in the file, this | |
119 command will jump to its declaration. This works just | |
120 like "gd", except that the search for the keyword | |
121 always starts in line 1. {not in Vi} | |
122 | |
523 | 123 *1gd* |
124 1gd Like "gd", but ignore matches inside a {} block that | |
125 ends before the cursor position. {not in Vi} | |
126 | |
127 *1gD* | |
128 1gD Like "gD", but ignore matches inside a {} block that | |
129 ends before the cursor position. {not in Vi} | |
130 | |
7 | 131 *CTRL-C* |
132 CTRL-C Interrupt current (search) command. Use CTRL-Break on | |
133 MS-DOS |dos-CTRL-Break|. | |
134 In Normal mode, any pending command is aborted. | |
135 | |
136 *:noh* *:nohlsearch* | |
137 :noh[lsearch] Stop the highlighting for the 'hlsearch' option. It | |
138 is automatically turned back on when using a search | |
139 command, or setting the 'hlsearch' option. | |
140 This command doesn't work in an autocommand, because | |
141 the highlighting state is saved and restored when | |
142 executing autocommands |autocmd-searchpat|. | |
1620 | 143 Same thing for when invoking a user function. |
7 | 144 |
145 While typing the search pattern the current match will be shown if the | |
146 'incsearch' option is on. Remember that you still have to finish the search | |
147 command with <CR> to actually position the cursor at the displayed match. Or | |
148 use <Esc> to abandon the search. | |
149 | |
150 All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set | |
151 the 'hlsearch' option. This can be suspended with the |:nohlsearch| command. | |
152 | |
3153 | 153 When no match is found you get the error: *E486* Pattern not found |
154 Note that for the |:global| command this behaves like a normal message, for Vi | |
155 compatibility. For the |:s| command the "e" flag can be used to avoid the | |
156 error message |:s_flags|. | |
157 | |
7 | 158 *search-offset* *{offset}* |
159 These commands search for the specified pattern. With "/" and "?" an | |
160 additional offset may be given. There are two types of offsets: line offsets | |
161 and character offsets. {the character offsets are not in Vi} | |
162 | |
163 The offset gives the cursor position relative to the found match: | |
164 [num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1 | |
165 +[num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1 | |
166 -[num] [num] lines upwards, in column 1 | |
167 e[+num] [num] characters to the right of the end of the match | |
168 e[-num] [num] characters to the left of the end of the match | |
169 s[+num] [num] characters to the right of the start of the match | |
170 s[-num] [num] characters to the left of the start of the match | |
171 b[+num] [num] identical to s[+num] above (mnemonic: begin) | |
172 b[-num] [num] identical to s[-num] above (mnemonic: begin) | |
667 | 173 ;{pattern} perform another search, see |//;| |
7 | 174 |
175 If a '-' or '+' is given but [num] is omitted, a count of one will be used. | |
176 When including an offset with 'e', the search becomes inclusive (the | |
177 character the cursor lands on is included in operations). | |
178 | |
179 Examples: | |
180 | |
181 pattern cursor position ~ | |
182 /test/+1 one line below "test", in column 1 | |
183 /test/e on the last t of "test" | |
184 /test/s+2 on the 's' of "test" | |
185 /test/b-3 three characters before "test" | |
186 | |
187 If one of these commands is used after an operator, the characters between | |
188 the cursor position before and after the search is affected. However, if a | |
189 line offset is given, the whole lines between the two cursor positions are | |
190 affected. | |
191 | |
192 An example of how to search for matches with a pattern and change the match | |
193 with another word: > | |
194 /foo<CR> find "foo" | |
5663
1dea14d4c738
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
5487
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195 c//e<CR> change until end of match |
7 | 196 bar<Esc> type replacement |
197 //<CR> go to start of next match | |
5663
1dea14d4c738
Update runtime files. Add support for systemverilog.
Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
5487
diff
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198 c//e<CR> change until end of match |
7 | 199 beep<Esc> type another replacement |
200 etc. | |
201 < | |
202 *//;* *E386* | |
203 A very special offset is ';' followed by another search command. For example: > | |
204 | |
205 /test 1/;/test | |
206 /test.*/+1;?ing? | |
207 | |
208 The first one first finds the next occurrence of "test 1", and then the first | |
209 occurrence of "test" after that. | |
210 | |
211 This is like executing two search commands after each other, except that: | |
212 - It can be used as a single motion command after an operator. | |
213 - The direction for a following "n" or "N" command comes from the first | |
214 search command. | |
215 - When an error occurs the cursor is not moved at all. | |
216 | |
217 *last-pattern* | |
218 The last used pattern and offset are remembered. They can be used to repeat | |
219 the search, possibly in another direction or with another count. Note that | |
220 two patterns are remembered: One for 'normal' search commands and one for the | |
221 substitute command ":s". Each time an empty pattern is given, the previously | |
2725 | 222 used pattern is used. However, if there is no previous search command, a |
223 previous substitute pattern is used, if possible. | |
7 | 224 |
225 The 'magic' option sticks with the last used pattern. If you change 'magic', | |
226 this will not change how the last used pattern will be interpreted. | |
227 The 'ignorecase' option does not do this. When 'ignorecase' is changed, it | |
228 will result in the pattern to match other text. | |
229 | |
230 All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set | |
231 the 'hlsearch' option. | |
232 | |
233 To clear the last used search pattern: > | |
234 :let @/ = "" | |
235 This will not set the pattern to an empty string, because that would match | |
236 everywhere. The pattern is really cleared, like when starting Vim. | |
237 | |
133 | 238 The search usually skips matches that don't move the cursor. Whether the next |
7 | 239 match is found at the next character or after the skipped match depends on the |
240 'c' flag in 'cpoptions'. See |cpo-c|. | |
241 with 'c' flag: "/..." advances 1 to 3 characters | |
242 without 'c' flag: "/..." advances 1 character | |
243 The unpredictability with the 'c' flag is caused by starting the search in the | |
244 first column, skipping matches until one is found past the cursor position. | |
245 | |
133 | 246 When searching backwards, searching starts at the start of the line, using the |
247 'c' flag in 'cpoptions' as described above. Then the last match before the | |
248 cursor position is used. | |
249 | |
7 | 250 In Vi the ":tag" command sets the last search pattern when the tag is searched |
251 for. In Vim this is not done, the previous search pattern is still remembered, | |
252 unless the 't' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. The search pattern is always | |
253 put in the search history. | |
254 | |
255 If the 'wrapscan' option is on (which is the default), searches wrap around | |
256 the end of the buffer. If 'wrapscan' is not set, the backward search stops | |
257 at the beginning and the forward search stops at the end of the buffer. If | |
258 'wrapscan' is set and the pattern was not found the error message "pattern | |
259 not found" is given, and the cursor will not be moved. If 'wrapscan' is not | |
260 set the message becomes "search hit BOTTOM without match" when searching | |
261 forward, or "search hit TOP without match" when searching backward. If | |
262 wrapscan is set and the search wraps around the end of the file the message | |
263 "search hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" or "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at | |
264 TOP" is given when searching backwards or forwards respectively. This can be | |
265 switched off by setting the 's' flag in the 'shortmess' option. The highlight | |
266 method 'w' is used for this message (default: standout). | |
267 | |
268 *search-range* | |
625 | 269 You can limit the search command "/" to a certain range of lines by including |
