*pattern.txt* For Vim version 5.0j. Last modification: 1997 Apr 21 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar Patterns and search commands *pattern_searches* 1. Search commands |search-commands| 2. The definition of a pattern |search_pattern| ============================================================================== 1. Search commands *search-commands* */* /{pattern}[/] Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of {pattern} (exclusive). /{pattern}/{offset} Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of {pattern} and go {offset} lines up or down (see below). (linewise). */* / Search forward for the [count]'th latest used pattern with latest used {offset}. //{offset} Search forward for the [count]'th latest used pattern with new {offset}. If {offset} is empty no offset is used. *?* ?{pattern}[?] Search backward for the [count]'th previous occurrence of {pattern} (exclusive). ?{pattern}?{offset} Search backward for the [count]'th previous occurrence of {pattern} and go {offset} lines up or down (see below) (linewise). *?* ? Search backward for the [count]'th latest used pattern with latest used {offset}. ??{offset} Search backward for the [count]'th latest used pattern with new {offset}. If {offset} is empty no offset is used. *n* n Repeat the latest "/" or "?" [count] times. {Vi: no count} *N* N Repeat the latest "/" or "?" [count] times in opposite direction. {Vi: no count} *star* * Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the word nearest to the cursor. The word used for the search is the first of: 1. the keyword under the cursor |'iskeyword'| 2. the first keyword after the cursor, in the current line 3. the non-blank word under the cursor 4. the first non-blank word after the cursor, in the current line Only whole keywords are searched for, like with the command "/\". (exclusive) {not in Vi} *#* # Same as "*", but search backward. The English pound sign (character 163) also works. If the "#" key works as backspace, try using "stty erase " before starting Vim ( is CTRL-H or a real backspace). {not in Vi} *gstar* g* Like "*", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word. This makes the search also find matches that are not a whole word. {not in Vi} *g#* g# Like "#", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word. This makes the search also find matches that are not a whole word. {not in Vi} *gd* gd Goto local Declaration. When the cursor is on a local variable, this command will jump to its declaration. First a search is made for the end of the previous function, just like "[]". If it is not found the search stops in line 1. From this position a search is made for the keyword under the cursor, like with "*", but lines that look like a comment are ignored (see 'comments' option). Note that this is not guaranteed to work, Vim does not really check the syntax, it only searches for a match with the keyword. If included files also need to be searched use the commands listed in |include_search|. {not in Vi} *gD* gD Goto global Declaration. When the cursor is on a global variable that is defined in the file, this command will jump to its declaration. This works just like "gd", except that the search for the keyword always starts in line 1. {not in Vi} *CTRL-C* CTRL-C Interrupt current (search) command. Use CTRL-Break on MS-DOS |CTRL-Break|. While typing the search pattern the current match will be shown if the 'incsearch' option is on. Remember that you still have to finish the search command with to actually position the cursor at the displayed match. Or use to abandon the search. All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set the 'hlsearch' option. These commands search for the specified pattern. With "/" and "?" an additional offset may be given. There are two types of offsets: line offsets and character offsets. {the character offsets are not in Vi} *search_offset* *{offset}* The offset gives the cursor position relative to the found match: [num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1 +[num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1 -[num] [num] lines upwards, in column 1 e[+num] [num] characters to the right of the end of the match e[-num] [num] characters to the left of the end of the match s[+num] [num] characters to the right of the start of the match s[-num] [num] characters to the left of the start of the match b[+num] [num] characters to the right of the start (begin) of the match b[-num] [num] characters to the left of the start (begin) of the match If a '-' or '+' is given but [num] is omitted, a count of one will be used. When including an offset with 'e', the search becomes inclusive (the character the cursor lands on is included in operations). Examples: pattern cursor position /test/+1 one line below "test", in column 1 /test/e on the last t of "test" /test/s+2 on the 's' of "test" /test/b-3 three characters before "test" If one of these commands is used after an operator, the characters between the cursor position before and after the search is affected. However, if a line offset is given, the whole lines between the two cursor positions are affected. *//;* A very special offset is ';' followed by another search command. For example: /test 1/;/test /test.*/+1;?ing? The first one first finds the next occurence of "test 1", and then the first occurence of "test" after that. This is like executing two search commands after each other, except that: - It can be used as a single motion command after an operator. - The direction for a following "n" or "N" command comes from the first search command. - When an error occurs the cursor is not moved at all. The last used and are remembered. They can be used to repeat the search, possibly in another direction or with another count. Note that two patterns are remembered: one for 'normal' search commands and one for the substitute command ":s". Each time an empty is given, the previously used is used. All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set the 'hlsearch' option. In Vi the ":tag" command sets the last search pattern when the tag is searched for. In Vim this is not done, the previous search pattern is still remembered, unless the 't' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. The search pattern is always put in the search history. If the 'wrapscan' option is on (which is the default), searches wrap around the end of the buffer. If 'wrapscan' is not set, the backward search stops at the beginning and the forward search stops at the end of the buffer. If 'wrapscan' is set and the pattern was not found the error message "pattern not found" is given, and the cursor will not be moved. If 'wrapscan' is not set the message becomes "search hit BOTTOM without match" when searching forward, or "search hit TOP without match" when searching backward. If wrapscan is set and the search wraps around the end of the file the message "search hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" or "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at TOP" is given when searching backwards or forwards respectively. This can be switched off by setting the 's' flag in the 'shortmess' option. The highlight method 'w' is used for this message (default: standout). *search_range* You cannot limit the search command "/" to a certain range of lines. A trick to do this anyway is to use the ":substitute" command with the 'c' flag. Example: :.,300s/Pattern//gc This command will search from the cursor position until line 300 for "Pattern". At the match, you will be asked to type a character. Type 'q' to stop at this match, type 'n' to find the next match. The "*", "#", "g*" and "g#" commands look for a word near the cursor in this order, the first one that is found is used: - The keyword currently under the cursor. - The first keyword to the right of the cursor, in the same line. - The WORD currently under the cursor. - The first WORD to the right of the cursor, in the same line. The keyword may only contain letters and characters in 'iskeyword'. The WORD may contain any non-blanks (s and/or s). Note that if you type with ten fingers, the characters are easy to remember: the "#" is under your left hand middle finger (search to the left and up) and the "*" is under your right hand middle finger (search to the right and down). ============================================================================== 2. The definition of a pattern *search_pattern* *pattern* *[pattern]* *regular_expression* Patterns may contain special characters, depending on the setting of the 'magic' option. */bar* */\bar* 1. A pattern is one or more branches, separated by "\|". It matches anything that matches one of the branches. Example: "foo\|beep" matches "foo" and "beep". 2. A branch is one or more pieces, concatenated. It matches a match for the first, followed by a match for the second, etc. Example: "foo[0-9]beep", first match "foo", then a digit and then "beep". 3. A piece is an atom, possibly followed by: magic nomagic */star* */\star* * \* matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as much as possible */\+* \+ \+ matches 1 or more of the preceding atom, as much as possible {not in Vi} */\=* \= \= matches 0 or 1 of the preceding atom, as much as possible {not in Vi} */\{* \{n,m} \{n,m} matches n to m of the preceding atom, as much as possible {not in Vi} \{n} \{n} matches n of the preceding atom {not in Vi} \{n,} \{n,} matches at least n of the preceding atom, as much as possible {not in Vi} \{,m} \{,m} matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as much as possible {not in Vi} \{} \{} matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as much as possible (same as *) {not in Vi} */\{-* \{-n,m} \{-n,m} matches n to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible {not in Vi} \{-n} \{-n} matches n of the preceding atom {not in Vi} \{-n,} \{-n,} matches at least n of the preceding atom, as few as possible {not in Vi} \{-,m} \{-,m} matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible {not in Vi} \{-} \{-} matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as few as possible {not in Vi} If a "-" appears immediately after the "{", then a shortest match first algorithm is used (see example below). In particular, "\{-}" is the same as "*" but uses the shortest match first algorithm. (n and m are decimal numbers between 0 and 32000) Examples: .* .\* matches anything, also empty string ^.\+$ ^.\+$ matches any non-empty line foo\= foo\= matches "fo" and "foo" ab\{2,3}c matches abbc or abbbc a\{5} matches aaaaa. ab\{2,}c matches abbc, abbbc, abbbbc, etc ab\{,3}c matches ac, abc, abbc or abbbc. a[bc]\{3}d matches abbbd, abbcd, acbcd, acccd, etc. a\(bc\)\{1,2}d matches abcd or abcbcd start\{-}end matches "start..end" in "start..end.....end" 4. An atom can be: - One of these five: magic nomagic ^ ^ at beginning of pattern, matches start of line */^* $ $ at end of pattern or in front of "\|", */$* matches end of line . \. matches any single character */.* */\.* \< \< matches the beginning of a word */\<* \> \> matches the end of a word */\>* \i \i matches any identifier character (see */\i* 'isident' option) {not in Vi} \I \I like "\i", but excluding digits {not in Vi} */\I* \k \k matches any keyword character (see */\k* 'iskeyword' option) {not in Vi} \K \K like "\k", but excluding digits {not in Vi} */\K* \f \f matches any file name character (see */\f* 'isfname' option) {not in Vi} \F \F like "\f", but excluding digits {not in Vi} */\F* \p \p matches any printable character (see */\p* 'isprint' option) {not in Vi} \P \P like "\p", but excluding digits {not in Vi} */\P* \e \e */\e* \t \t */\t* \r \r */\r* \b \b */\b* ~ \~ matches the last given substitute string */~* */\~* \(\) \(\) A pattern enclosed by escaped parentheses */\(\)* (e.g., "\(^a\)") matches that pattern x x A single character, with no special meaning, matches itself \x \x A backslash followed by a single character, */\* with no special meaning, matches the single character [] \[] A range. This is a sequence of characters */[]* enclosed in "[]" or "\[]". It matches any */\[]* single character from the sequence. E.g., "[xyz]" matches any 'x', 'y' or 'z'. - If the sequence begins with "^", it matches any single character NOT in the sequence: "[^xyz]" matches anything but 'x', 'y' and 'z'. - If two characters in the sequence are separated by '-', this is shorthand for the full list of ASCII characters between them. E.g., "[0-9]" matches any decimal digit. - To include a literal ']', '^', '-' or '\' in the sequence, put a backslash before it: "[xyz\]]", "[\^xyz]", "[xy\-z]" and "[xyz\\]". For ']' you can also make it the first character (following a possible "^"): "[]xyz]" or "[^]xyz]" {not in Vi}. For '-' you can also make it the first or last character: "[-xyz]", "[^-xyz]" or "[xyz-]". For '\' you can also let it be followed by any character that's not in "^]-\etrb". "[\xyz]" matches '\', 'x', 'y' and 'z'. It's better to use "\\" though, future expansions may use other characters after '\'. - The following translations are accepted when the 'l' flag is not included in 'cpoptions' {not in Vi}: \e \t \r \b If the 'ignorecase' option is on, the case of letters is ignored. It is impossible to have a pattern that contains a line break (Sorry!). Examples: ^beep( Probably the start of the C function "beep". [a-zA-Z]$ Any alphabetic character at the end of a line. \<\I\i* or \(^\|[^a-zA-Z0-9_]\)[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]* A C identifier (will stop in front of it). \(\.$\|\. \) A period followed by end-of-line or a space. Note that "\(\. \|\.$\)" does not do the same, because '$' is not end-of-line in front of '\)'. This was done to remain Vi-compatible. [.!?][])"']*\($\|[ ]\) A search pattern that finds the end of a sentence, with almost the same definition as the ")" command. Technical detail: characters in the file are stored as in memory. In the display they are shown as "^@". The translation is done when reading and writing files. To match a with a search pattern you can just enter CTRL-@ or "CTRL-V 000". This is probably just what you expect. Internally the character is replaced with a in the search pattern. What is unusual is that typing CTRL-V CTRL-J also inserts a , thus also searches for a in the file. {Vi cannot handle characters in the file at all} vim:tw=78:ts=8:sw=8: