#1: How to do vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/' #2: + with a Q-R "yes/no?"

#1: How to do vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/' #2: + with a Q-R "yes/no?"

[David Combs]

(1) How to do, in gnu-emacs,  vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/':

That is, "on all lines that contain regexp "foo", change x to y.

And maybe also with option: only the first one on that line, or all of them? 


(2) Same as above, BUT WITH A QUERY-REPLACE-LIKE "YES|NO|!|etc" prompt.

(No, I believe that vi-emulator .el-package does NOT implement
vi's "g/pat/<vi-command>/"  

  (Sure would be nice if it did!)



Thanks so very much!


David

Re: #1: How to do vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/' #2: + with a Q-R "yes/no?"

[Sam Peterson]

dkcombs@panix.com (David Combs) on 7 Apr 2007 13:51:52 -0400 didst step forth
and proclaim thus:

> (1) How to do, in gnu-emacs,  vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/':
> 
> That is, "on all lines that contain regexp "foo", change x to y.
> 
> And maybe also with option: only the first one on that line, or all of them? 

Good question.  There's no quick equivalent to my knowledge.  Though there are
probably a few ways to implement it.  The best method would be to write some
lisp code as I thought about how to do it with a macro and it started getting
too complicated.

M-x occur <RET> is definitely worth looking into.

> (2) Same as above, BUT WITH A QUERY-REPLACE-LIKE "YES|NO|!|etc" prompt.
> 
> (No, I believe that vi-emulator .el-package does NOT implement
> vi's "g/pat/<vi-command>/"  
> 
>   (Sure would be nice if it did!)

What are you talking about?  There's three different vi emulators in Emacs.  I
tried the above command in both vip and viper and it worked perfectly.

-- 
Sam Peterson
skpeterson At nospam ucdavis.edu
"if programmers were paid to remove code instead of adding it,
software would be much better" -- unknown

Re: #1: How to do vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/' #2: + with a Q-R "yes/no?"

[Markus Triska]

Sam Peterson <skpeterson@nospam.please.ucdavis.edu> writes:

> The best method would be to write some lisp code as I thought about
> how to do it with a macro and it started getting too complicated.

A rudimentary definition:

   (defun vis-g (arg)
     "ARG `foo/x/y' changes x to y on all lines that contain
   regexp `foo'."
     (interactive "sPattern: ")
     (let* ((ls (split-string arg "/"))
            (regexp (nth 0 ls))
            (from (nth 1 ls))
            (to (nth 2 ls))
            (nlines 0))
       (save-excursion
         (goto-char (point-min))
         (while (re-search-forward regexp nil t)
           (setq nlines (1+ nlines))
           (replace-regexp from to nil
                             (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position))
           (forward-line)))
       (message "Replaced all occurrences on %s matching line%s"
                nlines (if (= nlines 1) "" "s" ))))

Re: #1: How to do vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/' #2: + with a Q-R "yes/no?"

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 07.04.2007 um 19:51 schrieb David Combs:

> (1) How to do, in gnu-emacs,  vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/':

	M-x replace-regexp RET ^\(.*foo.*\)x\(.*\)$ RET \1y\2 RET and
	M-x replace-regexp RET ^\(.*\)x\(.*foo.*\)$ RET \1y\2 RET ?

I think it's necessary to distinguish the two cases where the MUST  
HAVE is left or right of the MUST NOT BE. Instead of replace-regexp  
you can also use query-replace-regexp.

It might be possible to unite these into one expression using  
alternatives.

--
Greetings

   Pete

Claiming that the Macintosh is inferior to Windows because most  
people use Windows, is like saying that all other restaurants serve  
food that is inferior to McDonald's.

RE: #1: How to do vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/' #2: + with a Q-R "yes/no?"

[Drew Adams]

> (1) How to do, in gnu-emacs,  vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/':
>
> That is, "on all lines that contain regexp "foo", change x to y.
>
> And maybe also with option: only the first one on that line, or
> all of them?
>
> (2) Same as above, BUT WITH A QUERY-REPLACE-LIKE "YES|NO|!|etc" prompt.

You can do these things with Icicles.

`icicle-search' (`C-`') and other Icicles search commands (`icicle-occur',
`icicle-imenu', etc.) let you combine replacement with searching. Whenever
you are at a search hit, you can replace it (or all matches) by hitting a
key.

Searching (and replacement) is contextual:

1. You provide a context regexp (e.g. `.*foo.*' in your example - lines with
`foo').

2. Icicles presents all matches for that regexp (in the buffer, the region,
multiple buffers, or multiple saved regions) - as completion candidates.

3. You can navigate among the search hits, in order or with random (direct)
access, using `C-mouse-2', `C-RET', `C-next', or `C-prior'. The first two
are for direct access, the last two are for access in order.

4. You can replace any of the search hits with other text (e.g. `y' in your
example) selectively, using `S-C-mouse-2', `S-C-RET', `S-C-next', or
`S-C-prior'. The first time you use one of these, you are prompted for the
replacement string.

5. At any time, you can type input (e.g. `x' in your example), which can be
a regexp. Then, whatever that current input matches is replaced, instead of
the entire search hit (`foo') - but only in the context of the matching hits
(lines with `foo'). That is, `x' is replaced by `y', but only in lines that
contain `foo'. Each occurrence of `x' is treated individually.

6. You can choose instead to replace entire search hits (e.g. the whole line
with `foo'), instead of just the parts (`x') that match your current input.
You can toggle this at any time, using `C-,'. Even if you replace entire
search hits, you can still type input (e.g. `x') to filter the set of
initial matches (e.g. lines with `foo').

7. You can change the in-context matches by changing your minibuffer input
at any time: Erase `x' and type `j.*m', and matches of `j.*m' will be found
(and available for replacement) in lines that contain `foo'.

8. You can replace all matches of your current input (`x'), by using
`S-C-insert'.


Doc:
http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/Icicles_-_Search_Enhancements#SearchAn
dReplace

Code: http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/Icicles_-_Libraries

HTH

Re: #1: How to do vi's 'g/foo/s/x/y/' #2: + with a Q-R "yes/no?"

[David Combs]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'll have to look at some of the *other* vi-simulators -- and
also at "icicles".

David