270 \%>l items. For example, to match the word "limit" below line 199 and above | |
271 line 300: > | |
272 /\%>199l\%<300llimit | |
273 Also see |/\%>l|. | |
274 | |
275 Another way is to use the ":substitute" command with the 'c' flag. Example: > | |
7 | 276 :.,300s/Pattern//gc |
277 This command will search from the cursor position until line 300 for | |
278 "Pattern". At the match, you will be asked to type a character. Type 'q' to | |
279 stop at this match, type 'n' to find the next match. | |
280 | |
281 The "*", "#", "g*" and "g#" commands look for a word near the cursor in this | |
282 order, the first one that is found is used: | |
283 - The keyword currently under the cursor. | |
284 - The first keyword to the right of the cursor, in the same line. | |
285 - The WORD currently under the cursor. | |
286 - The first WORD to the right of the cursor, in the same line. | |
287 The keyword may only contain letters and characters in 'iskeyword'. | |
288 The WORD may contain any non-blanks (<Tab>s and/or <Space>s). | |
289 Note that if you type with ten fingers, the characters are easy to remember: | |
290 the "#" is under your left hand middle finger (search to the left and up) and | |
291 the "*" is under your right hand middle finger (search to the right and down). | |
292 (this depends on your keyboard layout though). | |
293 | |
294 ============================================================================== | |
295 2. The definition of a pattern *search-pattern* *pattern* *[pattern]* | |
296 *regular-expression* *regexp* *Pattern* | |
190 | 297 *E76* *E383* *E476* |
7 | 298 |
299 For starters, read chapter 27 of the user manual |usr_27.txt|. | |
300 | |
301 */bar* */\bar* */pattern* | |
302 1. A pattern is one or more branches, separated by "\|". It matches anything | |
303 that matches one of the branches. Example: "foo\|beep" matches "foo" and | |
304 matches "beep". If more than one branch matches, the first one is used. | |
305 | |
306 pattern ::= branch | |
307 or branch \| branch | |
308 or branch \| branch \| branch | |
309 etc. | |
310 | |
311 */branch* */\&* | |
312 2. A branch is one or more concats, separated by "\&". It matches the last | |
313 concat, but only if all the preceding concats also match at the same | |
314 position. Examples: | |
315 "foobeep\&..." matches "foo" in "foobeep". | |
316 ".*Peter\&.*Bob" matches in a line containing both "Peter" and "Bob" | |
317 | |
318 branch ::= concat | |
319 or concat \& concat | |
320 or concat \& concat \& concat | |
321 etc. | |
322 | |
323 */concat* | |
324 3. A concat is one or more pieces, concatenated. It matches a match for the | |
325 first piece, followed by a match for the second piece, etc. Example: | |
326 "f[0-9]b", first matches "f", then a digit and then "b". | |
327 | |
328 concat ::= piece | |
329 or piece piece | |
330 or piece piece piece | |
331 etc. | |
332 | |
333 */piece* | |
334 4. A piece is an atom, possibly followed by a multi, an indication of how many | |
335 times the atom can be matched. Example: "a*" matches any sequence of "a" | |
336 characters: "", "a", "aa", etc. See |/multi|. | |
337 | |
338 piece ::= atom | |
339 or atom multi | |
340 | |
341 */atom* | |
342 5. An atom can be one of a long list of items. Many atoms match one character | |
343 in the text. It is often an ordinary character or a character class. | |
344 Braces can be used to make a pattern into an atom. The "\z(\)" construct | |
345 is only for syntax highlighting. | |
346 | |
347 atom ::= ordinary-atom |/ordinary-atom| | |
348 or \( pattern \) |/\(| | |
349 or \%( pattern \) |/\%(| | |
350 or \z( pattern \) |/\z(| | |
351 | |
352 | |
5146 | 353 */\%#=* *two-engines* *NFA* |
4444 | 354 Vim includes two regexp engines: |
355 1. An old, backtracking engine that supports everything. | |
356 2. A new, NFA engine that works much faster on some patterns, but does not | |
357 support everything. | |
358 | |
359 Vim will automatically select the right engine for you. However, if you run | |
360 into a problem or want to specifically select one engine or the other, you can | |
361 prepend one of the following to the pattern: | |
362 | |
363 \%#=0 Force automatic selection. Only has an effect when | |
364 'regexpengine' has been set to a non-zero value. | |
365 \%#=1 Force using the old engine. | |
366 \%#=2 Force using the NFA engine. | |
367 | |
368 You can also use the 'regexpengine' option to change the default. | |
369 | |
370 *E864* *E868* *E874* *E875* *E876* *E877* *E878* | |
371 If selecting the NFA engine and it runs into something that is not implemented | |
372 the pattern will not match. This is only useful when debugging Vim. | |
373 | |
7 | 374 ============================================================================== |
840 | 375 3. Magic */magic* |
376 | |
377 Some characters in the pattern are taken literally. They match with the same | |
378 character in the text. When preceded with a backslash however, these | |
379 characters get a special meaning. | |
380 | |
381 Other characters have a special meaning without a backslash. They need to be | |
382 preceded with a backslash to match literally. | |
383 | |
384 If a character is taken literally or not depends on the 'magic' option and the | |
385 items mentioned next. | |
386 */\m* */\M* | |
387 Use of "\m" makes the pattern after it be interpreted as if 'magic' is set, | |
388 ignoring the actual value of the 'magic' option. | |
389 Use of "\M" makes the pattern after it be interpreted as if 'nomagic' is used. | |
390 */\v* */\V* | |
391 Use of "\v" means that in the pattern after it all ASCII characters except | |
392 '0'-'9', 'a'-'z', 'A'-'Z' and '_' have a special meaning. "very magic" | |
393 | |
394 Use of "\V" means that in the pattern after it only the backslash has a | |
395 special meaning. "very nomagic" | |
396 | |
397 Examples: | |
398 after: \v \m \M \V matches ~ | |
399 'magic' 'nomagic' | |
400 $ $ $ \$ matches end-of-line | |
401 . . \. \. matches any character | |
402 * * \* \* any number of the previous atom | |
403 () \(\) \(\) \(\) grouping into an atom | |
404 | \| \| \| separating alternatives | |
405 \a \a \a \a alphabetic character | |
406 \\ \\ \\ \\ literal backslash | |
407 \. \. . . literal dot | |
408 \{ { { { literal '{' | |
409 a a a a literal 'a' | |
410 | |
411 {only Vim supports \m, \M, \v and \V} | |
412 | |
413 It is recommended to always keep the 'magic' option at the default setting, | |
414 which is 'magic'. This avoids portability problems. To make a pattern immune | |
415 to the 'magic' option being set or not, put "\m" or "\M" at the start of the | |
416 pattern. | |
417 | |
418 ============================================================================== | |
7 | 419 4. Overview of pattern items *pattern-overview* |
4444 | 420 *E865* *E866* *E867* *E869* |
7 | 421 |
422 Overview of multi items. */multi* *E61* *E62* | |
4444 | 423 More explanation and examples below, follow the links. *E64* *E871* |
7 | 424 |
425 multi ~ | |
426 'magic' 'nomagic' matches of the preceding atom ~ | |
427 |/star| * \* 0 or more as many as possible | |
428 |/\+| \+ \+ 1 or more as many as possible (*) | |
429 |/\=| \= \= 0 or 1 as many as possible (*) | |
430 |/\?| \? \? 0 or 1 as many as possible (*) | |
431 | |
432 |/\{| \{n,m} \{n,m} n to m as many as possible (*) | |
433 \{n} \{n} n exactly (*) | |
434 \{n,} \{n,} at least n as many as possible (*) | |
435 \{,m} \{,m} 0 to m as many as possible (*) | |
436 \{} \{} 0 or more as many as possible (same as *) (*) | |
437 | |
438 |/\{-| \{-n,m} \{-n,m} n to m as few as possible (*) | |
439 \{-n} \{-n} n exactly (*) | |
440 \{-n,} \{-n,} at least n as few as possible (*) | |
441 \{-,m} \{-,m} 0 to m as few as possible (*) | |
442 \{-} \{-} 0 or more as few as possible (*) | |
443 | |
444 *E59* | |
445 |/\@>| \@> \@> 1, like matching a whole pattern (*) | |
446 |/\@=| \@= \@= nothing, requires a match |/zero-width| (*) | |
447 |/\@!| \@! \@! nothing, requires NO match |/zero-width| (*) | |
448 |/\@<=| \@<= \@<= nothing, requires a match behind |/zero-width| (*) | |
449 |/\@<!| \@<! \@<! nothing, requires NO match behind |/zero-width| (*) | |
450 | |
451 (*) {not in Vi} | |
452 | |
453 | |
454 Overview of ordinary atoms. */ordinary-atom* | |
455 More explanation and examples below, follow the links. | |
456 | |
457 ordinary atom ~ | |
458 magic nomagic matches ~ | |
459 |/^| ^ ^ start-of-line (at start of pattern) |/zero-width| | |
460 |/\^| \^ \^ literal '^' | |
461 |/\_^| \_^ \_^ start-of-line (used anywhere) |/zero-width| | |
462 |/$| $ $ end-of-line (at end of pattern) |/zero-width| | |
463 |/\$| \$ \$ literal '$' | |
464 |/\_$| \_$ \_$ end-of-line (used anywhere) |/zero-width| | |
465 |/.| . \. any single character (not an end-of-line) | |
466 |/\_.| \_. \_. any single character or end-of-line | |
467 |/\<| \< \< beginning of a word |/zero-width| | |
468 |/\>| \> \> end of a word |/zero-width| | |
469 |/\zs| \zs \zs anything, sets start of match | |
470 |/\ze| \ze \ze anything, sets end of match | |
471 |/\%^| \%^ \%^ beginning of file |/zero-width| *E71* | |
472 |/\%$| \%$ \%$ end of file |/zero-width| | |
640 | 473 |/\%V| \%V \%V inside Visual area |/zero-width| |
7 | 474 |/\%#| \%# \%# cursor position |/zero-width| |
640 | 475 |/\%'m| \%'m \%'m mark m position |/zero-width| |
7 | 476 |/\%l| \%23l \%23l in line 23 |/zero-width| |
477 |/\%c| \%23c \%23c in column 23 |/zero-width| | |
478 |/\%v| \%23v \%23v in virtual column 23 |/zero-width| | |
479 | |
20 | 480 Character classes {not in Vi}: */character-classes* |
7 | 481 |/\i| \i \i identifier character (see 'isident' option) |
482 |/\I| \I \I like "\i", but excluding digits | |
483 |/\k| \k \k keyword character (see 'iskeyword' option) | |
484 |/\K| \K \K like "\k", but excluding digits | |
485 |/\f| \f \f file name character (see 'isfname' option) | |
486 |/\F| \F \F like "\f", but excluding digits | |
487 |/\p| \p \p printable character (see 'isprint' option) | |
488 |/\P| \P \P like "\p", but excluding digits | |
489 |/\s| \s \s whitespace character: <Space> and <Tab> | |
490 |/\S| \S \S non-whitespace character; opposite of \s | |
491 |/\d| \d \d digit: [0-9] | |
492 |/\D| \D \D non-digit: [^0-9] | |
493 |/\x| \x \x hex digit: [0-9A-Fa-f] | |
494 |/\X| \X \X non-hex digit: [^0-9A-Fa-f] | |
495 |/\o| \o \o octal digit: [0-7] | |
496 |/\O| \O \O non-octal digit: [^0-7] | |
497 |/\w| \w \w word character: [0-9A-Za-z_] | |
498 |/\W| \W \W non-word character: [^0-9A-Za-z_] | |
499 |/\h| \h \h head of word character: [A-Za-z_] | |
500 |/\H| \H \H non-head of word character: [^A-Za-z_] | |
501 |/\a| \a \a alphabetic character: [A-Za-z] | |
502 |/\A| \A \A non-alphabetic character: [^A-Za-z] | |
503 |/\l| \l \l lowercase character: [a-z] | |
504 |/\L| \L \L non-lowercase character: [^a-z] | |
505 |/\u| \u \u uppercase character: [A-Z] | |
506 |/\U| \U \U non-uppercase character [^A-Z] | |
507 |/\_| \_x \_x where x is any of the characters above: character | |
508 class with end-of-line included | |
509 (end of character classes) | |
510 | |
511 |/\e| \e \e <Esc> | |
512 |/\t| \t \t <Tab> | |
513 |/\r| \r \r <CR> | |
514 |/\b| \b \b <BS> | |
515 |/\n| \n \n end-of-line | |
516 |/~| ~ \~ last given substitute string | |
517 |/\1| \1 \1 same string as matched by first \(\) {not in Vi} | |
518 |/\2| \2 \2 Like "\1", but uses second \(\) | |
519 ... | |
520 |/\9| \9 \9 Like "\1", but uses ninth \(\) | |
521 *E68* | |
522 |/\z1| \z1 \z1 only for syntax highlighting, see |:syn-ext-match| | |
523 ... | |
524 |/\z1| \z9 \z9 only for syntax highlighting, see |:syn-ext-match| | |
525 | |
526 x x a character with no special meaning matches itself | |
527 | |
528 |/[]| [] \[] any character specified inside the [] | |
4119 | 529 |/\%[]| \%[] \%[] a sequence of optionally matched atoms |
7 | 530 |
1620 | 531 |/\c| \c \c ignore case, do not use the 'ignorecase' option |
532 |/\C| \C \C match case, do not use the 'ignorecase' option | |
4444 | 533 |/\Z| \Z \Z ignore differences in Unicode "combining characters". |
534 Useful when searching voweled Hebrew or Arabic text. | |
535 | |
7 | 536 |/\m| \m \m 'magic' on for the following chars in the pattern |
537 |/\M| \M \M 'magic' off for the following chars in the pattern | |
538 |/\v| \v \v the following chars in the pattern are "very magic" | |
539 |/\V| \V \V the following chars in the pattern are "very nomagic" | |
4444 | 540 |/\%#=| \%#=1 \%#=1 select regexp engine |/zero-width| |
7 | 541 |
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542 |/\%d| \%d \%d match specified decimal character (eg \%d123) |
24 | 543 |/\%x| \%x \%x match specified hex character (eg \%x2a) |
544 |/\%o| \%o \%o match specified octal character (eg \%o040) | |
545 |/\%u| \%u \%u match specified multibyte character (eg \%u20ac) | |
546 |/\%U| \%U \%U match specified large multibyte character (eg | |
547 \%U12345678) | |
7 | 548 |
549 Example matches ~ | |
550 \<\I\i* or | |
551 \<\h\w* | |
552 \<[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]* | |
553 An identifier (e.g., in a C program). | |
554 | |
555 \(\.$\|\. \) A period followed by <EOL> or a space. | |
556 | |
557 [.!?][])"']*\($\|[ ]\) A search pattern that finds the end of a sentence, | |
558 with almost the same definition as the ")" command. | |
559 | |
560 cat\Z Both "cat" and "càt" ("a" followed by 0x0300) | |
561 Does not match "càt" (character 0x00e0), even | |
562 though it may look the same. | |
563 | |
564 | |
565 ============================================================================== | |
566 5. Multi items *pattern-multi-items* | |
567 | |
568 An atom can be followed by an indication of how many times the atom can be | |
569 matched and in what way. This is called a multi. See |/multi| for an | |
570 overview. | |
571 | |
572 */star* */\star* *E56* | |
573 * (use \* when 'magic' is not set) | |
574 Matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible. | |
575 Example 'nomagic' matches ~ | |
576 a* a\* "", "a", "aa", "aaa", etc. | |
577 .* \.\* anything, also an empty string, no end-of-line | |
578 \_.* \_.\* everything up to the end of the buffer | |
579 \_.*END \_.\*END everything up to and including the last "END" | |
580 in the buffer | |
581 | |
582 Exception: When "*" is used at the start of the pattern or just after | |
583 "^" it matches the star character. | |
584 | |
585 Be aware that repeating "\_." can match a lot of text and take a long | |
586 time. For example, "\_.*END" matches all text from the current | |
587 position to the last occurrence of "END" in the file. Since the "*" | |
588 will match as many as possible, this first skips over all lines until | |
589 the end of the file and then tries matching "END", backing up one | |
590 character at a time. | |
591 | |
592 */\+* *E57* | |
593 \+ Matches 1 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible. {not in | |
594 Vi} | |
595 Example matches ~ | |
596 ^.\+$ any non-empty line | |
597 \s\+ white space of at least one character | |
598 | |
599 */\=* | |
600 \= Matches 0 or 1 of the preceding atom, as many as possible. {not in Vi} | |
601 Example matches ~ | |
602 foo\= "fo" and "foo" | |
603 | |
604 */\?* | |
605 \? Just like \=. Cannot be used when searching backwards with the "?" | |
606 command. {not in Vi} | |
607 | |
4444 | 608 */\{* *E58* *E60* *E554* *E870* |
7 | 609 \{n,m} Matches n to m of the preceding atom, as many as possible |
610 \{n} Matches n of the preceding atom | |
611 \{n,} Matches at least n of the preceding atom, as many as possible | |
612 \{,m} Matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as many as possible | |
613 \{} Matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible (like *) | |
614 */\{-* | |
615 \{-n,m} matches n to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
616 \{-n} matches n of the preceding atom | |
617 \{-n,} matches at least n of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
618 \{-,m} matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
619 \{-} matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
620 {Vi does not have any of these} | |
621 | |
168 | 622 n and m are positive decimal numbers or zero |
1125 | 623 *non-greedy* |
7 | 624 If a "-" appears immediately after the "{", then a shortest match |
625 first algorithm is used (see example below). In particular, "\{-}" is | |
626 the same as "*" but uses the shortest match first algorithm. BUT: A | |
627 match that starts earlier is preferred over a shorter match: "a\{-}b" | |
628 matches "aaab" in "xaaab". | |
629 | |
630 Example matches ~ | |
631 ab\{2,3}c "abbc" or "abbbc" | |
