Mercurial > vim
annotate runtime/doc/pattern.txt @ 10823:a7da553980ee v8.0.0301
patch 8.0.0301: not enough testing for setting options
commit https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/698f8b207bbfefa1cbbd7361caf5412cb3416534
Author: Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org>
Date: Sat Feb 4 15:53:32 2017 +0100
patch 8.0.0301: not enough testing for setting options
Problem: No tests for ":set completion" and various errors of the :set
command.
Solution: Add more :set tests. (Dominique Pelle, closes #1440)
author | Christian Brabandt <cb@256bit.org> |
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date | Sat, 04 Feb 2017 16:00:04 +0100 |
parents | 9f48eab77d62 |
children | 1218c5353e2b |
rev | line source |
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commit https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/bb76f24af2010943387ce696a7092175b4ecccf2
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1 *pattern.txt* For Vim version 8.0. Last change: 2016 Sep 11 |
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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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. | |
6647 | 62 If the cursor doesn't move the search is repeated with |
63 count + 1. | |
7 | 64 |last-pattern| {Vi: no count} |
65 | |
66 *N* | |
67 N Repeat the latest "/" or "?" [count] times in | |
68 opposite direction. |last-pattern| {Vi: no count} | |
69 | |
70 *star* *E348* *E349* | |
71 * Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the | |
72 word nearest to the cursor. The word used for the | |
73 search is the first of: | |
74 1. the keyword under the cursor |'iskeyword'| | |
75 2. the first keyword after the cursor, in the | |
76 current line | |
77 3. the non-blank word under the cursor | |
78 4. the first non-blank word after the cursor, | |
79 in the current line | |
80 Only whole keywords are searched for, like with the | |
81 command "/\<keyword\>". |exclusive| {not in Vi} | |
82 'ignorecase' is used, 'smartcase' is not. | |
83 | |
84 *#* | |
85 # Same as "*", but search backward. The pound sign | |
86 (character 163) also works. If the "#" key works as | |
87 backspace, try using "stty erase <BS>" before starting | |
88 Vim (<BS> is CTRL-H or a real backspace). {not in Vi} | |
89 | |
90 *gstar* | |
91 g* Like "*", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word. | |
92 This makes the search also find matches that are not a | |
93 whole word. {not in Vi} | |
94 | |
95 *g#* | |
96 g# Like "#", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word. | |
97 This makes the search also find matches that are not a | |
98 whole word. {not in Vi} | |
99 | |
100 *gd* | |
101 gd Goto local Declaration. When the cursor is on a local | |
102 variable, this command will jump to its declaration. | |
103 First Vim searches for the start of the current | |
104 function, just like "[[". If it is not found the | |
105 search stops in line 1. If it is found, Vim goes back | |
106 until a blank line is found. From this position Vim | |
107 searches for the keyword under the cursor, like with | |
108 "*", but lines that look like a comment are ignored | |
109 (see 'comments' option). | |
110 Note that this is not guaranteed to work, Vim does not | |
111 really check the syntax, it only searches for a match | |
112 with the keyword. If included files also need to be | |
113 searched use the commands listed in |include-search|. | |
114 After this command |n| searches forward for the next | |
115 match (not backward). | |
116 {not in Vi} | |
117 | |
118 *gD* | |
119 gD Goto global Declaration. When the cursor is on a | |
120 global variable that is defined in the file, this | |
121 command will jump to its declaration. This works just | |
122 like "gd", except that the search for the keyword | |
123 always starts in line 1. {not in Vi} | |
124 | |
523 | 125 *1gd* |
126 1gd Like "gd", but ignore matches inside a {} block that | |
127 ends before the cursor position. {not in Vi} | |
128 | |
129 *1gD* | |
130 1gD Like "gD", but ignore matches inside a {} block that | |
131 ends before the cursor position. {not in Vi} | |
132 | |
7 | 133 *CTRL-C* |
134 CTRL-C Interrupt current (search) command. Use CTRL-Break on | |
135 MS-DOS |dos-CTRL-Break|. | |
136 In Normal mode, any pending command is aborted. | |
137 | |
138 *:noh* *:nohlsearch* | |
139 :noh[lsearch] Stop the highlighting for the 'hlsearch' option. It | |
140 is automatically turned back on when using a search | |
141 command, or setting the 'hlsearch' option. | |
142 This command doesn't work in an autocommand, because | |
143 the highlighting state is saved and restored when | |
144 executing autocommands |autocmd-searchpat|. | |
1620 | 145 Same thing for when invoking a user function. |
7 | 146 |
147 While typing the search pattern the current match will be shown if the | |
148 'incsearch' option is on. Remember that you still have to finish the search | |
149 command with <CR> to actually position the cursor at the displayed match. Or | |
150 use <Esc> to abandon the search. | |
151 | |
152 All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set | |
153 the 'hlsearch' option. This can be suspended with the |:nohlsearch| command. | |
154 | |
3153 | 155 When no match is found you get the error: *E486* Pattern not found |
156 Note that for the |:global| command this behaves like a normal message, for Vi | |
157 compatibility. For the |:s| command the "e" flag can be used to avoid the | |
158 error message |:s_flags|. | |
159 | |
7 | 160 *search-offset* *{offset}* |
161 These commands search for the specified pattern. With "/" and "?" an | |
162 additional offset may be given. There are two types of offsets: line offsets | |
163 and character offsets. {the character offsets are not in Vi} | |
164 | |
165 The offset gives the cursor position relative to the found match: | |
166 [num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1 | |
167 +[num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1 | |
168 -[num] [num] lines upwards, in column 1 | |
169 e[+num] [num] characters to the right of the end of the match | |
170 e[-num] [num] characters to the left of the end of the match | |
171 s[+num] [num] characters to the right of the start of the match | |
172 s[-num] [num] characters to the left of the start of the match | |
173 b[+num] [num] identical to s[+num] above (mnemonic: begin) | |
174 b[-num] [num] identical to s[-num] above (mnemonic: begin) | |
667 | 175 ;{pattern} perform another search, see |//;| |
7 | 176 |
177 If a '-' or '+' is given but [num] is omitted, a count of one will be used. | |
178 When including an offset with 'e', the search becomes inclusive (the | |
179 character the cursor lands on is included in operations). | |
180 | |
181 Examples: | |
182 | |
183 pattern cursor position ~ | |
184 /test/+1 one line below "test", in column 1 | |
185 /test/e on the last t of "test" | |
186 /test/s+2 on the 's' of "test" | |
187 /test/b-3 three characters before "test" | |
188 | |
189 If one of these commands is used after an operator, the characters between | |
190 the cursor position before and after the search is affected. However, if a | |
191 line offset is given, the whole lines between the two cursor positions are | |
192 affected. | |
193 | |
194 An example of how to search for matches with a pattern and change the match | |
195 with another word: > | |
196 /foo<CR> find "foo" | |
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197 c//e<CR> change until end of match |
7 | 198 bar<Esc> type replacement |
199 //<CR> go to start of next match | |
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200 c//e<CR> change until end of match |
7 | 201 beep<Esc> type another replacement |
202 etc. | |
203 < | |
204 *//;* *E386* | |
205 A very special offset is ';' followed by another search command. For example: > | |
206 | |
207 /test 1/;/test | |
208 /test.*/+1;?ing? | |
209 | |
210 The first one first finds the next occurrence of "test 1", and then the first | |
211 occurrence of "test" after that. | |
212 | |
213 This is like executing two search commands after each other, except that: | |
214 - It can be used as a single motion command after an operator. | |
215 - The direction for a following "n" or "N" command comes from the first | |
216 search command. | |
217 - When an error occurs the cursor is not moved at all. | |
218 | |
219 *last-pattern* | |
220 The last used pattern and offset are remembered. They can be used to repeat | |
221 the search, possibly in another direction or with another count. Note that | |
222 two patterns are remembered: One for 'normal' search commands and one for the | |
223 substitute command ":s". Each time an empty pattern is given, the previously | |
2725 | 224 used pattern is used. However, if there is no previous search command, a |
225 previous substitute pattern is used, if possible. | |
7 | 226 |
227 The 'magic' option sticks with the last used pattern. If you change 'magic', | |
228 this will not change how the last used pattern will be interpreted. | |
229 The 'ignorecase' option does not do this. When 'ignorecase' is changed, it | |
230 will result in the pattern to match other text. | |
231 | |
232 All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set | |
233 the 'hlsearch' option. | |
234 | |
235 To clear the last used search pattern: > | |
236 :let @/ = "" | |
237 This will not set the pattern to an empty string, because that would match | |
238 everywhere. The pattern is really cleared, like when starting Vim. | |
239 | |
133 | 240 The search usually skips matches that don't move the cursor. Whether the next |
7 | 241 match is found at the next character or after the skipped match depends on the |
242 'c' flag in 'cpoptions'. See |cpo-c|. | |
243 with 'c' flag: "/..." advances 1 to 3 characters | |
244 without 'c' flag: "/..." advances 1 character | |
245 The unpredictability with the 'c' flag is caused by starting the search in the | |
246 first column, skipping matches until one is found past the cursor position. | |
247 | |
133 | 248 When searching backwards, searching starts at the start of the line, using the |
249 'c' flag in 'cpoptions' as described above. Then the last match before the | |
250 cursor position is used. | |
251 | |
7 | 252 In Vi the ":tag" command sets the last search pattern when the tag is searched |
253 for. In Vim this is not done, the previous search pattern is still remembered, | |
254 unless the 't' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. The search pattern is always | |
255 put in the search history. | |
256 | |
257 If the 'wrapscan' option is on (which is the default), searches wrap around | |
258 the end of the buffer. If 'wrapscan' is not set, the backward search stops | |
259 at the beginning and the forward search stops at the end of the buffer. If | |
260 'wrapscan' is set and the pattern was not found the error message "pattern | |
261 not found" is given, and the cursor will not be moved. If 'wrapscan' is not | |
262 set the message becomes "search hit BOTTOM without match" when searching | |
263 forward, or "search hit TOP without match" when searching backward. If | |
264 wrapscan is set and the search wraps around the end of the file the message | |
265 "search hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" or "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at | |
266 TOP" is given when searching backwards or forwards respectively. This can be | |
267 switched off by setting the 's' flag in the 'shortmess' option. The highlight | |
268 method 'w' is used for this message (default: standout). | |
269 | |
270 *search-range* | |
625 | 271 You can limit the search command "/" to a certain range of lines by including |
272 \%>l items. For example, to match the word "limit" below line 199 and above | |
273 line 300: > | |
274 /\%>199l\%<300llimit | |
275 Also see |/\%>l|. | |
276 | |
277 Another way is to use the ":substitute" command with the 'c' flag. Example: > | |
7 | 278 :.,300s/Pattern//gc |
279 This command will search from the cursor position until line 300 for | |
280 "Pattern". At the match, you will be asked to type a character. Type 'q' to | |
281 stop at this match, type 'n' to find the next match. | |
282 | |
283 The "*", "#", "g*" and "g#" commands look for a word near the cursor in this | |
284 order, the first one that is found is used: | |
285 - The keyword currently under the cursor. | |
286 - The first keyword to the right of the cursor, in the same line. | |
287 - The WORD currently under the cursor. | |
288 - The first WORD to the right of the cursor, in the same line. | |
289 The keyword may only contain letters and characters in 'iskeyword'. | |
290 The WORD may contain any non-blanks (<Tab>s and/or <Space>s). | |
291 Note that if you type with ten fingers, the characters are easy to remember: | |
292 the "#" is under your left hand middle finger (search to the left and up) and | |
293 the "*" is under your right hand middle finger (search to the right and down). | |
294 (this depends on your keyboard layout though). | |
295 | |
296 ============================================================================== | |
297 2. The definition of a pattern *search-pattern* *pattern* *[pattern]* | |
298 *regular-expression* *regexp* *Pattern* | |
190 | 299 *E76* *E383* *E476* |
7 | 300 |
301 For starters, read chapter 27 of the user manual |usr_27.txt|. | |
302 | |
303 */bar* */\bar* */pattern* | |
304 1. A pattern is one or more branches, separated by "\|". It matches anything | |
305 that matches one of the branches. Example: "foo\|beep" matches "foo" and | |
306 matches "beep". If more than one branch matches, the first one is used. | |
307 | |
308 pattern ::= branch | |
309 or branch \| branch | |
310 or branch \| branch \| branch | |
311 etc. | |
312 | |
313 */branch* */\&* | |
314 2. A branch is one or more concats, separated by "\&". It matches the last | |
315 concat, but only if all the preceding concats also match at the same | |
316 position. Examples: | |
317 "foobeep\&..." matches "foo" in "foobeep". | |
318 ".*Peter\&.*Bob" matches in a line containing both "Peter" and "Bob" | |
319 | |
320 branch ::= concat | |
321 or concat \& concat | |
322 or concat \& concat \& concat | |
323 etc. | |
324 | |
325 */concat* | |
326 3. A concat is one or more pieces, concatenated. It matches a match for the | |
327 first piece, followed by a match for the second piece, etc. Example: | |
328 "f[0-9]b", first matches "f", then a digit and then "b". | |
329 | |
330 concat ::= piece | |
331 or piece piece | |
332 or piece piece piece | |
333 etc. | |
334 | |
335 */piece* | |
336 4. A piece is an atom, possibly followed by a multi, an indication of how many | |
337 times the atom can be matched. Example: "a*" matches any sequence of "a" | |
338 characters: "", "a", "aa", etc. See |/multi|. | |
339 | |
340 piece ::= atom | |
341 or atom multi | |
342 | |
343 */atom* | |
344 5. An atom can be one of a long list of items. Many atoms match one character | |
345 in the text. It is often an ordinary character or a character class. | |
346 Braces can be used to make a pattern into an atom. The "\z(\)" construct | |
347 is only for syntax highlighting. | |
348 | |
349 atom ::= ordinary-atom |/ordinary-atom| | |
350 or \( pattern \) |/\(| | |
351 or \%( pattern \) |/\%(| | |
352 or \z( pattern \) |/\z(| | |
353 | |
354 | |
5146 | 355 */\%#=* *two-engines* *NFA* |
4444 | 356 Vim includes two regexp engines: |
357 1. An old, backtracking engine that supports everything. | |
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358 2. A new, NFA engine that works much faster on some patterns, possibly slower |
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359 on some patterns. |
4444 | 360 |
361 Vim will automatically select the right engine for you. However, if you run | |
362 into a problem or want to specifically select one engine or the other, you can | |
363 prepend one of the following to the pattern: | |
364 | |
365 \%#=0 Force automatic selection. Only has an effect when | |
366 'regexpengine' has been set to a non-zero value. | |
367 \%#=1 Force using the old engine. | |
368 \%#=2 Force using the NFA engine. | |
369 | |
370 You can also use the 'regexpengine' option to change the default. | |
371 | |
372 *E864* *E868* *E874* *E875* *E876* *E877* *E878* | |
373 If selecting the NFA engine and it runs into something that is not implemented | |
374 the pattern will not match. This is only useful when debugging Vim. | |
375 | |
7 | 376 ============================================================================== |
840 | 377 3. Magic */magic* |
378 | |
379 Some characters in the pattern are taken literally. They match with the same | |
380 character in the text. When preceded with a backslash however, these | |
381 characters get a special meaning. | |
382 | |
383 Other characters have a special meaning without a backslash. They need to be | |
384 preceded with a backslash to match literally. | |
385 | |
386 If a character is taken literally or not depends on the 'magic' option and the | |
387 items mentioned next. | |
388 */\m* */\M* | |
389 Use of "\m" makes the pattern after it be interpreted as if 'magic' is set, | |
390 ignoring the actual value of the 'magic' option. | |
391 Use of "\M" makes the pattern after it be interpreted as if 'nomagic' is used. | |
392 */\v* */\V* | |
393 Use of "\v" means that in the pattern after it all ASCII characters except | |
394 '0'-'9', 'a'-'z', 'A'-'Z' and '_' have a special meaning. "very magic" | |
395 | |
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396 Use of "\V" means that in the pattern after it only the backslash and the |
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397 terminating character (/ or ?) has a special meaning. "very nomagic" |
840 | 398 |
399 Examples: | |
400 after: \v \m \M \V matches ~ | |
401 'magic' 'nomagic' | |
402 $ $ $ \$ matches end-of-line | |
403 . . \. \. matches any character | |
404 * * \* \* any number of the previous atom | |
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405 ~ ~ \~ \~ latest substitute string |
840 | 406 () \(\) \(\) \(\) grouping into an atom |
407 | \| \| \| separating alternatives | |
408 \a \a \a \a alphabetic character | |
409 \\ \\ \\ \\ literal backslash | |
