I'm aware of the possibility to edit multiple lines on the same column by doing:
CTRL+V down...down..down... SHIFT+I type_string_wanted
But I'd like to edit multiple specific locals addin new strings (maybe using cursor (h j k l) or mouse (with :set mouse=a)).
Like on this example, where I want to add the string 'XX' to specific locations. I.e.,
from this:
Hi.
My name is Mario!
to this:
XXHi.
My XXname is XXMario!
Any ideas?
Edit the first location and then use . to repeat the action at each additional location.
I'd reverse the order of your steps.
Instead of marking each location, then performing the change on all at once, just edit the first location, then use . to do the same to each of the others.
This doesn't add any keystrokes to your use case; instead of hitting some key to mark a spot beforehand, you hit . afterward.
If you suspect you might accidentally do some other things in between usages, you could record a macro using q<register> the first time, and play it back with #<register> each of the others.
Related
The . key can be used to repeat the last insert command. However, we might do some navigation that is not part of the insert, but we want it repeated.
Imagine commenting out lines like so:
// line of text
// line of text
line of text
line of text
The insert command is to put the two forward slashes and a space. That can be repeated using the . key. The navigation would be to navigate down one line and then left some number of characters. That part is not captured by the . key command.
How can we achieve this functionality? I read that it was not available in Vi some years ago, but I'm wondering if it exists now in the latest version of Vim.
Press qX, where X is any of the writable registers (typically: pick any lowercase letter).
Do whatever actions you want to record.
Press q again to stop recording.
Press #X (where X is the same register) to play it back (count times, if used with a count).
Press ## to replay the most recently used macro (count times).
I read that it was not available in Vi some years ago, but I'm wondering if it exists now in the latest version of Vim.
If the Vim docs are to be believed, Vi did not support recording (steps 1-3), but did support #. Then you would have to manually yank the characters into the target register with "Xy<motion> or some other register-writing command. That also works under Vim, but I can't recommend it because it is much more error prone.
Another approach would be "block select then edit" approach:
ctrl + v - block select
then go down j or down-arrow
shift + i will put you in insert mode. Make the change here where you want it to be reflected on all the other lines you've selected.
esc twice will show/repeat that change you made on the line one.
If you have a big range of similar lines and want to put // at the beginning of it, you can do something like:
:15,25norm! I//<space>
You can also use visual area (vip selects an entire paragraph)
:'<,'>norm! I//<space>
using a pattern
:g/TODO/norm! I//<space>
Edit: I moved this over to the Vi and Vim site: https://vi.stackexchange.com/questions/13689/how-to-find-and-replace-in-vim-without-having-to-type-the-original-word
I'd like to optimize my "find and replace" workflow in Vim. It's something I do often, as I'm sure most of you do too. Usually something along the lines of -- copy a block and change the name of a variable in a few places. I know, I know, that probably triggers your "why are you copying and pasting code" reflex, but let's not go down that road... There are plenty of valid use cases :)
I'm well aware of the search and replace commands: :s or :%s but I don't like them. It forces me to type out both the full variable name I'm searching for and what I'm changing it to. Maybe there is a better way fix the the amount of typing with :%s? I often use long descriptive variable names, so that is really a deal breaker for me. I also don't like how typing out a variable name from scratch is typo prone and can consume time and brainpower hunting down typos. I much prefer typing it once, and then copying and pasting to just avoid this entirely if possible.
My current workflow uses some combination of movement/yank/select/search/put to move around the file and replace one by one. It is not great but has the benefit of avoiding typing out full variable names. I might just need to type the first few letters with / or use another movement command (i.e. fx) depending on what's around and then hit ve to select the whole word. I also don't mind that I have to repeat for every instance. I never do a full find replace without confirming each change. But it would be much preferable if I could repeat the replacement action with a single keystroke (which I can't do with this method). each replacement is usually something like n then ve then p (or even worse "0p)
Is there a faster way?
My own workflow is similar to yours:
To start, get the cursor on one instance, possibly with / or by navigation.
Hit * to find the next instance of that word.
Change one instance with cw and then the new variable name.
Then it's fast: n/N to get to the next/previous instance, and . to repeat the last edit.
This workflow gives me the same advantage as yours, in that I can review each case before applying the change, but it's just two keystrokes for each additional change.
Hope this helps.
I like the "visual highlight then edit" approach.
shift + v to highlight the region that you want to modify.
then :s/old/new/r where old is what word you want to replace with new.
r changes the first instance of that word old.
Note* There are options other than r which modify its behavior how you want to replace the word.
Suppose I am working on three functions and I will be jumping back and forth between them. Suppose functions A,B, and C are on lines a, b and c. Is there a way to bind the following (which jump to the line position)
:a
:b
:c
to keys during runtime so I can easily jump to these positions. If you play Starcraft this is kind of like binding a selected group of units to your number keys, and then using the number keys to quickly change your selected group (or jump to the designated line, in this case).
Or is there another way of getting a similar result that I am unaware of? I just recently discovered that =% autoformats your tabs within the highlighted brace, so I am pretty new to vim.
Thanks.
You want to use marks. They allow you to save your current position in the file to a variable.
In Starcraft, you "Hotkey" your guys by pressing Ctrl+1 to tag them, then tap 1 to select them again.
In Vim, you "Mark" a place by pressing [m], then [a](or any letter) to mark them, then [`], then [a] to go back to that mark.
So you have hotkeys to 1,2,3,4, etc in SC, but marks are a-z(and probably other characters but I'm not sure) in Vim.
For more technical info try
:help marks
I've replaced my fFtT completely with EasyMotion's equivalent and I've found it to be adequate in most cases except when I need to repeat the last motion with text objects. For example, dot command following ct or cf don't work the way they're supposed to. Is there a way make this work somehow, or do I have to resort to mapping the original ftFT for cases like this?
I try to be bold, without testing and say, NO, it cannot be repeated.
you typed some magic key (for example, f . Default <leader><leader>f), triggered easyMotion, try to move to letter x. but on your current screen, there are 10 x after your cursor. Then you typed c to move to the right one. now you try to type dot . to repeat it. how easyMotion know which x you want to go to next?
I'm getting more and more comfortable with Vim after a few months.
BUT, there is only one simple feature I can't get any answer from the web. That is "Search and replace the results". The problem is that I know:
:/keyword to search, and hit enter "keyword" will be highlighted (of course with set hlsearch)
n, or N to navigate
:% s/keyword/new_keyword/g to replace all occurences of keyword with new_keyword.
BUT, I would think that there must be a way to search, and replace the matched keyword (highlighted) with any new_keyword WITHOUT doing ":% s/keyword/new_keyword/g", which is a lot of typing considering search & replace is such a day-to-day feature.
Any answers/comments will be greatly appreciated!
If you've already done a search you can do a substitution for the same pattern by simply leaving out the pattern in the substitute command. eg:
/keyword
searchs for "keyword", and then:
:%s//new_keyword/g
will replace all occurrences of "keyword" with "new_keyword".
Searching and using the dot command (you didn't meantion you are using the dot command, that's why I highlight it) to repeat the last input action is my best bet here.
I use s///g for search and replace.
Well, since #keyword# and #new_keyword# account for most of the characters, and you need some way to differentiate between them (i.e., a character in vim, or tab between entry fields in dialog in a different editor), you're left with maybe four or five keystrokes beyond that.
So I think you're probably overestimating number of keystrokes and also forgetting that (1) it becomes very natural, and (2) working this way allows you also to naturally modify the action performed by specifying a different range or option flag.
But you can cut down on keystrokes. If you want you can map a key to automatically bring up the command line with '%s/' already in place. e.g.:
nmap s :%s/
The command above would remap 's' (I'm not recommending remapping to that key, but it gives the idea) and set you up to insert the keyword.
Also, you can set the 'gdefault' option to default to substituting multiple times per line. This lets you skip the ending '/g' in your keystrokes:
set gdefault
See ':h gdefault' for help section on that option.
In the end I would say just get used to the default way it works, because using it that way allows you to keep same basic operation when you want to specify different ranges or option flags, and creating a new special map is just another thing to remember. gdefault may be worth setting if you think you're going to want it majority of time, adding /g flag at end when gdefault is set has effect of turning /g off. . .
Move to the first highlighted word then record a macro for replacing the word and moving to the next one, e.g:
gg
n
qq
caw new_word^[
n
q
#q
##
##
...