1620 | 632 a\{5} "aaaaa" |
633 ab\{2,}c "abbc", "abbbc", "abbbbc", etc. | |
634 ab\{,3}c "ac", "abc", "abbc" or "abbbc" | |
7 | 635 a[bc]\{3}d "abbbd", "abbcd", "acbcd", "acccd", etc. |
636 a\(bc\)\{1,2}d "abcd" or "abcbcd" | |
637 a[bc]\{-}[cd] "abc" in "abcd" | |
638 a[bc]*[cd] "abcd" in "abcd" | |
639 | |
640 The } may optionally be preceded with a backslash: \{n,m\}. | |
641 | |
642 */\@=* | |
643 \@= Matches the preceding atom with zero width. {not in Vi} | |
644 Like "(?=pattern)" in Perl. | |
645 Example matches ~ | |
646 foo\(bar\)\@= "foo" in "foobar" | |
647 foo\(bar\)\@=foo nothing | |
648 */zero-width* | |
649 When using "\@=" (or "^", "$", "\<", "\>") no characters are included | |
650 in the match. These items are only used to check if a match can be | |
651 made. This can be tricky, because a match with following items will | |
652 be done in the same position. The last example above will not match | |
653 "foobarfoo", because it tries match "foo" in the same position where | |
654 "bar" matched. | |
655 | |
656 Note that using "\&" works the same as using "\@=": "foo\&.." is the | |
657 same as "\(foo\)\@=..". But using "\&" is easier, you don't need the | |
658 braces. | |
659 | |
660 | |
661 */\@!* | |
662 \@! Matches with zero width if the preceding atom does NOT match at the | |
663 current position. |/zero-width| {not in Vi} | |
3513 | 664 Like "(?!pattern)" in Perl. |
7 | 665 Example matches ~ |
666 foo\(bar\)\@! any "foo" not followed by "bar" | |
3513 | 667 a.\{-}p\@! "a", "ap", "app", "appp", etc. not immediately |
2908 | 668 followed by a "p" |
7 | 669 if \(\(then\)\@!.\)*$ "if " not followed by "then" |
670 | |
671 Using "\@!" is tricky, because there are many places where a pattern | |
672 does not match. "a.*p\@!" will match from an "a" to the end of the | |
673 line, because ".*" can match all characters in the line and the "p" | |
674 doesn't match at the end of the line. "a.\{-}p\@!" will match any | |
3513 | 675 "a", "ap", "app", etc. that isn't followed by a "p", because the "." |
7 | 676 can match a "p" and "p\@!" doesn't match after that. |
677 | |
678 You can't use "\@!" to look for a non-match before the matching | |
679 position: "\(foo\)\@!bar" will match "bar" in "foobar", because at the | |
680 position where "bar" matches, "foo" does not match. To avoid matching | |
681 "foobar" you could use "\(foo\)\@!...bar", but that doesn't match a | |
237 | 682 bar at the start of a line. Use "\(foo\)\@<!bar". |
7 | 683 |
2788 | 684 Useful example: to find "foo" in a line that does not contain "bar": > |
685 /^\%(.*bar\)\@!.*\zsfoo | |
686 < This pattern first checks that there is not a single position in the | |
687 line where "bar" matches. If ".*bar" matches somewhere the \@! will | |
688 reject the pattern. When there is no match any "foo" will be found. | |
689 The "\zs" is to have the match start just before "foo". | |
690 | |
7 | 691 */\@<=* |
692 \@<= Matches with zero width if the preceding atom matches just before what | |
693 follows. |/zero-width| {not in Vi} | |
3513 | 694 Like "(?<=pattern)" in Perl, but Vim allows non-fixed-width patterns. |
7 | 695 Example matches ~ |
696 \(an\_s\+\)\@<=file "file" after "an" and white space or an | |
697 end-of-line | |
698 For speed it's often much better to avoid this multi. Try using "\zs" | |
699 instead |/\zs|. To match the same as the above example: | |
700 an\_s\+\zsfile | |
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701 At least set a limit for the look-behind, see below. |
7 | 702 |
703 "\@<=" and "\@<!" check for matches just before what follows. | |
704 Theoretically these matches could start anywhere before this position. | |
705 But to limit the time needed, only the line where what follows matches | |
706 is searched, and one line before that (if there is one). This should | |
707 be sufficient to match most things and not be too slow. | |
708 The part of the pattern after "\@<=" and "\@<!" are checked for a | |
709 match first, thus things like "\1" don't work to reference \(\) inside | |
710 the preceding atom. It does work the other way around: | |
711 Example matches ~ | |
712 \1\@<=,\([a-z]\+\) ",abc" in "abc,abc" | |
713 | |
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714 \@123<= |
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715 Like "\@<=" but only look back 123 bytes. This avoids trying lots |
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716 of matches that are known to fail and make executing the pattern very |
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717 slow. Example, check if there is a "<" just before "span": |
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718 /<\@1<=span |
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719 This will try matching "<" only one byte before "span", which is the |
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720 only place that works anyway. |
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721 After crossing a line boundary, the limit is relative to the end of |
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722 the line. Thus the characters at the start of the line with the match |
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723 are not counted (this is just to keep it simple). |
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724 The number zero is the same as no limit. |
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725 |
7 | 726 */\@<!* |
727 \@<! Matches with zero width if the preceding atom does NOT match just | |
728 before what follows. Thus this matches if there is no position in the | |
729 current or previous line where the atom matches such that it ends just | |
730 before what follows. |/zero-width| {not in Vi} | |
3513 | 731 Like "(?<!pattern)" in Perl, but Vim allows non-fixed-width patterns. |
7 | 732 The match with the preceding atom is made to end just before the match |
733 with what follows, thus an atom that ends in ".*" will work. | |
734 Warning: This can be slow (because many positions need to be checked | |
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735 for a match). Use a limit if you can, see below. |
7 | 736 Example matches ~ |
737 \(foo\)\@<!bar any "bar" that's not in "foobar" | |
1620 | 738 \(\/\/.*\)\@<!in "in" which is not after "//" |
7 | 739 |
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740 \@123<! |
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741 Like "\@<!" but only look back 123 bytes. This avoids trying lots of |
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742 matches that are known to fail and make executing the pattern very |
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743 slow. |
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744 |
7 | 745 */\@>* |
746 \@> Matches the preceding atom like matching a whole pattern. {not in Vi} | |
1620 | 747 Like "(?>pattern)" in Perl. |
7 | 748 Example matches ~ |
749 \(a*\)\@>a nothing (the "a*" takes all the "a"'s, there can't be | |
750 another one following) | |
751 | |
752 This matches the preceding atom as if it was a pattern by itself. If | |
753 it doesn't match, there is no retry with shorter sub-matches or | |
754 anything. Observe this difference: "a*b" and "a*ab" both match | |
755 "aaab", but in the second case the "a*" matches only the first two | |
756 "a"s. "\(a*\)\@>ab" will not match "aaab", because the "a*" matches | |
757 the "aaa" (as many "a"s as possible), thus the "ab" can't match. | |
758 | |
759 | |
760 ============================================================================== | |
761 6. Ordinary atoms *pattern-atoms* | |
762 | |
763 An ordinary atom can be: | |
764 | |
765 */^* | |
766 ^ At beginning of pattern or after "\|", "\(", "\%(" or "\n": matches | |
767 start-of-line; at other positions, matches literal '^'. |/zero-width| | |
768 Example matches ~ | |
769 ^beep( the start of the C function "beep" (probably). | |
770 | |
771 */\^* | |
772 \^ Matches literal '^'. Can be used at any position in the pattern. | |
773 | |
774 */\_^* | |
775 \_^ Matches start-of-line. |/zero-width| Can be used at any position in | |
776 the pattern. | |
777 Example matches ~ | |
778 \_s*\_^foo white space and blank lines and then "foo" at | |
779 start-of-line | |
780 | |
781 */$* | |
1620 | 782 $ At end of pattern or in front of "\|", "\)" or "\n" ('magic' on): |
7 | 783 matches end-of-line <EOL>; at other positions, matches literal '$'. |
784 |/zero-width| | |
785 | |
786 */\$* | |
787 \$ Matches literal '$'. Can be used at any position in the pattern. | |
788 | |
789 */\_$* | |
790 \_$ Matches end-of-line. |/zero-width| Can be used at any position in the | |
791 pattern. Note that "a\_$b" never matches, since "b" cannot match an | |
792 end-of-line. Use "a\nb" instead |/\n|. | |
793 Example matches ~ | |
794 foo\_$\_s* "foo" at end-of-line and following white space and | |
795 blank lines | |
796 | |
797 . (with 'nomagic': \.) */.* */\.* | |
798 Matches any single character, but not an end-of-line. | |
799 | |
800 */\_.* | |
801 \_. Matches any single character or end-of-line. | |
802 Careful: "\_.*" matches all text to the end of the buffer! | |
803 | |
804 */\<* | |
805 \< Matches the beginning of a word: The next char is the first char of a | |
806 word. The 'iskeyword' option specifies what is a word character. | |
807 |/zero-width| | |
808 | |
809 */\>* | |
810 \> Matches the end of a word: The previous char is the last char of a | |
237 | 811 word. The 'iskeyword' option specifies what is a word character. |
7 | 812 |/zero-width| |
813 | |
814 */\zs* | |
815 \zs Matches at any position, and sets the start of the match there: The | |
816 next char is the first char of the whole match. |/zero-width| | |
817 Example: > | |
818 /^\s*\zsif | |
819 < matches an "if" at the start of a line, ignoring white space. | |
820 Can be used multiple times, the last one encountered in a matching | |
237 | 821 branch is used. Example: > |
7 | 822 /\(.\{-}\zsFab\)\{3} |
823 < Finds the third occurrence of "Fab". | |
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824 {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature} |
7 | 825 */\ze* |
826 \ze Matches at any position, and sets the end of the match there: The | |
827 previous char is the last char of the whole match. |/zero-width| | |
828 Can be used multiple times, the last one encountered in a matching | |
829 branch is used. | |
830 Example: "end\ze\(if\|for\)" matches the "end" in "endif" and | |
831 "endfor". | |
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832 {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature} |
7 | 833 |
834 */\%^* *start-of-file* | |
835 \%^ Matches start of the file. When matching with a string, matches the | |
836 start of the string. {not in Vi} | |
837 For example, to find the first "VIM" in a file: > | |
838 /\%^\_.\{-}\zsVIM | |
839 < | |
840 */\%$* *end-of-file* | |
841 \%$ Matches end of the file. When matching with a string, matches the | |
842 end of the string. {not in Vi} | |
843 Note that this does NOT find the last "VIM" in a file: > | |
844 /VIM\_.\{-}\%$ | |
845 < It will find the next VIM, because the part after it will always | |
846 match. This one will find the last "VIM" in the file: > | |
847 /VIM\ze\(\(VIM\)\@!\_.\)*\%$ | |
848 < This uses |/\@!| to ascertain that "VIM" does NOT match in any | |
849 position after the first "VIM". | |
850 Searching from the end of the file backwards is easier! | |
851 | |
640 | 852 */\%V* |
853 \%V Match inside the Visual area. When Visual mode has already been | |
854 stopped match in the area that |gv| would reselect. | |
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855 This is a |/zero-width| match. To make sure the whole pattern is |
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856 inside the Visual area put it at the start and end of the pattern, |
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857 e.g.: > |
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858 /\%Vfoo.*bar\%V |
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859 < Only works for the current buffer. |
640 | 860 |
7 | 861 */\%#* *cursor-position* |
862 \%# Matches with the cursor position. Only works when matching in a | |
863 buffer displayed in a window. {not in Vi} | |
864 WARNING: When the cursor is moved after the pattern was used, the | |
865 result becomes invalid. Vim doesn't automatically update the matches. | |
866 This is especially relevant for syntax highlighting and 'hlsearch'. | |
867 In other words: When the cursor moves the display isn't updated for | |
868 this change. An update is done for lines which are changed (the whole | |
869 line is updated) or when using the |CTRL-L| command (the whole screen | |
870 is updated). Example, to highlight the word under the cursor: > | |
871 /\k*\%#\k* | |
872 < When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes | |
873 this will clearly show when the match is updated or not. | |
874 | |
640 | 875 */\%'m* */\%<'m* */\%>'m* |
876 \%'m Matches with the position of mark m. | |
877 \%<'m Matches before the position of mark m. | |
878 \%>'m Matches after the position of mark m. | |
879 Example, to highlight the text from mark 's to 'e: > | |
880 /.\%>'s.*\%<'e.. | |
881 < Note that two dots are required to include mark 'e in the match. That | |
882 is because "\%<'e" matches at the character before the 'e mark, and | |
883 since it's a |/zero-width| match it doesn't include that character. | |
884 {not in Vi} | |
885 WARNING: When the mark is moved after the pattern was used, the result | |
886 becomes invalid. Vim doesn't automatically update the matches. | |
651 | 887 Similar to moving the cursor for "\%#" |/\%#|. |
640 | 888 |
7 | 889 */\%l* */\%>l* */\%<l* |
890 \%23l Matches in a specific line. | |
625 | 891 \%<23l Matches above a specific line (lower line number). |
892 \%>23l Matches below a specific line (higher line number). | |
7 | 893 These three can be used to match specific lines in a buffer. The "23" |
894 can be any line number. The first line is 1. {not in Vi} | |
895 WARNING: When inserting or deleting lines Vim does not automatically | |
896 update the matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly becomes | |
897 wrong. | |
898 Example, to highlight the line where the cursor currently is: > | |
899 :exe '/\%' . line(".") . 'l.*' | |
900 < When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes | |
901 this will clearly show when the match is updated or not. | |
902 | |
903 */\%c* */\%>c* */\%<c* | |
904 \%23c Matches in a specific column. | |
905 \%<23c Matches before a specific column. | |
906 \%>23c Matches after a specific column. | |
907 These three can be used to match specific columns in a buffer or | |
908 string. The "23" can be any column number. The first column is 1. | |
909 Actually, the column is the byte number (thus it's not exactly right | |
910 for multi-byte characters). {not in Vi} | |
911 WARNING: When inserting or deleting text Vim does not automatically | |
912 update the matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly becomes | |
913 wrong. | |
914 Example, to highlight the column where the cursor currently is: > | |
915 :exe '/\%' . col(".") . 'c' | |
916 < When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes | |
917 this will clearly show when the match is updated or not. | |
918 Example for matching a single byte in column 44: > | |
919 /\%>43c.\%<46c | |
920 < Note that "\%<46c" matches in column 45 when the "." matches a byte in | |
921 column 44. | |
922 */\%v* */\%>v* */\%<v* | |
923 \%23v Matches in a specific virtual column. | |
924 \%<23v Matches before a specific virtual column. | |
925 \%>23v Matches after a specific virtual column. | |
926 These three can be used to match specific virtual columns in a buffer | |
927 or string. When not matching with a buffer in a window, the option | |
928 values of the current window are used (e.g., 'tabstop'). | |
929 The "23" can be any column number. The first column is 1. | |
930 Note that some virtual column positions will never match, because they | |
1270 | 931 are halfway through a tab or other character that occupies more than |
932 one screen character. {not in Vi} | |
7 | 933 WARNING: When inserting or deleting text Vim does not automatically |
283 | 934 update highlighted matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly |
935 becomes wrong. | |
1620 | 936 Example, to highlight all the characters after virtual column 72: > |
7 | 937 /\%>72v.* |
938 < When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes | |
939 this will clearly show when the match is updated or not. | |
940 To match the text up to column 17: > | |
941 /.*\%17v | |
2033
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942 < Column 17 is included, because that's where the "\%17v" matches, |
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943 even though this is a |/zero-width| match. Adding a dot to match the |
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944 next character has the same result: > |
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945 /.*\%17v. |
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946 < This command does the same thing, but also matches when there is no |
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947 character in column 17: > |
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948 /.*\%<18v. |
7 | 949 < |
950 | |
951 Character classes: {not in Vi} | |
952 \i identifier character (see 'isident' option) */\i* | |
953 \I like "\i", but excluding digits */\I* | |
954 \k keyword character (see 'iskeyword' option) */\k* | |
955 \K like "\k", but excluding digits */\K* | |
956 \f file name character (see 'isfname' option) */\f* | |
957 \F like "\f", but excluding digits */\F* | |
958 \p printable character (see 'isprint' option) */\p* | |
959 \P like "\p", but excluding digits */\P* | |
960 | |
961 NOTE: the above also work for multi-byte characters. The ones below only | |
962 match ASCII characters, as indicated by the range. | |
963 | |
964 *whitespace* *white-space* | |
965 \s whitespace character: <Space> and <Tab> */\s* | |
966 \S non-whitespace character; opposite of \s */\S* | |
967 \d digit: [0-9] */\d* | |
968 \D non-digit: [^0-9] */\D* | |
969 \x hex digit: [0-9A-Fa-f] */\x* | |
970 \X non-hex digit: [^0-9A-Fa-f] */\X* | |
971 \o octal digit: [0-7] */\o* | |
972 \O non-octal digit: [^0-7] */\O* | |
973 \w word character: [0-9A-Za-z_] */\w* | |
974 \W non-word character: [^0-9A-Za-z_] */\W* | |
975 \h head of word character: [A-Za-z_] */\h* | |
976 \H non-head of word character: [^A-Za-z_] */\H* | |
977 \a alphabetic character: [A-Za-z] */\a* | |
978 \A non-alphabetic character: [^A-Za-z] */\A* | |
979 \l lowercase character: [a-z] */\l* | |
980 \L non-lowercase character: [^a-z] */\L* | |
981 \u uppercase character: [A-Z] */\u* | |
3224 | 982 \U non-uppercase character: [^A-Z] */\U* |
7 | 983 |
984 NOTE: Using the atom is faster than the [] form. | |
985 | |
986 NOTE: 'ignorecase', "\c" and "\C" are not used by character classes. | |
987 | |
988 */\_* *E63* */\_i* */\_I* */\_k* */\_K* */\_f* */\_F* | |
989 */\_p* */\_P* */\_s* */\_S* */\_d* */\_D* */\_x* */\_X* | |
990 */\_o* */\_O* */\_w* */\_W* */\_h* */\_H* */\_a* */\_A* | |
991 */\_l* */\_L* */\_u* */\_U* | |
992 \_x Where "x" is any of the characters above: The character class with | |
993 end-of-line added | |
994 (end of character classes) | |
995 | |
996 \e matches <Esc> */\e* | |
997 \t matches <Tab> */\t* | |
998 \r matches <CR> */\r* | |
999 \b matches <BS> */\b* | |
1000 \n matches an end-of-line */\n* | |
1001 When matching in a string instead of buffer text a literal newline | |
1002 character is matched. | |
1003 | |
1004 ~ matches the last given substitute string */~* */\~* | |
1005 | |
1006 \(\) A pattern enclosed by escaped parentheses. */\(* */\(\)* */\)* | |
4444 | 1007 E.g., "\(^a\)" matches 'a' at the start of a line. |
1008 *E51* *E54* *E55* *E872* *E873* | |
7 | 1009 |
1010 \1 Matches the same string that was matched by */\1* *E65* | |
1011 the first sub-expression in \( and \). {not in Vi} | |
1012 Example: "\([a-z]\).\1" matches "ata", "ehe", "tot", etc. | |
1013 \2 Like "\1", but uses second sub-expression, */\2* | |
1014 ... */\3* | |
1015 \9 Like "\1", but uses ninth sub-expression. */\9* | |
1016 Note: The numbering of groups is done based on which "\(" comes first | |
1017 in the pattern (going left to right), NOT based on what is matched | |
1018 first. | |
1019 | |
1020 \%(\) A pattern enclosed by escaped parentheses. */\%(\)* */\%(* *E53* | |
1021 Just like \(\), but without counting it as a sub-expression. This | |
1022 allows using more groups and it's a little bit faster. | |
1023 {not in Vi} | |
1024 | |
1025 x A single character, with no special meaning, matches itself | |
1026 | |
1027 */\* */\\* | |
1028 \x A backslash followed by a single character, with no special meaning, | |
1029 is reserved for future expansions | |
1030 | |
1031 [] (with 'nomagic': \[]) */[]* */\[]* */\_[]* */collection* | |
1032 \_[] | |
237 | 1033 A collection. This is a sequence of characters enclosed in brackets. |
7 | 1034 It matches any single character in the collection. |
1035 Example matches ~ | |
1036 [xyz] any 'x', 'y' or 'z' | |
1037 [a-zA-Z]$ any alphabetic character at the end of a line | |
1038 \c[a-z]$ same | |
4073 | 1039 [А-яЁё] Russian alphabet (with utf-8 and cp1251) |
1040 | |
1125 | 1041 */[\n]* |
7 | 1042 With "\_" prepended the collection also includes the end-of-line. |
1043 The same can be done by including "\n" in the collection. The | |
1044 end-of-line is also matched when the collection starts with "^"! Thus | |
1045 "\_[^ab]" matches the end-of-line and any character but "a" and "b". | |
1046 This makes it Vi compatible: Without the "\_" or "\n" the collection | |
1047 does not match an end-of-line. | |
484 | 1048 *E769* |
481 | 1049 When the ']' is not there Vim will not give an error message but |
484 | 1050 assume no collection is used. Useful to search for '['. However, you |
1051 do get E769 for internal searching. | |
481 | 1052 |
7 | 1053 If the sequence begins with "^", it matches any single character NOT |
1054 in the collection: "[^xyz]" matches anything but 'x', 'y' and 'z'. | |
1055 - If two characters in the sequence are separated by '-', this is | |
1056 shorthand for the full list of ASCII characters between them. E.g., | |
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1057 "[0-9]" matches any decimal digit. Non-ASCII characters can be |
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1058 used, but the character values must not be more than 256 apart. |
7 | 1059 - A character class expression is evaluated to the set of characters |
1060 belonging to that character class. The following character classes | |
1061 are supported: | |
1062 Name Contents ~ | |
1063 *[:alnum:]* [:alnum:] letters and digits | |
1064 *[:alpha:]* [:alpha:] letters | |
1065 *[:blank:]* [:blank:] space and tab characters | |
1066 *[:cntrl:]* [:cntrl:] control characters | |
1067 *[:digit:]* [:digit:] decimal digits | |
1068 *[:graph:]* [:graph:] printable characters excluding space | |
1069 *[:lower:]* [:lower:] lowercase letters (all letters when | |
1070 'ignorecase' is used) | |
1071 *[:print:]* [:print:] printable characters including space | |
1072 *[:punct:]* [:punct:] punctuation characters | |
1073 *[:space:]* [:space:] whitespace characters | |
1074 *[:upper:]* [:upper:] uppercase letters (all letters when | |
1075 'ignorecase' is used) | |
1076 *[:xdigit:]* [:xdigit:] hexadecimal digits | |
1077 *[:return:]* [:return:] the <CR> character | |
1078 *[:tab:]* [:tab:] the <Tab> character | |
1079 *[:escape:]* [:escape:] the <Esc> character | |
1080 *[:backspace:]* [:backspace:] the <BS> character | |
1081 The brackets in character class expressions are additional to the | |
1082 brackets delimiting a collection. For example, the following is a | |
1083 plausible pattern for a UNIX filename: "[-./[:alnum:]_~]\+" That is, | |
1084 a list of at least one character, each of which is either '-', '.', | |
1085 '/', alphabetic, numeric, '_' or '~'. | |
1086 These items only work for 8-bit characters. | |
168 | 1087 */[[=* *[==]* |
1088 - An equivalence class. This means that characters are matched that | |
2974 | 1089 have almost the same meaning, e.g., when ignoring accents. This |
1090 only works for Unicode, latin1 and latin9. The form is: | |
856 | 1091 [=a=] |
168 | 1092 */[[.* *[..]* |
1093 - A collation element. This currently simply accepts a single | |
1094 character in the form: | |
856 | 1095 [.a.] |
7 | 1096 */\]* |
1097 - To include a literal ']', '^', '-' or '\' in the collection, put a | |
1098 backslash before it: "[xyz\]]", "[\^xyz]", "[xy\-z]" and "[xyz\\]". | |
1099 (Note: POSIX does not support the use of a backslash this way). For | |
1100 ']' you can also make it the first character (following a possible | |
1101 "^"): "[]xyz]" or "[^]xyz]" {not in Vi}. | |
1102 For '-' you can also make it the first or last character: "[-xyz]", | |
1103 "[^-xyz]" or "[xyz-]". For '\' you can also let it be followed by | |
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1104 any character that's not in "^]-\bdertnoUux". "[\xyz]" matches '\', |
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1105 'x', 'y' and 'z'. It's better to use "\\" though, future expansions |
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1106 may use other characters after '\'. |
4339 | 1107 - Omitting the trailing ] is not considered an error. "[]" works like |
1108 "[]]", it matches the ']' character. | |
7 | 1109 - The following translations are accepted when the 'l' flag is not |
1110 included in 'cpoptions' {not in Vi}: | |
1111 \e <Esc> | |
1112 \t <Tab> | |
1113 \r <CR> (NOT end-of-line!) | |
1114 \b <BS> | |
1125 | 1115 \n line break, see above |/[\n]| |
24 | 1116 \d123 decimal number of character |
1117 \o40 octal number of character up to 0377 | |
1118 \x20 hexadecimal number of character up to 0xff | |
1119 \u20AC hex. number of multibyte character up to 0xffff | |
1120 \U1234 hex. number of multibyte character up to 0xffffffff | |
7 | 1121 NOTE: The other backslash codes mentioned above do not work inside |
1122 []! | |
1123 - Matching with a collection can be slow, because each character in | |
1124 the text has to be compared with each character in the collection. | |
1125 Use one of the other atoms above when possible. Example: "\d" is | |
1126 much faster than "[0-9]" and matches the same characters. | |
1127 | |
1128 */\%[]* *E69* *E70* *E369* | |
24 | 1129 \%[] A sequence of optionally matched atoms. This always matches. |
7 | 1130 It matches as much of the list of atoms it contains as possible. Thus |
1131 it stops at the first atom that doesn't match. For example: > | |
1132 /r\%[ead] | |
1133 < matches "r", "re", "rea" or "read". The longest that matches is used. | |
1134 To match the Ex command "function", where "fu" is required and | |
1135 "nction" is optional, this would work: > | |
1136 /\<fu\%[nction]\> | |
1137 < The end-of-word atom "\>" is used to avoid matching "fu" in "full". | |
1138 It gets more complicated when the atoms are not ordinary characters. | |
1139 You don't often have to use it, but it is possible. Example: > | |
1140 /\<r\%[[eo]ad]\> | |
1141 < Matches the words "r", "re", "ro", "rea", "roa", "read" and "road". | |
1125 | 1142 There can be no \(\), \%(\) or \z(\) items inside the [] and \%[] does |
1143 not nest. | |
1620 | 1144 To include a "[" use "[[]" and for "]" use []]", e.g.,: > |
1145 /index\%[[[]0[]]] | |
1146 < matches "index" "index[", "index[0" and "index[0]". | |
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1147 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature} |
7 | 1148 |
140 | 1149 */\%d* */\%x* */\%o* */\%u* */\%U* *E678* |
24 | 1150 |
1151 \%d123 Matches the character specified with a decimal number. Must be | |
1152 followed by a non-digit. | |
1153 \%o40 Matches the character specified with an octal number up to 0377. | |
1154 Numbers below 040 must be followed by a non-octal digit or a non-digit. | |
1155 \%x2a Matches the character specified with up to two hexadecimal characters. | |
1156 \%u20AC Matches the character specified with up to four hexadecimal | |
1157 characters. | |
1158 \%U1234abcd Matches the character specified with up to eight hexadecimal | |
1159 characters. | |
7 | 1160 |
1161 ============================================================================== | |
1162 7. Ignoring case in a pattern */ignorecase* | |
1163 | |
1164 If the 'ignorecase' option is on, the case of normal letters is ignored. | |
1165 'smartcase' can be set to ignore case when the pattern contains lowercase | |
1166 letters only. | |
1167 */\c* */\C* | |
1168 When "\c" appears anywhere in the pattern, the whole pattern is handled like | |
1169 'ignorecase' is on. The actual value of 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' is | |
1170 ignored. "\C" does the opposite: Force matching case for the whole pattern. | |
1171 {only Vim supports \c and \C} | |
1172 Note that 'ignorecase', "\c" and "\C" are not used for the character classes. | |
1173 | |
1174 Examples: | |
1175 pattern 'ignorecase' 'smartcase' matches ~ | |
1176 foo off - foo | |
1177 foo on - foo Foo FOO | |
1178 Foo on off foo Foo FOO | |
1179 Foo on on Foo | |
1180 \cfoo - - foo Foo FOO | |
1181 foo\C - - foo | |
1182 | |
1183 Technical detail: *NL-used-for-Nul* | |
1184 <Nul> characters in the file are stored as <NL> in memory. In the display | |
1185 they are shown as "^@". The translation is done when reading and writing | |
1186 files. To match a <Nul> with a search pattern you can just enter CTRL-@ or | |
1187 "CTRL-V 000". This is probably just what you expect. Internally the | |
1188 character is replaced with a <NL> in the search pattern. What is unusual is | |
1189 that typing CTRL-V CTRL-J also inserts a <NL>, thus also searches for a <Nul> | |
1190 in the file. {Vi cannot handle <Nul> characters in the file at all} | |
1191 | |
1192 *CR-used-for-NL* | |
1193 When 'fileformat' is "mac", <NL> characters in the file are stored as <CR> | |
1698 | 1194 characters internally. In the text they are shown as "^J". Otherwise this |
7 | 1195 works similar to the usage of <NL> for a <Nul>. |
1196 | |
1197 When working with expression evaluation, a <NL> character in the pattern | |
1198 matches a <NL> in the string. The use of "\n" (backslash n) to match a <NL> | |
1199 doesn't work there, it only works to match text in the buffer. | |
1200 | |
1201 *pattern-multi-byte* | |
1202 Patterns will also work with multi-byte characters, mostly as you would | |
1203 expect. But invalid bytes may cause trouble, a pattern with an invalid byte | |
1204 will probably never match. | |
1205 | |
1206 ============================================================================== | |
714 | 1207 8. Composing characters *patterns-composing* |
1208 | |
1209 */\Z* | |
1210 When "\Z" appears anywhere in the pattern, composing characters are ignored. | |
1211 Thus only the base characters need to match, the composing characters may be | |
1212 different and the number of composing characters may differ. Only relevant | |
1213 when 'encoding' is "utf-8". | |
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1214 Exception: If the pattern starts with one or more composing characters, these |
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1215 must match. |
714 | 1216 |
1217 When a composing character appears at the start of the pattern of after an | |
1218 item that doesn't include the composing character, a match is found at any | |
1219 character that includes this composing character. | |
1220 | |
1221 When using a dot and a composing character, this works the same as the | |
1222 composing character by itself, except that it doesn't matter what comes before | |
1223 this. | |
1224 | |
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1225 The order of composing characters does not matter. Also, the text may have |
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1226 more composing characters than the pattern, it still matches. But all |
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1227 composing characters in the pattern must be found in the text. |
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1228 |
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1229 Suppose B is a base character and x and y are composing characters: |
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1230 pattern text match ~ |
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1231 Bxy Bxy yes (perfect match) |
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1232 Bxy Byx yes (order ignored) |
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1233 Bxy By no (x missing) |
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1234 Bxy Bx no (y missing) |
4780 | 1235 Bx Bx yes (perfect match) |
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1236 Bx By no (x missing) |
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1237 Bx Bxy yes (extra y ignored) |
2eb30f341e8d
Updated runtime files and translations.
Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
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1238 Bx Byx yes (extra y ignored) |
714 | 1239 |
1240 ============================================================================== | |
1241 9. Compare with Perl patterns *perl-patterns* | |
7 | 1242 |
1243 Vim's regexes are most similar to Perl's, in terms of what you can do. The | |
1244 difference between them is mostly just notation; here's a summary of where | |
1245 they differ: | |
1246 | |
1247 Capability in Vimspeak in Perlspeak ~ | |
1248 ---------------------------------------------------------------- | |
1249 force case insensitivity \c (?i) | |
1250 force case sensitivity \C (?-i) | |
714 | 1251 backref-less grouping \%(atom\) (?:atom) |
7 | 1252 conservative quantifiers \{-n,m} *?, +?, ??, {}? |
1253 0-width match atom\@= (?=atom) | |
1254 0-width non-match atom\@! (?!atom) | |
1255 0-width preceding match atom\@<= (?<=atom) | |
1256 0-width preceding non-match atom\@<! (?<!atom) | |
1257 match without retry atom\@> (?>atom) | |
1258 | |
1259 Vim and Perl handle newline characters inside a string a bit differently: | |
1260 | |
1261 In Perl, ^ and $ only match at the very beginning and end of the text, | |
1262 by default, but you can set the 'm' flag, which lets them match at | |
1263 embedded newlines as well. You can also set the 's' flag, which causes | |
1264 a . to match newlines as well. (Both these flags can be changed inside | |
1265 a pattern using the same syntax used for the i flag above, BTW.) | |
1266 | |
1267 On the other hand, Vim's ^ and $ always match at embedded newlines, and | |
1268 you get two separate atoms, \%^ and \%$, which only match at the very | |
1269 start and end of the text, respectively. Vim solves the second problem | |
1270 by giving you the \_ "modifier": put it in front of a . or a character | |
1271 class, and they will match newlines as well. | |
1272 | |
1273 Finally, these constructs are unique to Perl: | |
1274 - execution of arbitrary code in the regex: (?{perl code}) | |
1275 - conditional expressions: (?(condition)true-expr|false-expr) | |
1276 | |
1277 ...and these are unique to Vim: | |
1278 - changing the magic-ness of a pattern: \v \V \m \M | |
1279 (very useful for avoiding backslashitis) | |
1280 - sequence of optionally matching atoms: \%[atoms] | |
1281 - \& (which is to \| what "and" is to "or"; it forces several branches | |
1282 to match at one spot) | |
1283 - matching lines/columns by number: \%5l \%5c \%5v | |
714 | 1284 - setting the start and end of the match: \zs \ze |
7 | 1285 |
1286 ============================================================================== | |
714 | 1287 10. Highlighting matches *match-highlight* |
7 | 1288 |
1289 *:mat* *:match* | |
1290 :mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ | |
1291 Define a pattern to highlight in the current window. It will | |
1292 be highlighted with {group}. Example: > | |
1293 :highlight MyGroup ctermbg=green guibg=green | |
1294 :match MyGroup /TODO/ | |
1295 < Instead of // any character can be used to mark the start and | |
1296 end of the {pattern}. Watch out for using special characters, | |
1297 such as '"' and '|'. | |
699 | 1298 |
7 | 1299 {group} must exist at the moment this command is executed. |
699 | 1300 |
1301 The {group} highlighting still applies when a character is | |
1326 | 1302 to be highlighted for 'hlsearch', as the highlighting for |
1303 matches is given higher priority than that of 'hlsearch'. | |
1304 Syntax highlighting (see 'syntax') is also overruled by | |
1305 matches. | |
699 | 1306 |
7 | 1307 Note that highlighting the last used search pattern with |
1308 'hlsearch' is used in all windows, while the pattern defined | |
1309 with ":match" only exists in the current window. It is kept | |
1310 when switching to another buffer. | |
699 | 1311 |
1312 'ignorecase' does not apply, use |/\c| in the pattern to | |
1313 ignore case. Otherwise case is not ignored. | |
1314 | |
1620 | 1315 'redrawtime' defines the maximum time searched for pattern |
1316 matches. | |
1317 | |
1125 | 1318 When matching end-of-line and Vim redraws only part of the |
1319 display you may get unexpected results. That is because Vim | |
1320 looks for a match in the line where redrawing starts. | |
1321 | |
1620 | 1322 Also see |matcharg()| and |getmatches()|. The former returns |
1326 | 1323 the highlight group and pattern of a previous |:match| |
1324 command. The latter returns a list with highlight groups and | |
1325 patterns defined by both |matchadd()| and |:match|. | |
1326 | |
1327 Highlighting matches using |:match| are limited to three | |
1328 matches (aside from |:match|, |:2match| and |:3match|are | |
1329 available). |matchadd()| does not have this limitation and in | |
1330 addition makes it possible to prioritize matches. | |
819 | 1331 |
7 | 1332 Another example, which highlights all characters in virtual |
1333 column 72 and more: > | |
1334 :highlight rightMargin term=bold ctermfg=blue guifg=blue | |
1335 :match rightMargin /.\%>72v/ | |
1336 < To highlight all character that are in virtual column 7: > | |
1337 :highlight col8 ctermbg=grey guibg=grey | |
1338 :match col8 /\%<8v.\%>7v/ | |
1339 < Note the use of two items to also match a character that | |
1340 occupies more than one virtual column, such as a TAB. | |
1341 | |
1342 :mat[ch] | |
1343 :mat[ch] none | |
1344 Clear a previously defined match pattern. | |
1345 | |
699 | 1346 |
819 | 1347 :2mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ *:2match* |
699 | 1348 :2mat[ch] |
1349 :2mat[ch] none | |
819 | 1350 :3mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ *:3match* |
699 | 1351 :3mat[ch] |
1352 :3mat[ch] none | |
1353 Just like |:match| above, but set a separate match. Thus | |
1354 there can be three matches active at the same time. The match | |
1355 with the lowest number has priority if several match at the | |
1356 same position. | |
1357 The ":3match" command is used by the |matchparen| plugin. You | |
1358 are suggested to use ":match" for manual matching and | |
1359 ":2match" for another plugin. | |
1360 | |
1361 | |
7 | 1362 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |