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diff --git a/runtime/doc/usr_26.txt b/runtime/doc/usr_26.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cf5aeb --- /dev/null +++ b/runtime/doc/usr_26.txt @@ -0,0 +1,221 @@ +*usr_26.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2006 Apr 24 + + VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar + + Repeating + + +An editing task is hardly ever unstructured. A change often needs to be made +several times. In this chapter a number of useful ways to repeat a change +will be explained. + +|26.1| Repeating with Visual mode +|26.2| Add and subtract +|26.3| Making a change in many files +|26.4| Using Vim from a shell script + + Next chapter: |usr_27.txt| Search commands and patterns + Previous chapter: |usr_25.txt| Editing formatted text +Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt| + +============================================================================== +*26.1* Repeating with Visual mode + +Visual mode is very handy for making a change in any sequence of lines. You +can see the highlighted text, thus you can check if the correct lines are +changed. But making the selection takes some typing. The "gv" command +selects the same area again. This allows you to do another operation on the +same text. + Suppose you have some lines where you want to change "2001" to "2002" and +"2000" to "2001": + + The financial results for 2001 are better ~ + than for 2000. The income increased by 50%, ~ + even though 2001 had more rain than 2000. ~ + 2000 2001 ~ + income 45,403 66,234 ~ + +First change "2001" to "2002". Select the lines in Visual mode, and use: > + + :s/2001/2002/g + +Now use "gv" to reselect the same text. It doesn't matter where the cursor +is. Then use ":s/2000/2001/g" to make the second change. + Obviously, you can repeat these changes several times. + +============================================================================== +*26.2* Add and subtract + +When repeating the change of one number into another, you often have a fixed +offset. In the example above, one was added to each year. Instead of typing +a substitute command for each year that appears, the CTRL-A command can be +used. + Using the same text as above, search for a year: > + + /19[0-9][0-9]\|20[0-9][0-9] + +Now press CTRL-A. The year will be increased by one: + + The financial results for 2002 are better ~ + than for 2000. The income increased by 50%, ~ + even though 2001 had more rain than 2000. ~ + 2000 2001 ~ + income 45,403 66,234 ~ + +Use "n" to find the next year, and press "." to repeat the CTRL-A ("." is a +bit quicker to type). Repeat "n" and "." for all years that appear. + Hint: set the 'hlsearch' option to see the matches you are going to change, +then you can look ahead and do it faster. + +Adding more than one can be done by prepending the number to CTRL-A. Suppose +you have this list: + + 1. item four ~ + 2. item five ~ + 3. item six ~ + +Move the cursor to "1." and type: > + + 3 CTRL-A + +The "1." will change to "4.". Again, you can use "." to repeat this on the +other numbers. + +Another example: + + 006 foo bar ~ + 007 foo bar ~ + +Using CTRL-A on these numbers results in: + + 007 foo bar ~ + 010 foo bar ~ + +7 plus one is 10? What happened here is that Vim recognized "007" as an octal +number, because there is a leading zero. This notation is often used in C +programs. If you do not want a number with leading zeros to be handled as +octal, use this: > + + :set nrformats-=octal + +The CTRL-X command does subtraction in a similar way. + +============================================================================== +*26.3* Making a change in many files + +Suppose you have a variable called "x_cnt" and you want to change it to +"x_counter". This variable is used in several of your C files. You need to +change it in all files. This is how you do it. + Put all the relevant files in the argument list: > + + :args *.c +< +This finds all C files and edits the first one. Now you can perform a +substitution command on all these files: > + + :argdo %s/\<x_cnt\>/x_counter/ge | update + +The ":argdo" command takes an argument that is another command. That command +will be executed on all files in the argument list. + The "%s" substitute command that follows works on all lines. It finds the +word "x_cnt" with "\<x_cnt\>". The "\<" and "\>" are used to match the whole +word only, and not "px_cnt" or "x_cnt2". + The flags for the substitute command include "g" to replace all occurrences +of "x_cnt" in the same line. The "e" flag is used to avoid an error message +when "x_cnt" does not appear in the file. Otherwise ":argdo" would abort on +the first file where "x_cnt" was not found. + The "|" separates two commands. The following "update" command writes the +file only if it was changed. If no "x_cnt" was changed to "x_counter" nothing +happens. + +There is also the ":windo" command, which executes its argument in all +windows. And ":bufdo" executes its argument on all buffers. Be careful with +this, because you might have more files in the buffer list than you think. +Check this with the ":buffers" command (or ":ls"). + +============================================================================== +*26.4* Using Vim from a shell script + +Suppose you have a lot of files in which you need to change the string +"-person-" to "Jones" and then print it. How do you do that? One way is to +do a lot of typing. The other is to write a shell script to do the work. + The Vim editor does a superb job as a screen-oriented editor when using +Normal mode commands. For batch processing, however, Normal mode commands do +not result in clear, commented command files; so here you will use Ex mode +instead. This mode gives you a nice command-line interface that makes it easy +to put into a batch file. ("Ex command" is just another name for a +command-line (:) command.) + The Ex mode commands you need are as follows: > + + %s/-person-/Jones/g + write tempfile + quit + +You put these commands in the file "change.vim". Now to run the editor in +batch mode, use this shell script: > + + for file in *.txt; do + vim -e -s $file < change.vim + lpr -r tempfile + done + +The for-done loop is a shell construct to repeat the two lines in between, +while the $file variable is set to a different file name each time. + The second line runs the Vim editor in Ex mode (-e argument) on the file +$file and reads commands from the file "change.vim". The -s argument tells +Vim to operate in silent mode. In other words, do not keep outputting the +:prompt, or any other prompt for that matter. + The "lpr -r tempfile" command prints the resulting "tempfile" and deletes +it (that's what the -r argument does). + + +READING FROM STDIN + +Vim can read text on standard input. Since the normal way is to read commands +there, you must tell Vim to read text instead. This is done by passing the +"-" argument in place of a file. Example: > + + ls | vim - + +This allows you to edit the output of the "ls" command, without first saving +the text in a file. + If you use the standard input to read text from, you can use the "-S" +argument to read a script: > + + producer | vim -S change.vim - + + +NORMAL MODE SCRIPTS + +If you really want to use Normal mode commands in a script, you can use it +like this: > + + vim -s script file.txt ... +< + Note: + "-s" has a different meaning when it is used without "-e". Here it + means to source the "script" as Normal mode commands. When used with + "-e" it means to be silent, and doesn't use the next argument as a + file name. + +The commands in "script" are executed like you typed them. Don't forget that +a line break is interpreted as pressing <Enter>. In Normal mode that moves +the cursor to the next line. + To create the script you can edit the script file and type the commands. +You need to imagine what the result would be, which can be a bit difficult. +Another way is to record the commands while you perform them manually. This +is how you do that: > + + vim -w script file.txt ... + +All typed keys will be written to "script". If you make a small mistake you +can just continue and remember to edit the script later. + The "-w" argument appends to an existing script. That is good when you +want to record the script bit by bit. If you want to start from scratch and +start all over, use the "-W" argument. It overwrites any existing file. + +============================================================================== + +Next chapter: |usr_27.txt| Search commands and patterns + +Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: |