410 \. \. . . literal dot | |
411 \{ { { { literal '{' | |
412 a a a a literal 'a' | |
413 | |
414 {only Vim supports \m, \M, \v and \V} | |
415 | |
416 It is recommended to always keep the 'magic' option at the default setting, | |
417 which is 'magic'. This avoids portability problems. To make a pattern immune | |
418 to the 'magic' option being set or not, put "\m" or "\M" at the start of the | |
419 pattern. | |
420 | |
421 ============================================================================== | |
7 | 422 4. Overview of pattern items *pattern-overview* |
4444 | 423 *E865* *E866* *E867* *E869* |
7 | 424 |
425 Overview of multi items. */multi* *E61* *E62* | |
4444 | 426 More explanation and examples below, follow the links. *E64* *E871* |
7 | 427 |
428 multi ~ | |
429 'magic' 'nomagic' matches of the preceding atom ~ | |
430 |/star| * \* 0 or more as many as possible | |
431 |/\+| \+ \+ 1 or more as many as possible (*) | |
432 |/\=| \= \= 0 or 1 as many as possible (*) | |
433 |/\?| \? \? 0 or 1 as many as possible (*) | |
434 | |
435 |/\{| \{n,m} \{n,m} n to m as many as possible (*) | |
436 \{n} \{n} n exactly (*) | |
437 \{n,} \{n,} at least n as many as possible (*) | |
438 \{,m} \{,m} 0 to m as many as possible (*) | |
439 \{} \{} 0 or more as many as possible (same as *) (*) | |
440 | |
441 |/\{-| \{-n,m} \{-n,m} n to m as few as possible (*) | |
442 \{-n} \{-n} n exactly (*) | |
443 \{-n,} \{-n,} at least n as few as possible (*) | |
444 \{-,m} \{-,m} 0 to m as few as possible (*) | |
445 \{-} \{-} 0 or more as few as possible (*) | |
446 | |
447 *E59* | |
448 |/\@>| \@> \@> 1, like matching a whole pattern (*) | |
449 |/\@=| \@= \@= nothing, requires a match |/zero-width| (*) | |
450 |/\@!| \@! \@! nothing, requires NO match |/zero-width| (*) | |
451 |/\@<=| \@<= \@<= nothing, requires a match behind |/zero-width| (*) | |
452 |/\@<!| \@<! \@<! nothing, requires NO match behind |/zero-width| (*) | |
453 | |
454 (*) {not in Vi} | |
455 | |
456 | |
457 Overview of ordinary atoms. */ordinary-atom* | |
458 More explanation and examples below, follow the links. | |
459 | |
460 ordinary atom ~ | |
461 magic nomagic matches ~ | |
462 |/^| ^ ^ start-of-line (at start of pattern) |/zero-width| | |
463 |/\^| \^ \^ literal '^' | |
464 |/\_^| \_^ \_^ start-of-line (used anywhere) |/zero-width| | |
465 |/$| $ $ end-of-line (at end of pattern) |/zero-width| | |
466 |/\$| \$ \$ literal '$' | |
467 |/\_$| \_$ \_$ end-of-line (used anywhere) |/zero-width| | |
468 |/.| . \. any single character (not an end-of-line) | |
469 |/\_.| \_. \_. any single character or end-of-line | |
470 |/\<| \< \< beginning of a word |/zero-width| | |
471 |/\>| \> \> end of a word |/zero-width| | |
472 |/\zs| \zs \zs anything, sets start of match | |
473 |/\ze| \ze \ze anything, sets end of match | |
474 |/\%^| \%^ \%^ beginning of file |/zero-width| *E71* | |
475 |/\%$| \%$ \%$ end of file |/zero-width| | |
640 | 476 |/\%V| \%V \%V inside Visual area |/zero-width| |
7 | 477 |/\%#| \%# \%# cursor position |/zero-width| |
640 | 478 |/\%'m| \%'m \%'m mark m position |/zero-width| |
7 | 479 |/\%l| \%23l \%23l in line 23 |/zero-width| |
480 |/\%c| \%23c \%23c in column 23 |/zero-width| | |
481 |/\%v| \%23v \%23v in virtual column 23 |/zero-width| | |
482 | |
20 | 483 Character classes {not in Vi}: */character-classes* |
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484 magic nomagic matches ~ |
7 | 485 |/\i| \i \i identifier character (see 'isident' option) |
486 |/\I| \I \I like "\i", but excluding digits | |
487 |/\k| \k \k keyword character (see 'iskeyword' option) | |
488 |/\K| \K \K like "\k", but excluding digits | |
489 |/\f| \f \f file name character (see 'isfname' option) | |
490 |/\F| \F \F like "\f", but excluding digits | |
491 |/\p| \p \p printable character (see 'isprint' option) | |
492 |/\P| \P \P like "\p", but excluding digits | |
493 |/\s| \s \s whitespace character: <Space> and <Tab> | |
494 |/\S| \S \S non-whitespace character; opposite of \s | |
495 |/\d| \d \d digit: [0-9] | |
496 |/\D| \D \D non-digit: [^0-9] | |
497 |/\x| \x \x hex digit: [0-9A-Fa-f] | |
498 |/\X| \X \X non-hex digit: [^0-9A-Fa-f] | |
499 |/\o| \o \o octal digit: [0-7] | |
500 |/\O| \O \O non-octal digit: [^0-7] | |
501 |/\w| \w \w word character: [0-9A-Za-z_] | |
502 |/\W| \W \W non-word character: [^0-9A-Za-z_] | |
503 |/\h| \h \h head of word character: [A-Za-z_] | |
504 |/\H| \H \H non-head of word character: [^A-Za-z_] | |
505 |/\a| \a \a alphabetic character: [A-Za-z] | |
506 |/\A| \A \A non-alphabetic character: [^A-Za-z] | |
507 |/\l| \l \l lowercase character: [a-z] | |
508 |/\L| \L \L non-lowercase character: [^a-z] | |
509 |/\u| \u \u uppercase character: [A-Z] | |
510 |/\U| \U \U non-uppercase character [^A-Z] | |
511 |/\_| \_x \_x where x is any of the characters above: character | |
512 class with end-of-line included | |
513 (end of character classes) | |
514 | |
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515 magic nomagic matches ~ |
7 | 516 |/\e| \e \e <Esc> |
517 |/\t| \t \t <Tab> | |
518 |/\r| \r \r <CR> | |
519 |/\b| \b \b <BS> | |
520 |/\n| \n \n end-of-line | |
521 |/~| ~ \~ last given substitute string | |
522 |/\1| \1 \1 same string as matched by first \(\) {not in Vi} | |
523 |/\2| \2 \2 Like "\1", but uses second \(\) | |
524 ... | |
525 |/\9| \9 \9 Like "\1", but uses ninth \(\) | |
526 *E68* | |
527 |/\z1| \z1 \z1 only for syntax highlighting, see |:syn-ext-match| | |
528 ... | |
529 |/\z1| \z9 \z9 only for syntax highlighting, see |:syn-ext-match| | |
530 | |
531 x x a character with no special meaning matches itself | |
532 | |
533 |/[]| [] \[] any character specified inside the [] | |
4119 | 534 |/\%[]| \%[] \%[] a sequence of optionally matched atoms |
7 | 535 |
1620 | 536 |/\c| \c \c ignore case, do not use the 'ignorecase' option |
537 |/\C| \C \C match case, do not use the 'ignorecase' option | |
4444 | 538 |/\Z| \Z \Z ignore differences in Unicode "combining characters". |
539 Useful when searching voweled Hebrew or Arabic text. | |
540 | |
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541 magic nomagic matches ~ |
7 | 542 |/\m| \m \m 'magic' on for the following chars in the pattern |
543 |/\M| \M \M 'magic' off for the following chars in the pattern | |
544 |/\v| \v \v the following chars in the pattern are "very magic" | |
545 |/\V| \V \V the following chars in the pattern are "very nomagic" | |
4444 | 546 |/\%#=| \%#=1 \%#=1 select regexp engine |/zero-width| |
7 | 547 |
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548 |/\%d| \%d \%d match specified decimal character (eg \%d123) |
24 | 549 |/\%x| \%x \%x match specified hex character (eg \%x2a) |
550 |/\%o| \%o \%o match specified octal character (eg \%o040) | |
551 |/\%u| \%u \%u match specified multibyte character (eg \%u20ac) | |
552 |/\%U| \%U \%U match specified large multibyte character (eg | |
553 \%U12345678) | |
5901 | 554 |/\%C| \%C \%C match any composing characters |
7 | 555 |
556 Example matches ~ | |
557 \<\I\i* or | |
558 \<\h\w* | |
559 \<[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]* | |
560 An identifier (e.g., in a C program). | |
561 | |
562 \(\.$\|\. \) A period followed by <EOL> or a space. | |
563 | |
564 [.!?][])"']*\($\|[ ]\) A search pattern that finds the end of a sentence, | |
565 with almost the same definition as the ")" command. | |
566 | |
567 cat\Z Both "cat" and "càt" ("a" followed by 0x0300) | |
568 Does not match "càt" (character 0x00e0), even | |
569 though it may look the same. | |
570 | |
571 | |
572 ============================================================================== | |
573 5. Multi items *pattern-multi-items* | |
574 | |
575 An atom can be followed by an indication of how many times the atom can be | |
576 matched and in what way. This is called a multi. See |/multi| for an | |
577 overview. | |
578 | |
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579 */star* */\star* |
7 | 580 * (use \* when 'magic' is not set) |
581 Matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible. | |
582 Example 'nomagic' matches ~ | |
583 a* a\* "", "a", "aa", "aaa", etc. | |
584 .* \.\* anything, also an empty string, no end-of-line | |
585 \_.* \_.\* everything up to the end of the buffer | |
586 \_.*END \_.\*END everything up to and including the last "END" | |
587 in the buffer | |
588 | |
589 Exception: When "*" is used at the start of the pattern or just after | |
590 "^" it matches the star character. | |
591 | |
592 Be aware that repeating "\_." can match a lot of text and take a long | |
593 time. For example, "\_.*END" matches all text from the current | |
594 position to the last occurrence of "END" in the file. Since the "*" | |
595 will match as many as possible, this first skips over all lines until | |
596 the end of the file and then tries matching "END", backing up one | |
597 character at a time. | |
598 | |
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599 */\+* |
7 | 600 \+ Matches 1 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible. {not in |
601 Vi} | |
602 Example matches ~ | |
603 ^.\+$ any non-empty line | |
604 \s\+ white space of at least one character | |
605 | |
606 */\=* | |
607 \= Matches 0 or 1 of the preceding atom, as many as possible. {not in Vi} | |
608 Example matches ~ | |
609 foo\= "fo" and "foo" | |
610 | |
611 */\?* | |
612 \? Just like \=. Cannot be used when searching backwards with the "?" | |
613 command. {not in Vi} | |
614 | |
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615 */\{* *E60* *E554* *E870* |
7 | 616 \{n,m} Matches n to m of the preceding atom, as many as possible |
617 \{n} Matches n of the preceding atom | |
618 \{n,} Matches at least n of the preceding atom, as many as possible | |
619 \{,m} Matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as many as possible | |
620 \{} Matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible (like *) | |
621 */\{-* | |
622 \{-n,m} matches n to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
623 \{-n} matches n of the preceding atom | |
624 \{-n,} matches at least n of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
625 \{-,m} matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
626 \{-} matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as few as possible | |
627 {Vi does not have any of these} | |
628 | |
168 | 629 n and m are positive decimal numbers or zero |
1125 | 630 *non-greedy* |
7 | 631 If a "-" appears immediately after the "{", then a shortest match |
632 first algorithm is used (see example below). In particular, "\{-}" is | |
633 the same as "*" but uses the shortest match first algorithm. BUT: A | |
634 match that starts earlier is preferred over a shorter match: "a\{-}b" | |
635 matches "aaab" in "xaaab". | |
636 | |
637 Example matches ~ | |
638 ab\{2,3}c "abbc" or "abbbc" | |
1620 | 639 a\{5} "aaaaa" |
640 ab\{2,}c "abbc", "abbbc", "abbbbc", etc. | |
641 ab\{,3}c "ac", "abc", "abbc" or "abbbc" | |
7 | 642 a[bc]\{3}d "abbbd", "abbcd", "acbcd", "acccd", etc. |
643 a\(bc\)\{1,2}d "abcd" or "abcbcd" | |
644 a[bc]\{-}[cd] "abc" in "abcd" | |
645 a[bc]*[cd] "abcd" in "abcd" | |
646 | |
647 The } may optionally be preceded with a backslash: \{n,m\}. | |
648 | |
649 */\@=* | |
650 \@= Matches the preceding atom with zero width. {not in Vi} | |
651 Like "(?=pattern)" in Perl. | |
652 Example matches ~ | |
653 foo\(bar\)\@= "foo" in "foobar" | |
654 foo\(bar\)\@=foo nothing | |
655 */zero-width* | |
656 When using "\@=" (or "^", "$", "\<", "\>") no characters are included | |
657 in the match. These items are only used to check if a match can be | |
658 made. This can be tricky, because a match with following items will | |
659 be done in the same position. The last example above will not match | |
660 "foobarfoo", because it tries match "foo" in the same position where | |
661 "bar" matched. | |
662 | |
663 Note that using "\&" works the same as using "\@=": "foo\&.." is the | |
664 same as "\(foo\)\@=..". But using "\&" is easier, you don't need the | |
665 braces. | |
666 | |
667 | |
668 */\@!* | |
669 \@! Matches with zero width if the preceding atom does NOT match at the | |
670 current position. |/zero-width| {not in Vi} | |
3513 | 671 Like "(?!pattern)" in Perl. |
7 | 672 Example matches ~ |
673 foo\(bar\)\@! any "foo" not followed by "bar" | |
3513 | 674 a.\{-}p\@! "a", "ap", "app", "appp", etc. not immediately |
2908 | 675 followed by a "p" |
7 | 676 if \(\(then\)\@!.\)*$ "if " not followed by "then" |
677 | |
678 Using "\@!" is tricky, because there are many places where a pattern | |
679 does not match. "a.*p\@!" will match from an "a" to the end of the | |
680 line, because ".*" can match all characters in the line and the "p" | |
681 doesn't match at the end of the line. "a.\{-}p\@!" will match any | |
3513 | 682 "a", "ap", "app", etc. that isn't followed by a "p", because the "." |
7 | 683 can match a "p" and "p\@!" doesn't match after that. |
684 | |
685 You can't use "\@!" to look for a non-match before the matching | |
686 position: "\(foo\)\@!bar" will match "bar" in "foobar", because at the | |
687 position where "bar" matches, "foo" does not match. To avoid matching | |
688 "foobar" you could use "\(foo\)\@!...bar", but that doesn't match a | |
237 | 689 bar at the start of a line. Use "\(foo\)\@<!bar". |
7 | 690 |
2788 | 691 Useful example: to find "foo" in a line that does not contain "bar": > |
692 /^\%(.*bar\)\@!.*\zsfoo | |
693 < This pattern first checks that there is not a single position in the | |
694 line where "bar" matches. If ".*bar" matches somewhere the \@! will | |
695 reject the pattern. When there is no match any "foo" will be found. | |
696 The "\zs" is to have the match start just before "foo". | |
697 | |
7 | 698 */\@<=* |
699 \@<= Matches with zero width if the preceding atom matches just before what | |
700 follows. |/zero-width| {not in Vi} | |
3513 | 701 Like "(?<=pattern)" in Perl, but Vim allows non-fixed-width patterns. |
7 | 702 Example matches ~ |
703 \(an\_s\+\)\@<=file "file" after "an" and white space or an | |
704 end-of-line | |
705 For speed it's often much better to avoid this multi. Try using "\zs" | |
706 instead |/\zs|. To match the same as the above example: | |
707 an\_s\+\zsfile | |
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708 At least set a limit for the look-behind, see below. |
7 | 709 |
710 "\@<=" and "\@<!" check for matches just before what follows. | |
711 Theoretically these matches could start anywhere before this position. | |
712 But to limit the time needed, only the line where what follows matches | |
713 is searched, and one line before that (if there is one). This should | |
714 be sufficient to match most things and not be too slow. | |
6153 | 715 |
716 In the old regexp engine the part of the pattern after "\@<=" and | |
717 "\@<!" are checked for a match first, thus things like "\1" don't work | |
718 to reference \(\) inside the preceding atom. It does work the other | |
719 way around: | |
720 Bad example matches ~ | |
721 \%#=1\1\@<=,\([a-z]\+\) ",abc" in "abc,abc" | |
722 | |
723 However, the new regexp engine works differently, it is better to not | |
724 rely on this behavior, do not use \@<= if it can be avoided: | |
725 Example matches ~ | |
726 \([a-z]\+\)\zs,\1 ",abc" in "abc,abc" | |
7 | 727 |
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728 \@123<= |
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729 Like "\@<=" but only look back 123 bytes. This avoids trying lots |
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730 of matches that are known to fail and make executing the pattern very |
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731 slow. Example, check if there is a "<" just before "span": |
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732 /<\@1<=span |
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733 This will try matching "<" only one byte before "span", which is the |
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734 only place that works anyway. |
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735 After crossing a line boundary, the limit is relative to the end of |
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736 the line. Thus the characters at the start of the line with the match |
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737 are not counted (this is just to keep it simple). |
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738 The number zero is the same as no limit. |
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739 |
7 | 740 */\@<!* |
741 \@<! Matches with zero width if the preceding atom does NOT match just | |
742 before what follows. Thus this matches if there is no position in the | |
743 current or previous line where the atom matches such that it ends just | |
744 before what follows. |/zero-width| {not in Vi} | |
3513 | 745 Like "(?<!pattern)" in Perl, but Vim allows non-fixed-width patterns. |
7 | 746 The match with the preceding atom is made to end just before the match |
747 with what follows, thus an atom that ends in ".*" will work. | |
748 Warning: This can be slow (because many positions need to be checked | |
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749 for a match). Use a limit if you can, see below. |
7 | 750 Example matches ~ |
751 \(foo\)\@<!bar any "bar" that's not in "foobar" | |
1620 | 752 \(\/\/.*\)\@<!in "in" which is not after "//" |
7 | 753 |
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754 \@123<! |
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755 Like "\@<!" but only look back 123 bytes. This avoids trying lots of |
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756 matches that are known to fail and make executing the pattern very |
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757 slow. |
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758 |
7 | 759 */\@>* |
760 \@> Matches the preceding atom like matching a whole pattern. {not in Vi} | |
1620 | 761 Like "(?>pattern)" in Perl. |
7 | 762 Example matches ~ |
763 \(a*\)\@>a nothing (the "a*" takes all the "a"'s, there can't be | |
764 another one following) | |
765 | |
766 This matches the preceding atom as if it was a pattern by itself. If | |
767 it doesn't match, there is no retry with shorter sub-matches or | |
768 anything. Observe this difference: "a*b" and "a*ab" both match | |
769 "aaab", but in the second case the "a*" matches only the first two | |
770 "a"s. "\(a*\)\@>ab" will not match "aaab", because the "a*" matches | |
771 the "aaa" (as many "a"s as possible), thus the "ab" can't match. | |
772 | |
773 | |
774 ============================================================================== | |
775 6. Ordinary atoms *pattern-atoms* | |
776 | |
777 An ordinary atom can be: | |
778 | |
779 */^* | |
780 ^ At beginning of pattern or after "\|", "\(", "\%(" or "\n": matches | |
781 start-of-line; at other positions, matches literal '^'. |/zero-width| | |
782 Example matches ~ | |
783 ^beep( the start of the C function "beep" (probably). | |
784 | |
785 */\^* | |
786 \^ Matches literal '^'. Can be used at any position in the pattern. | |
787 | |
788 */\_^* | |
789 \_^ Matches start-of-line. |/zero-width| Can be used at any position in | |
790 the pattern. | |
791 Example matches ~ | |
792 \_s*\_^foo white space and blank lines and then "foo" at | |
793 start-of-line | |
794 | |
795 */$* | |
1620 | 796 $ At end of pattern or in front of "\|", "\)" or "\n" ('magic' on): |
7 | 797 matches end-of-line <EOL>; at other positions, matches literal '$'. |
798 |/zero-width| | |
799 | |
800 */\$* | |
801 \$ Matches literal '$'. Can be used at any position in the pattern. | |
802 | |
803 */\_$* | |
804 \_$ Matches end-of-line. |/zero-width| Can be used at any position in the | |
805 pattern. Note that "a\_$b" never matches, since "b" cannot match an | |
806 end-of-line. Use "a\nb" instead |/\n|. | |
807 Example matches ~ | |
808 foo\_$\_s* "foo" at end-of-line and following white space and | |
809 blank lines | |
810 | |
811 . (with 'nomagic': \.) */.* */\.* | |
812 Matches any single character, but not an end-of-line. | |
813 | |
814 */\_.* | |
815 \_. Matches any single character or end-of-line. | |
816 Careful: "\_.*" matches all text to the end of the buffer! | |
817 | |
818 */\<* | |
819 \< Matches the beginning of a word: The next char is the first char of a | |
820 word. The 'iskeyword' option specifies what is a word character. | |
821 |/zero-width| | |
822 | |
823 */\>* | |
824 \> Matches the end of a word: The previous char is the last char of a | |
237 | 825 word. The 'iskeyword' option specifies what is a word character. |
7 | 826 |/zero-width| |
827 | |
828 */\zs* | |
829 \zs Matches at any position, and sets the start of the match there: The | |
830 next char is the first char of the whole match. |/zero-width| | |
831 Example: > | |
832 /^\s*\zsif | |
833 < matches an "if" at the start of a line, ignoring white space. | |
834 Can be used multiple times, the last one encountered in a matching | |
237 | 835 branch is used. Example: > |
7 | 836 /\(.\{-}\zsFab\)\{3} |
837 < Finds the third occurrence of "Fab". | |
6180 | 838 This cannot be followed by a multi. *E888* |
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839 {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature} |
7 | 840 */\ze* |
841 \ze Matches at any position, and sets the end of the match there: The | |
842 previous char is the last char of the whole match. |/zero-width| | |
843 Can be used multiple times, the last one encountered in a matching | |
844 branch is used. | |
845 Example: "end\ze\(if\|for\)" matches the "end" in "endif" and | |
846 "endfor". | |
6213 | 847 This cannot be followed by a multi. |E888| |
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848 {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature} |
7 | 849 |
850 */\%^* *start-of-file* | |
851 \%^ Matches start of the file. When matching with a string, matches the | |
852 start of the string. {not in Vi} | |
853 For example, to find the first "VIM" in a file: > | |
854 /\%^\_.\{-}\zsVIM | |
855 < | |
856 */\%$* *end-of-file* | |
857 \%$ Matches end of the file. When matching with a string, matches the | |
858 end of the string. {not in Vi} | |
859 Note that this does NOT find the last "VIM" in a file: > | |
860 /VIM\_.\{-}\%$ | |
861 < It will find the next VIM, because the part after it will always | |
862 match. This one will find the last "VIM" in the file: > | |
863 /VIM\ze\(\(VIM\)\@!\_.\)*\%$ | |
864 < This uses |/\@!| to ascertain that "VIM" does NOT match in any | |
865 position after the first "VIM". | |
866 Searching from the end of the file backwards is easier! | |
867 | |
640 | 868 */\%V* |
869 \%V Match inside the Visual area. When Visual mode has already been | |
870 stopped match in the area that |gv| would reselect. | |
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871 This is a |/zero-width| match. To make sure the whole pattern is |
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872 inside the Visual area put it at the start and end of the pattern, |
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873 e.g.: > |
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874 /\%Vfoo.*bar\%V |
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875 < Only works for the current buffer. |
640 | 876 |
7 | 877 */\%#* *cursor-position* |
878 \%# Matches with the cursor position. Only works when matching in a | |
879 buffer displayed in a window. {not in Vi} | |
880 WARNING: When the cursor is moved after the pattern was used, the | |
881 result becomes invalid. Vim doesn't automatically update the matches. | |
882 This is especially relevant for syntax highlighting and 'hlsearch'. | |
883 In other words: When the cursor moves the display isn't updated for | |
884 this change. An update is done for lines which are changed (the whole | |
885 line is updated) or when using the |CTRL-L| command (the whole screen | |
886 is updated). Example, to highlight the word under the cursor: > | |
887 /\k*\%#\k* | |
888 < When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes | |
889 this will clearly show when the match is updated or not. | |
890 | |
640 | 891 */\%'m* */\%<'m* */\%>'m* |
892 \%'m Matches with the position of mark m. | |
893 \%<'m Matches before the position of mark m. | |
894 \%>'m Matches after the position of mark m. | |
895 Example, to highlight the text from mark 's to 'e: > | |
896 /.\%>'s.*\%<'e.. | |
897 < Note that two dots are required to include mark 'e in the match. That | |
898 is because "\%<'e" matches at the character before the 'e mark, and | |
899 since it's a |/zero-width| match it doesn't include that character. | |
900 {not in Vi} | |
901 WARNING: When the mark is moved after the pattern was used, the result | |
902 becomes invalid. Vim doesn't automatically update the matches. | |
651 | 903 Similar to moving the cursor for "\%#" |/\%#|. |
640 | 904 |
7 | 905 */\%l* */\%>l* */\%<l* |
906 \%23l Matches in a specific line. | |
625 | 907 \%<23l Matches above a specific line (lower line number). |
908 \%>23l Matches below a specific line (higher line number). | |
7 | 909 These three can be used to match specific lines in a buffer. The "23" |
910 can be any line number. The first line is 1. {not in Vi} | |
911 WARNING: When inserting or deleting lines Vim does not automatically | |
912 update the matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly becomes | |
913 wrong. | |
914 Example, to highlight the line where the cursor currently is: > | |
915 :exe '/\%' . line(".") . 'l.*' | |
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 | |
919 */\%c* */\%>c* */\%<c* | |
920 \%23c Matches in a specific column. | |
921 \%<23c Matches before a specific column. | |
922 \%>23c Matches after a specific column. | |
923 These three can be used to match specific columns in a buffer or | |
924 string. The "23" can be any column number. The first column is 1. | |
925 Actually, the column is the byte number (thus it's not exactly right | |
926 for multi-byte characters). {not in Vi} | |
927 WARNING: When inserting or deleting text Vim does not automatically | |
928 update the matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly becomes | |
929 wrong. | |
930 Example, to highlight the column where the cursor currently is: > | |
931 :exe '/\%' . col(".") . 'c' | |
932 < When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes | |
933 this will clearly show when the match is updated or not. | |
934 Example for matching a single byte in column 44: > | |
935 /\%>43c.\%<46c | |
936 < Note that "\%<46c" matches in column 45 when the "." matches a byte in | |
937 column 44. | |
938 */\%v* */\%>v* */\%<v* | |
939 \%23v Matches in a specific virtual column. | |
940 \%<23v Matches before a specific virtual column. | |
941 \%>23v Matches after a specific virtual column. | |
942 These three can be used to match specific virtual columns in a buffer | |
943 or string. When not matching with a buffer in a window, the option | |
944 values of the current window are used (e.g., 'tabstop'). | |
945 The "23" can be any column number. The first column is 1. | |
946 Note that some virtual column positions will never match, because they | |
1270 | 947 are halfway through a tab or other character that occupies more than |
948 one screen character. {not in Vi} | |
7 | 949 WARNING: When inserting or deleting text Vim does not automatically |
283 | 950 update highlighted matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly |
951 becomes wrong. | |
1620 | 952 Example, to highlight all the characters after virtual column 72: > |
7 | 953 /\%>72v.* |
954 < When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes | |
955 this will clearly show when the match is updated or not. | |
956 To match the text up to column 17: > | |
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957 /^.*\%17v |
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958 < Column 17 is not included, because this is a |/zero-width| match. To |
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959 include the column use: > |
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960 /^.*\%17v. |
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961 < This command does the same thing, but also matches when there is no |
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962 character in column 17: > |
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963 /^.*\%<18v. |
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964 < Note that without the "^" to anchor the match in the first column, |
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965 this will also highlight column 17: > |
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966 /.*\%17v |
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967 < Column 17 is highlighted by 'hlsearch' because there is another match |
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968 where ".*" matches zero characters. |
7 | 969 < |
970 | |
971 Character classes: {not in Vi} | |
972 \i identifier character (see 'isident' option) */\i* | |
973 \I like "\i", but excluding digits */\I* | |
974 \k keyword character (see 'iskeyword' option) */\k* | |
975 \K like "\k", but excluding digits */\K* | |
976 \f file name character (see 'isfname' option) */\f* | |
977 \F like "\f", but excluding digits */\F* | |
978 \p printable character (see 'isprint' option) */\p* | |
979 \P like "\p", but excluding digits */\P* | |
980 | |
981 NOTE: the above also work for multi-byte characters. The ones below only | |
982 match ASCII characters, as indicated by the range. | |
983 | |
984 *whitespace* *white-space* | |
985 \s whitespace character: <Space> and <Tab> */\s* | |
986 \S non-whitespace character; opposite of \s */\S* | |
987 \d digit: [0-9] */\d* | |
988 \D non-digit: [^0-9] */\D* | |
989 \x hex digit: [0-9A-Fa-f] */\x* | |
990 \X non-hex digit: [^0-9A-Fa-f] */\X* | |
991 \o octal digit: [0-7] */\o* | |
992 \O non-octal digit: [^0-7] */\O* | |
993 \w word character: [0-9A-Za-z_] */\w* | |
994 \W non-word character: [^0-9A-Za-z_] */\W* | |
995 \h head of word character: [A-Za-z_] */\h* | |
996 \H non-head of word character: [^A-Za-z_] */\H* | |
997 \a alphabetic character: [A-Za-z] */\a* | |
998 \A non-alphabetic character: [^A-Za-z] */\A* | |
999 \l lowercase character: [a-z] */\l* | |
1000 \L non-lowercase character: [^a-z] */\L* | |
1001 \u uppercase character: [A-Z] */\u* | |
3224 | 1002 \U non-uppercase character: [^A-Z] */\U* |
7 | 1003 |
1004 NOTE: Using the atom is faster than the [] form. | |
1005 | |
1006 NOTE: 'ignorecase', "\c" and "\C" are not used by character classes. | |
1007 | |
1008 */\_* *E63* */\_i* */\_I* */\_k* */\_K* */\_f* */\_F* | |
1009 */\_p* */\_P* */\_s* */\_S* */\_d* */\_D* */\_x* */\_X* | |
1010 */\_o* */\_O* */\_w* */\_W* */\_h* */\_H* */\_a* */\_A* | |
1011 */\_l* */\_L* */\_u* */\_U* | |
1012 \_x Where "x" is any of the characters above: The character class with | |
1013 end-of-line added | |
1014 (end of character classes) | |
1015 | |
1016 \e matches <Esc> */\e* | |
1017 \t matches <Tab> */\t* | |
1018 \r matches <CR> */\r* | |
1019 \b matches <BS> */\b* | |
1020 \n matches an end-of-line */\n* | |
1021 When matching in a string instead of buffer text a literal newline | |
1022 character is matched. | |
1023 | |
1024 ~ matches the last given substitute string */~* */\~* | |
1025 | |
1026 \(\) A pattern enclosed by escaped parentheses. */\(* */\(\)* */\)* | |
4444 | 1027 E.g., "\(^a\)" matches 'a' at the start of a line. |
1028 *E51* *E54* *E55* *E872* *E873* | |
7 | 1029 |
1030 \1 Matches the same string that was matched by */\1* *E65* | |
1031 the first sub-expression in \( and \). {not in Vi} | |
1032 Example: "\([a-z]\).\1" matches "ata", "ehe", "tot", etc. | |
1033 \2 Like "\1", but uses second sub-expression, */\2* | |
1034 ... */\3* | |
1035 \9 Like "\1", but uses ninth sub-expression. */\9* | |
1036 Note: The numbering of groups is done based on which "\(" comes first | |
1037 in the pattern (going left to right), NOT based on what is matched | |
1038 first. | |
1039 | |
1040 \%(\) A pattern enclosed by escaped parentheses. */\%(\)* */\%(* *E53* | |
1041 Just like \(\), but without counting it as a sub-expression. This | |
1042 allows using more groups and it's a little bit faster. | |
1043 {not in Vi} | |
1044 | |
1045 x A single character, with no special meaning, matches itself | |
1046 | |
1047 */\* */\\* | |
1048 \x A backslash followed by a single character, with no special meaning, | |
1049 is reserved for future expansions | |
1050 | |
1051 [] (with 'nomagic': \[]) */[]* */\[]* */\_[]* */collection* | |
1052 \_[] | |
237 | 1053 A collection. This is a sequence of characters enclosed in brackets. |
7 | 1054 It matches any single character in the collection. |
1055 Example matches ~ | |
1056 [xyz] any 'x', 'y' or 'z' | |
1057 [a-zA-Z]$ any alphabetic character at the end of a line | |
1058 \c[a-z]$ same | |
4073 | 1059 [А-яЁё] Russian alphabet (with utf-8 and cp1251) |
1060 | |
1125 | 1061 */[\n]* |
7 | 1062 With "\_" prepended the collection also includes the end-of-line. |
1063 The same can be done by including "\n" in the collection. The | |
1064 end-of-line is also matched when the collection starts with "^"! Thus | |
1065 "\_[^ab]" matches the end-of-line and any character but "a" and "b". | |
1066 This makes it Vi compatible: Without the "\_" or "\n" the collection | |
1067 does not match an end-of-line. | |
484 | 1068 *E769* |
481 | 1069 When the ']' is not there Vim will not give an error message but |
484 | 1070 assume no collection is used. Useful to search for '['. However, you |
6697 | 1071 do get E769 for internal searching. And be aware that in a |
1072 `:substitute` command the whole command becomes the pattern. E.g. | |
1073 ":s/[/x/" searches for "[/x" and replaces it with nothing. It does | |
1074 not search for "[" and replaces it with "x"! | |
481 | 1075 |
7 | 1076 If the sequence begins with "^", it matches any single character NOT |
1077 in the collection: "[^xyz]" matches anything but 'x', 'y' and 'z'. | |
1078 - If two characters in the sequence are separated by '-', this is | |
1079 shorthand for the full list of ASCII characters between them. E.g., | |
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1080 "[0-9]" matches any decimal digit. Non-ASCII characters can be |
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1081 used, but the character values must not be more than 256 apart. |
7 | 1082 - A character class expression is evaluated to the set of characters |
1083 belonging to that character class. The following character classes | |
1084 are supported: | |
1085 Name Contents ~ | |
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1086 *[:alnum:]* [:alnum:] ASCII letters and digits |
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1087 *[:alpha:]* [:alpha:] ASCII letters |
7 | 1088 *[:blank:]* [:blank:] space and tab characters |
1089 *[:cntrl:]* [:cntrl:] control characters | |
1090 *[:digit:]* [:digit:] decimal digits | |
1091 *[:graph:]* [:graph:] printable characters excluding space | |
1092 *[:lower:]* [:lower:] lowercase letters (all letters when | |
1093 'ignorecase' is used) | |
1094 *[:print:]* [:print:] printable characters including space | |
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1095 *[:punct:]* [:punct:] ASCII punctuation characters |
7 | 1096 *[:space:]* [:space:] whitespace characters |
1097 *[:upper:]* [:upper:] uppercase letters (all letters when | |
1098 'ignorecase' is used) | |
1099 *[:xdigit:]* [:xdigit:] hexadecimal digits | |
1100 *[:return:]* [:return:] the <CR> character | |
1101 *[:tab:]* [:tab:] the <Tab> character | |
1102 *[:escape:]* [:escape:] the <Esc> character | |
1103 *[:backspace:]* [:backspace:] the <BS> character | |
1104 The brackets in character class expressions are additional to the | |
1105 brackets delimiting a collection. For example, the following is a | |
1106 plausible pattern for a UNIX filename: "[-./[:alnum:]_~]\+" That is, | |
1107 a list of at least one character, each of which is either '-', '.', | |
1108 '/', alphabetic, numeric, '_' or '~'. | |
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1109 These items only work for 8-bit characters, except [:lower:] and |
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1111 regexp engine. See |two-engines|. In the future these items may |
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1112 work for multi-byte characters. For now, to get all "alpha" |
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1113 characters you can use: [[:lower:][:upper:]]. |
168 | 1114 */[[=* *[==]* |
1115 - An equivalence class. This means that characters are matched that | |
2974 | 1116 have almost the same meaning, e.g., when ignoring accents. This |
1117 only works for Unicode, latin1 and latin9. The form is: | |
856 | 1118 [=a=] |
168 | 1119 */[[.* *[..]* |
1120 - A collation element. This currently simply accepts a single | |
1121 character in the form: | |
856 | 1122 [.a.] |
7 | 1123 */\]* |
1124 - To include a literal ']', '^', '-' or '\' in the collection, put a | |
1125 backslash before it: "[xyz\]]", "[\^xyz]", "[xy\-z]" and "[xyz\\]". | |
1126 (Note: POSIX does not support the use of a backslash this way). For | |
1127 ']' you can also make it the first character (following a possible | |
1128 "^"): "[]xyz]" or "[^]xyz]" {not in Vi}. | |
1129 For '-' you can also make it the first or last character: "[-xyz]", | |
1130 "[^-xyz]" or "[xyz-]". For '\' you can also let it be followed by | |
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1131 any character that's not in "^]-\bdertnoUux". "[\xyz]" matches '\', |
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1132 'x', 'y' and 'z'. It's better to use "\\" though, future expansions |
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1133 may use other characters after '\'. |
4339 | 1134 - Omitting the trailing ] is not considered an error. "[]" works like |
1135 "[]]", it matches the ']' character. | |
7 | 1136 - The following translations are accepted when the 'l' flag is not |
1137 included in 'cpoptions' {not in Vi}: | |
1138 \e <Esc> | |
1139 \t <Tab> | |
1140 \r <CR> (NOT end-of-line!) | |
1141 \b <BS> | |
1125 | 1142 \n line break, see above |/[\n]| |
24 | 1143 \d123 decimal number of character |
1144 \o40 octal number of character up to 0377 | |
1145 \x20 hexadecimal number of character up to 0xff | |
1146 \u20AC hex. number of multibyte character up to 0xffff | |
1147 \U1234 hex. number of multibyte character up to 0xffffffff | |
7 | 1148 NOTE: The other backslash codes mentioned above do not work inside |
1149 []! | |
1150 - Matching with a collection can be slow, because each character in | |
1151 the text has to be compared with each character in the collection. | |
1152 Use one of the other atoms above when possible. Example: "\d" is | |
1153 much faster than "[0-9]" and matches the same characters. | |
1154 | |
1155 */\%[]* *E69* *E70* *E369* | |
24 | 1156 \%[] A sequence of optionally matched atoms. This always matches. |
7 | 1157 It matches as much of the list of atoms it contains as possible. Thus |
1158 it stops at the first atom that doesn't match. For example: > | |
1159 /r\%[ead] | |
1160 < matches "r", "re", "rea" or "read". The longest that matches is used. | |
1161 To match the Ex command "function", where "fu" is required and | |
1162 "nction" is optional, this would work: > | |
1163 /\<fu\%[nction]\> | |
1164 < The end-of-word atom "\>" is used to avoid matching "fu" in "full". | |
1165 It gets more complicated when the atoms are not ordinary characters. | |
1166 You don't often have to use it, but it is possible. Example: > | |
1167 /\<r\%[[eo]ad]\> | |
1168 < Matches the words "r", "re", "ro", "rea", "roa", "read" and "road". | |
1125 | 1169 There can be no \(\), \%(\) or \z(\) items inside the [] and \%[] does |
1170 not nest. | |
1620 | 1171 To include a "[" use "[[]" and for "]" use []]", e.g.,: > |
1172 /index\%[[[]0[]]] | |
1173 < matches "index" "index[", "index[0" and "index[0]". | |
2570
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1174 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature} |
7 | 1175 |
140 | 1176 */\%d* */\%x* */\%o* */\%u* */\%U* *E678* |
24 | 1177 |
1178 \%d123 Matches the character specified with a decimal number. Must be | |
1179 followed by a non-digit. | |
1180 \%o40 Matches the character specified with an octal number up to 0377. | |
1181 Numbers below 040 must be followed by a non-octal digit or a non-digit. | |
1182 \%x2a Matches the character specified with up to two hexadecimal characters. | |
1183 \%u20AC Matches the character specified with up to four hexadecimal | |
1184 characters. | |
1185 \%U1234abcd Matches the character specified with up to eight hexadecimal | |
1186 characters. | |
7 | 1187 |
1188 ============================================================================== | |
1189 7. Ignoring case in a pattern */ignorecase* | |
1190 | |
1191 If the 'ignorecase' option is on, the case of normal letters is ignored. | |
1192 'smartcase' can be set to ignore case when the pattern contains lowercase | |
1193 letters only. | |
1194 */\c* */\C* | |
1195 When "\c" appears anywhere in the pattern, the whole pattern is handled like | |
1196 'ignorecase' is on. The actual value of 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' is | |
1197 ignored. "\C" does the opposite: Force matching case for the whole pattern. | |
1198 {only Vim supports \c and \C} | |
1199 Note that 'ignorecase', "\c" and "\C" are not used for the character classes. | |
1200 | |
1201 Examples: | |
1202 pattern 'ignorecase' 'smartcase' matches ~ | |
1203 foo off - foo | |
1204 foo on - foo Foo FOO | |
1205 Foo on off foo Foo FOO | |
1206 Foo on on Foo | |
1207 \cfoo - - foo Foo FOO | |
1208 foo\C - - foo | |
1209 | |
1210 Technical detail: *NL-used-for-Nul* | |
1211 <Nul> characters in the file are stored as <NL> in memory. In the display | |
1212 they are shown as "^@". The translation is done when reading and writing | |
1213 files. To match a <Nul> with a search pattern you can just enter CTRL-@ or | |
1214 "CTRL-V 000". This is probably just what you expect. Internally the | |
1215 character is replaced with a <NL> in the search pattern. What is unusual is | |
1216 that typing CTRL-V CTRL-J also inserts a <NL>, thus also searches for a <Nul> | |
1217 in the file. {Vi cannot handle <Nul> characters in the file at all} | |
1218 | |
1219 *CR-used-for-NL* | |
1220 When 'fileformat' is "mac", <NL> characters in the file are stored as <CR> | |
1698 | 1221 characters internally. In the text they are shown as "^J". Otherwise this |
7 | 1222 works similar to the usage of <NL> for a <Nul>. |
1223 | |
1224 When working with expression evaluation, a <NL> character in the pattern | |
1225 matches a <NL> in the string. The use of "\n" (backslash n) to match a <NL> | |
1226 doesn't work there, it only works to match text in the buffer. | |
1227 | |
1228 *pattern-multi-byte* | |
1229 Patterns will also work with multi-byte characters, mostly as you would | |
1230 expect. But invalid bytes may cause trouble, a pattern with an invalid byte | |
1231 will probably never match. | |
1232 | |
1233 ============================================================================== | |
714 | 1234 8. Composing characters *patterns-composing* |
1235 | |
1236 */\Z* | |
5901 | 1237 When "\Z" appears anywhere in the pattern, all composing characters are |
1238 ignored. Thus only the base characters need to match, the composing | |
1239 characters may be different and the number of composing characters may differ. | |
1240 Only relevant when 'encoding' is "utf-8". | |
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|
1241 Exception: If the pattern starts with one or more composing characters, these |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
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4444
diff
changeset
|
1242 must match. |
5901 | 1243 */\%C* |
1244 Use "\%C" to skip any composing characters. For example, the pattern "a" does | |
1245 not match in "càt" (where the a has the composing character 0x0300), but | |
1246 "a\%C" does. Note that this does not match "cát" (where the á is character | |
1247 0xe1, it does not have a compositing character). It does match "cat" (where | |
1248 the a is just an a). | |
714 | 1249 |
1250 When a composing character appears at the start of the pattern of after an | |
1251 item that doesn't include the composing character, a match is found at any | |
1252 character that includes this composing character. | |
1253 | |
1254 When using a dot and a composing character, this works the same as the | |
1255 composing character by itself, except that it doesn't matter what comes before | |
1256 this. | |
1257 | |
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diff
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|
1258 The order of composing characters does not matter. Also, the text may have |
2eb30f341e8d
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parents:
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diff
changeset
|
1259 more composing characters than the pattern, it still matches. But all |
2eb30f341e8d
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parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1260 composing characters in the pattern must be found in the text. |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
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diff
changeset
|
1261 |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1262 Suppose B is a base character and x and y are composing characters: |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1263 pattern text match ~ |
2eb30f341e8d
Updated runtime files and translations.
Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
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4444
diff
changeset
|
1264 Bxy Bxy yes (perfect match) |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1265 Bxy Byx yes (order ignored) |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1266 Bxy By no (x missing) |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1267 Bxy Bx no (y missing) |
4780 | 1268 Bx Bx yes (perfect match) |
4681
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1269 Bx By no (x missing) |
2eb30f341e8d
Updated runtime files and translations.
Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
changeset
|
1270 Bx Bxy yes (extra y ignored) |
2eb30f341e8d
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Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org>
parents:
4444
diff
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|
1271 Bx Byx yes (extra y ignored) |
714 | 1272 |
1273 ============================================================================== | |
1274 9. Compare with Perl patterns *perl-patterns* | |
7 | 1275 |
1276 Vim's regexes are most similar to Perl's, in terms of what you can do. The | |
1277 difference between them is mostly just notation; here's a summary of where | |
1278 they differ: | |
1279 | |
1280 Capability in Vimspeak in Perlspeak ~ | |
1281 ---------------------------------------------------------------- | |
1282 force case insensitivity \c (?i) | |
1283 force case sensitivity \C (?-i) | |
714 | 1284 backref-less grouping \%(atom\) (?:atom) |
7 | 1285 conservative quantifiers \{-n,m} *?, +?, ??, {}? |
1286 0-width match atom\@= (?=atom) | |
1287 0-width non-match atom\@! (?!atom) | |
1288 0-width preceding match atom\@<= (?<=atom) | |
1289 0-width preceding non-match atom\@<! (?<!atom) | |
1290 match without retry atom\@> (?>atom) | |
1291 | |
1292 Vim and Perl handle newline characters inside a string a bit differently: | |
1293 | |
1294 In Perl, ^ and $ only match at the very beginning and end of the text, | |
1295 by default, but you can set the 'm' flag, which lets them match at | |
1296 embedded newlines as well. You can also set the 's' flag, which causes | |
1297 a . to match newlines as well. (Both these flags can be changed inside | |
1298 a pattern using the same syntax used for the i flag above, BTW.) | |
1299 | |
1300 On the other hand, Vim's ^ and $ always match at embedded newlines, and | |
1301 you get two separate atoms, \%^ and \%$, which only match at the very | |
1302 start and end of the text, respectively. Vim solves the second problem | |
1303 by giving you the \_ "modifier": put it in front of a . or a character | |
1304 class, and they will match newlines as well. | |
1305 | |
1306 Finally, these constructs are unique to Perl: | |
1307 - execution of arbitrary code in the regex: (?{perl code}) | |
1308 - conditional expressions: (?(condition)true-expr|false-expr) | |
1309 | |
1310 ...and these are unique to Vim: | |
1311 - changing the magic-ness of a pattern: \v \V \m \M | |
1312 (very useful for avoiding backslashitis) | |
1313 - sequence of optionally matching atoms: \%[atoms] | |
1314 - \& (which is to \| what "and" is to "or"; it forces several branches | |
1315 to match at one spot) | |
1316 - matching lines/columns by number: \%5l \%5c \%5v | |
714 | 1317 - setting the start and end of the match: \zs \ze |
7 | 1318 |
1319 ============================================================================== | |
714 | 1320 10. Highlighting matches *match-highlight* |
7 | 1321 |
1322 *:mat* *:match* | |
1323 :mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ | |
1324 Define a pattern to highlight in the current window. It will | |
1325 be highlighted with {group}. Example: > | |
1326 :highlight MyGroup ctermbg=green guibg=green | |
1327 :match MyGroup /TODO/ | |
1328 < Instead of // any character can be used to mark the start and | |
1329 end of the {pattern}. Watch out for using special characters, | |
1330 such as '"' and '|'. | |
699 | 1331 |
7 | 1332 {group} must exist at the moment this command is executed. |
699 | 1333 |
1334 The {group} highlighting still applies when a character is | |
1326 | 1335 to be highlighted for 'hlsearch', as the highlighting for |
1336 matches is given higher priority than that of 'hlsearch'. | |
1337 Syntax highlighting (see 'syntax') is also overruled by | |
1338 matches. | |
699 | 1339 |
7 | 1340 Note that highlighting the last used search pattern with |
1341 'hlsearch' is used in all windows, while the pattern defined | |
1342 with ":match" only exists in the current window. It is kept | |
1343 when switching to another buffer. | |
699 | 1344 |
1345 'ignorecase' does not apply, use |/\c| in the pattern to | |
1346 ignore case. Otherwise case is not ignored. | |
1347 | |
1620 | 1348 'redrawtime' defines the maximum time searched for pattern |
1349 matches. | |
1350 | |
1125 | 1351 When matching end-of-line and Vim redraws only part of the |
1352 display you may get unexpected results. That is because Vim | |
1353 looks for a match in the line where redrawing starts. | |
1354 | |
1620 | 1355 Also see |matcharg()| and |getmatches()|. The former returns |
1326 | 1356 the highlight group and pattern of a previous |:match| |
1357 command. The latter returns a list with highlight groups and | |
1358 patterns defined by both |matchadd()| and |:match|. | |
1359 | |
1360 Highlighting matches using |:match| are limited to three | |
5968 | 1361 matches (aside from |:match|, |:2match| and |:3match| are |
1326 | 1362 available). |matchadd()| does not have this limitation and in |
1363 addition makes it possible to prioritize matches. | |
819 | 1364 |
7 | 1365 Another example, which highlights all characters in virtual |
1366 column 72 and more: > | |
1367 :highlight rightMargin term=bold ctermfg=blue guifg=blue | |
1368 :match rightMargin /.\%>72v/ | |
1369 < To highlight all character that are in virtual column 7: > | |
1370 :highlight col8 ctermbg=grey guibg=grey | |
1371 :match col8 /\%<8v.\%>7v/ | |
1372 < Note the use of two items to also match a character that | |
1373 occupies more than one virtual column, such as a TAB. | |
1374 | |
1375 :mat[ch] | |
1376 :mat[ch] none | |
1377 Clear a previously defined match pattern. | |
1378 | |
699 | 1379 |
819 | 1380 :2mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ *:2match* |
699 | 1381 :2mat[ch] |
1382 :2mat[ch] none | |
819 | 1383 :3mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ *:3match* |
699 | 1384 :3mat[ch] |
1385 :3mat[ch] none | |
1386 Just like |:match| above, but set a separate match. Thus | |
1387 there can be three matches active at the same time. The match | |
1388 with the lowest number has priority if several match at the | |
1389 same position. | |
1390 The ":3match" command is used by the |matchparen| plugin. You | |
1391 are suggested to use ":match" for manual matching and | |
1392 ":2match" for another plugin. | |
1393 | |
1394 | |
7 | 1395 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |