annotate man/search.texi @ 39595:d184cf4318ee

(Fminibuffer_prompt_end, Fminibuffer_contents) (Fminibuffer_contents_no_properties, Fdelete_minibuffer_contents): New functions (were in simple.el). (Fminibuffer_complete_and_exit, Fminibuffer_complete_word) (read_minibuf, do_completion, Fminibuffer_completion_help): Use them. (syms_of_minibuf): Initialize them.
author Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>
date Fri, 05 Oct 2001 12:25:26 +0000
parents d8ab01673218
children c96b651c8c8e
Ignore whitespace changes - Everywhere: Within whitespace: At end of lines:
rev   line source
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
36058
bebad4c9dbcc Copyright up-date.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 35904
diff changeset
2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 97, 2000, 2001
28126
e7cf77f27506 Fix copyright line.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 28063
diff changeset
3 @c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
4 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
5 @node Search, Fixit, Display, Top
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
6 @chapter Searching and Replacement
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
7 @cindex searching
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
8 @cindex finding strings within text
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
9
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
10 Like other editors, Emacs has commands for searching for occurrences of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
11 a string. The principal search command is unusual in that it is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
12 @dfn{incremental}; it begins to search before you have finished typing the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
13 search string. There are also nonincremental search commands more like
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
14 those of other editors.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
15
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
16 Besides the usual @code{replace-string} command that finds all
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
17 occurrences of one string and replaces them with another, Emacs has a
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
18 more flexible replacement command called @code{query-replace}, which
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
19 asks interactively which occurrences to replace.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
20
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
21 @menu
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
22 * Incremental Search:: Search happens as you type the string.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
23 * Nonincremental Search:: Specify entire string and then search.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
24 * Word Search:: Search for sequence of words.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
25 * Regexp Search:: Search for match for a regexp.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
26 * Regexps:: Syntax of regular expressions.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
27 * Search Case:: To ignore case while searching, or not.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
28 * Replace:: Search, and replace some or all matches.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
29 * Other Repeating Search:: Operating on all matches for some regexp.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
30 @end menu
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
31
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
32 @node Incremental Search, Nonincremental Search, Search, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
33 @section Incremental Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
34
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
35 @cindex incremental search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
36 An incremental search begins searching as soon as you type the first
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
37 character of the search string. As you type in the search string, Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
38 shows you where the string (as you have typed it so far) would be
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
39 found. When you have typed enough characters to identify the place you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
40 want, you can stop. Depending on what you plan to do next, you may or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
41 may not need to terminate the search explicitly with @key{RET}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
42
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
43 @c WideCommands
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
44 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
45 @item C-s
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
46 Incremental search forward (@code{isearch-forward}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
47 @item C-r
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
48 Incremental search backward (@code{isearch-backward}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
49 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
50
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
51 @kindex C-s
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
52 @findex isearch-forward
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
53 @kbd{C-s} starts a forward incremental search. It reads characters
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
54 from the keyboard, and moves point past the next occurrence of those
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
55 characters. If you type @kbd{C-s} and then @kbd{F}, that puts the
38880
d8ab01673218 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38127
diff changeset
56 cursor after the first @samp{F} (the first following the starting point, since
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
57 this is a forward search). Then if you type an @kbd{O}, you will see
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
58 the cursor move just after the first @samp{FO} (the @samp{F} in that
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
59 @samp{FO} may or may not be the first @samp{F}). After another
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
60 @kbd{O}, the cursor moves after the first @samp{FOO} after the place
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
61 where you started the search. At each step, the buffer text that
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
62 matches the search string is highlighted, if the terminal can do that;
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
63 the current search string is always displayed in the echo area.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
64
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
65 If you make a mistake in typing the search string, you can cancel
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
66 characters with @key{DEL}. Each @key{DEL} cancels the last character of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
67 search string. This does not happen until Emacs is ready to read another
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
68 input character; first it must either find, or fail to find, the character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
69 you want to erase. If you do not want to wait for this to happen, use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
70 @kbd{C-g} as described below.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
71
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
72 When you are satisfied with the place you have reached, you can type
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
73 @key{RET}, which stops searching, leaving the cursor where the search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
74 brought it. Also, any command not specially meaningful in searches
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
75 stops the searching and is then executed. Thus, typing @kbd{C-a}
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
76 would exit the search and then move to the beginning of the line.
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
77 @key{RET} is necessary only if the next command you want to type is a
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
78 printing character, @key{DEL}, @key{RET}, or another character that is
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
79 special within searches (@kbd{C-q}, @kbd{C-w}, @kbd{C-r}, @kbd{C-s},
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
80 @kbd{C-y}, @kbd{M-y}, @kbd{M-r}, @kbd{M-s}, and some other
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
81 meta-characters).
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
82
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
83 Sometimes you search for @samp{FOO} and find one, but not the one you
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
84 expected to find. There was a second @samp{FOO} that you forgot
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
85 about, before the one you were aiming for. In this event, type
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
86 another @kbd{C-s} to move to the next occurrence of the search string.
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
87 You can repeat this any number of times. If you overshoot, you can
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
88 cancel some @kbd{C-s} characters with @key{DEL}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
89
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
90 After you exit a search, you can search for the same string again by
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
91 typing just @kbd{C-s C-s}: the first @kbd{C-s} is the key that invokes
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
92 incremental search, and the second @kbd{C-s} means ``search again.''
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
93
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
94 To reuse earlier search strings, use the @dfn{search ring}. The
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
95 commands @kbd{M-p} and @kbd{M-n} move through the ring to pick a search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
96 string to reuse. These commands leave the selected search ring element
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
97 in the minibuffer, where you can edit it. Type @kbd{C-s} or @kbd{C-r}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
98 to terminate editing the string and search for it.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
99
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
100 If your string is not found at all, the echo area says @samp{Failing
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
101 I-Search}. The cursor is after the place where Emacs found as much of your
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
102 string as it could. Thus, if you search for @samp{FOOT}, and there is no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
103 @samp{FOOT}, you might see the cursor after the @samp{FOO} in @samp{FOOL}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
104 At this point there are several things you can do. If your string was
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
105 mistyped, you can rub some of it out and correct it. If you like the place
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
106 you have found, you can type @key{RET} or some other Emacs command to
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
107 remain there. Or you can type @kbd{C-g}, which
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
108 removes from the search string the characters that could not be found (the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
109 @samp{T} in @samp{FOOT}), leaving those that were found (the @samp{FOO} in
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
110 @samp{FOOT}). A second @kbd{C-g} at that point cancels the search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
111 entirely, returning point to where it was when the search started.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
112
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
113 An upper-case letter in the search string makes the search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
114 case-sensitive. If you delete the upper-case character from the search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
115 string, it ceases to have this effect. @xref{Search Case}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
116
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
117 To search for a newline, type @kbd{C-j}. To search for another
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
118 control character, such as control-S or carriage return, you must quote
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
119 it by typing @kbd{C-q} first. This function of @kbd{C-q} is analogous
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
120 to its use for insertion (@pxref{Inserting Text}): it causes the
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
121 following character to be treated the way any ``ordinary'' character is
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
122 treated in the same context. You can also specify a character by its
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
123 octal code: enter @kbd{C-q} followed by a sequence of octal digits.
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
124
35904
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
125 @cindex searching for non-ASCII characters
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
126 @cindex input method, during incremental search
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
127 To search for non-ASCII characters, you must use an input method
38880
d8ab01673218 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38127
diff changeset
128 (@pxref{Input Methods}). If an input method is enabled in the
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
129 current buffer when you start the search, you can use it while you
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
130 type the search string also. Emacs indicates that by including the
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
131 input method mnemonic in its prompt, like this:
35904
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
132
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
133 @example
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
134 I-search [@var{im}]:
35904
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
135 @end example
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
136
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
137 @noindent
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
138 @findex isearch-toggle-input-method
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
139 @findex isearch-toggle-specified-input-method
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
140 where @var{im} is the mnemonic of the active input method. You can
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
141 toggle (enable or disable) the input method while you type the search
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
142 string with @kbd{C-\} (@code{isearch-toggle-input-method}). You can
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
143 turn on a certain (non-default) input method with @kbd{C-^}
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
144 (@code{isearch-toggle-specified-input-method}), which prompts for the
38880
d8ab01673218 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38127
diff changeset
145 name of the input method. The input method you enable during
d8ab01673218 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38127
diff changeset
146 incremental search remains enabled in the current buffer afterwards.
35904
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
147
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
148 If a search is failing and you ask to repeat it by typing another
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
149 @kbd{C-s}, it starts again from the beginning of the buffer.
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
150 Repeating a failing reverse search with @kbd{C-r} starts again from
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
151 the end. This is called @dfn{wrapping around}, and @samp{Wrapped}
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
152 appears in the search prompt once this has happened. If you keep on
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
153 going past the original starting point of the search, it changes to
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
154 @samp{Overwrapped}, which means that you are revisiting matches that
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
155 you have already seen.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
156
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
157 @cindex quitting (in search)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
158 The @kbd{C-g} ``quit'' character does special things during searches;
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
159 just what it does depends on the status of the search. If the search has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
160 found what you specified and is waiting for input, @kbd{C-g} cancels the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
161 entire search. The cursor moves back to where you started the search. If
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
162 @kbd{C-g} is typed when there are characters in the search string that have
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
163 not been found---because Emacs is still searching for them, or because it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
164 has failed to find them---then the search string characters which have not
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
165 been found are discarded from the search string. With them gone, the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
166 search is now successful and waiting for more input, so a second @kbd{C-g}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
167 will cancel the entire search.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
168
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
169 You can change to searching backwards with @kbd{C-r}. If a search fails
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
170 because the place you started was too late in the file, you should do this.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
171 Repeated @kbd{C-r} keeps looking for more occurrences backwards. A
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
172 @kbd{C-s} starts going forwards again. @kbd{C-r} in a search can be canceled
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
173 with @key{DEL}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
174
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
175 @kindex C-r
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
176 @findex isearch-backward
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
177 If you know initially that you want to search backwards, you can use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
178 @kbd{C-r} instead of @kbd{C-s} to start the search, because @kbd{C-r} as
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
179 a key runs a command (@code{isearch-backward}) to search backward. A
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
180 backward search finds matches that are entirely before the starting
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
181 point, just as a forward search finds matches that begin after it.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
182
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
183 The characters @kbd{C-y} and @kbd{C-w} can be used in incremental
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
184 search to grab text from the buffer into the search string. This makes
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
185 it convenient to search for another occurrence of text at point.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
186 @kbd{C-w} copies the word after point as part of the search string,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
187 advancing point over that word. Another @kbd{C-s} to repeat the search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
188 will then search for a string including that word. @kbd{C-y} is similar
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
189 to @kbd{C-w} but copies all the rest of the current line into the search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
190 string. Both @kbd{C-y} and @kbd{C-w} convert the text they copy to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
191 lower case if the search is currently not case-sensitive; this is so the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
192 search remains case-insensitive.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
193
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
194 The character @kbd{M-y} copies text from the kill ring into the search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
195 string. It uses the same text that @kbd{C-y} as a command would yank.
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
196 @kbd{Mouse-2} in the echo area does the same.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
197 @xref{Yanking}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
198
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
199 When you exit the incremental search, it sets the mark to where point
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
200 @emph{was}, before the search. That is convenient for moving back
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
201 there. In Transient Mark mode, incremental search sets the mark without
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
202 activating it, and does so only if the mark is not already active.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
203
27217
d21dbd5dc0b1 Lazy highlighting.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27139
diff changeset
204 @cindex lazy search highlighting
d21dbd5dc0b1 Lazy highlighting.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27139
diff changeset
205 @vindex isearch-lazy-highlight
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
206 When you pause for a little while during incremental search, it
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
207 highlights all other possible matches for the search string. This
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
208 makes it easier to anticipate where you can get to by typing @kbd{C-s}
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
209 or @kbd{C-r} to repeat the search. The short delay before highlighting
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
210 other matches helps indicate which match is the current one.
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
211 If you don't like this feature, you can turn it off by setting
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
212 @code{isearch-lazy-highlight} to @code{nil}.
27217
d21dbd5dc0b1 Lazy highlighting.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27139
diff changeset
213
31062
c503cf38b3e8 More details and index entries for isearch-lazy-highlight.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31048
diff changeset
214 @vindex isearch-lazy-highlight-face
c503cf38b3e8 More details and index entries for isearch-lazy-highlight.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31048
diff changeset
215 @cindex faces for highlighting search matches
38049
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
216 You can control how this highlighting looks by customizing the faces
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
217 @code{isearch} (used for the current match) and
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
218 @code{isearch-lazy-highlight-face} (for all the other matches).
31062
c503cf38b3e8 More details and index entries for isearch-lazy-highlight.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31048
diff changeset
219
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
220 @vindex isearch-mode-map
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
221 To customize the special characters that incremental search understands,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
222 alter their bindings in the keymap @code{isearch-mode-map}. For a list
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
223 of bindings, look at the documentation of @code{isearch-mode} with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
224 @kbd{C-h f isearch-mode @key{RET}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
225
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
226 @subsection Slow Terminal Incremental Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
227
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
228 Incremental search on a slow terminal uses a modified style of display
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
229 that is designed to take less time. Instead of redisplaying the buffer at
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
230 each place the search gets to, it creates a new single-line window and uses
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
231 that to display the line that the search has found. The single-line window
38049
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
232 comes into play as soon as point moves outside of the text that is already
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
233 on the screen.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
234
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
235 When you terminate the search, the single-line window is removed.
38049
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
236 Emacs then redisplays the window in which the search was done, to show
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
237 its new position of point.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
238
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
239 @vindex search-slow-speed
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
240 The slow terminal style of display is used when the terminal baud rate is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
241 less than or equal to the value of the variable @code{search-slow-speed},
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
242 initially 1200. See @code{baud-rate} in @ref{Display Custom}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
243
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
244 @vindex search-slow-window-lines
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
245 The number of lines to use in slow terminal search display is controlled
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
246 by the variable @code{search-slow-window-lines}. Its normal value is 1.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
247
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
248 @node Nonincremental Search, Word Search, Incremental Search, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
249 @section Nonincremental Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
250 @cindex nonincremental search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
251
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
252 Emacs also has conventional nonincremental search commands, which require
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
253 you to type the entire search string before searching begins.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
254
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
255 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
256 @item C-s @key{RET} @var{string} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
257 Search for @var{string}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
258 @item C-r @key{RET} @var{string} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
259 Search backward for @var{string}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
260 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
261
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
262 To do a nonincremental search, first type @kbd{C-s @key{RET}}. This
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
263 enters the minibuffer to read the search string; terminate the string
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
264 with @key{RET}, and then the search takes place. If the string is not
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
265 found, the search command signals an error.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
266
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
267 When you type @kbd{C-s @key{RET}}, the @kbd{C-s} invokes incremental
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
268 search as usual. That command is specially programmed to invoke
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
269 nonincremental search, @code{search-forward}, if the string you
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
270 specify is empty. (Such an empty argument would otherwise be
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
271 useless.) But it does not call @code{search-forward} right away. First
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
272 it checks the next input character to see if is @kbd{C-w},
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
273 which specifies a word search.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
274 @ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
275 @xref{Word Search}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
276 @end ifinfo
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
277 @kbd{C-r @key{RET}} does likewise, for a reverse incremental search.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
278
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
279 @findex search-forward
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
280 @findex search-backward
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
281 Forward and backward nonincremental searches are implemented by the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
282 commands @code{search-forward} and @code{search-backward}. These
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
283 commands may be bound to keys in the usual manner. The feature that you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
284 can get to them via the incremental search commands exists for
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
285 historical reasons, and to avoid the need to find key sequences
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
286 for them.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
287
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
288 @node Word Search, Regexp Search, Nonincremental Search, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
289 @section Word Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
290 @cindex word search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
291
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
292 Word search searches for a sequence of words without regard to how the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
293 words are separated. More precisely, you type a string of many words,
38049
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
294 using single spaces to separate them, and the string can be found even
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
295 if there are multiple spaces, newlines, or other punctuation characters
0ee6a3d3764e Proofreading fixes friom Danny Colascione <qtmstr@optonline.net>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38016
diff changeset
296 between these words.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
297
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
298 Word search is useful for editing a printed document made with a text
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
299 formatter. If you edit while looking at the printed, formatted version,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
300 you can't tell where the line breaks are in the source file. With word
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
301 search, you can search without having to know them.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
302
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
303 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
304 @item C-s @key{RET} C-w @var{words} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
305 Search for @var{words}, ignoring details of punctuation.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
306 @item C-r @key{RET} C-w @var{words} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
307 Search backward for @var{words}, ignoring details of punctuation.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
308 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
309
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
310 Word search is a special case of nonincremental search and is invoked
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
311 with @kbd{C-s @key{RET} C-w}. This is followed by the search string,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
312 which must always be terminated with @key{RET}. Being nonincremental,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
313 this search does not start until the argument is terminated. It works
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
314 by constructing a regular expression and searching for that; see
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
315 @ref{Regexp Search}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
316
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
317 Use @kbd{C-r @key{RET} C-w} to do backward word search.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
318
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
319 @findex word-search-forward
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
320 @findex word-search-backward
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
321 Forward and backward word searches are implemented by the commands
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
322 @code{word-search-forward} and @code{word-search-backward}. These
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
323 commands may be bound to keys in the usual manner. They are available
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
324 via the incremental search commands both for historical reasons and
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
325 to avoid the need to find suitable key sequences for them.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
326
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
327 @node Regexp Search, Regexps, Word Search, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
328 @section Regular Expression Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
329 @cindex regular expression
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
330 @cindex regexp
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
331
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
332 A @dfn{regular expression} (@dfn{regexp}, for short) is a pattern
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
333 that denotes a class of alternative strings to match, possibly
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
334 infinitely many. GNU Emacs provides both incremental and
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
335 nonincremental ways to search for a match for a regexp.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
336
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
337 @kindex C-M-s
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
338 @findex isearch-forward-regexp
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
339 @kindex C-M-r
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
340 @findex isearch-backward-regexp
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
341 Incremental search for a regexp is done by typing @kbd{C-M-s}
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
342 (@code{isearch-forward-regexp}), or by invoking @kbd{C-s} with a
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
343 prefix argument (whose value does not matter). This command reads a
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
344 search string incrementally just like @kbd{C-s}, but it treats the
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
345 search string as a regexp rather than looking for an exact match
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
346 against the text in the buffer. Each time you add text to the search
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
347 string, you make the regexp longer, and the new regexp is searched
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
348 for. To search backward for a regexp, use @kbd{C-M-r}
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
349 (@code{isearch-backward-regexp}), or @kbd{C-r} with a prefix argument.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
350
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
351 All of the control characters that do special things within an
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
352 ordinary incremental search have the same function in incremental regexp
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
353 search. Typing @kbd{C-s} or @kbd{C-r} immediately after starting the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
354 search retrieves the last incremental search regexp used; that is to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
355 say, incremental regexp and non-regexp searches have independent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
356 defaults. They also have separate search rings that you can access with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
357 @kbd{M-p} and @kbd{M-n}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
358
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
359 If you type @key{SPC} in incremental regexp search, it matches any
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
360 sequence of whitespace characters, including newlines. If you want
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
361 to match just a space, type @kbd{C-q @key{SPC}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
362
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
363 Note that adding characters to the regexp in an incremental regexp
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
364 search can make the cursor move back and start again. For example, if
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
365 you have searched for @samp{foo} and you add @samp{\|bar}, the cursor
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
366 backs up in case the first @samp{bar} precedes the first @samp{foo}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
367
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
368 @findex re-search-forward
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
369 @findex re-search-backward
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
370 Nonincremental search for a regexp is done by the functions
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
371 @code{re-search-forward} and @code{re-search-backward}. You can invoke
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
372 these with @kbd{M-x}, or bind them to keys, or invoke them by way of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
373 incremental regexp search with @kbd{C-M-s @key{RET}} and @kbd{C-M-r
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
374 @key{RET}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
375
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
376 If you use the incremental regexp search commands with a prefix
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
377 argument, they perform ordinary string search, like
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
378 @code{isearch-forward} and @code{isearch-backward}. @xref{Incremental
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
379 Search}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
380
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
381 @node Regexps, Search Case, Regexp Search, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
382 @section Syntax of Regular Expressions
36263
11db0318031d Remove redundant index entries.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36177
diff changeset
383 @cindex syntax of regexps
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
384
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
385 Regular expressions have a syntax in which a few characters are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
386 special constructs and the rest are @dfn{ordinary}. An ordinary
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
387 character is a simple regular expression which matches that same
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
388 character and nothing else. The special characters are @samp{$},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
389 @samp{^}, @samp{.}, @samp{*}, @samp{+}, @samp{?}, @samp{[}, @samp{]} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
390 @samp{\}. Any other character appearing in a regular expression is
37069
6dee6cc113a5 (Regexps): Say up front that backslashes must be doubled in a Lisp program.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36383
diff changeset
391 ordinary, unless a @samp{\} precedes it. (When you use regular
6dee6cc113a5 (Regexps): Say up front that backslashes must be doubled in a Lisp program.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36383
diff changeset
392 expressions in a Lisp program, each @samp{\} must be doubled, see the
6dee6cc113a5 (Regexps): Say up front that backslashes must be doubled in a Lisp program.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36383
diff changeset
393 example near the end of this section.)
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
394
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
395 For example, @samp{f} is not a special character, so it is ordinary, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
396 therefore @samp{f} is a regular expression that matches the string
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
397 @samp{f} and no other string. (It does @emph{not} match the string
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
398 @samp{ff}.) Likewise, @samp{o} is a regular expression that matches
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
399 only @samp{o}. (When case distinctions are being ignored, these regexps
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
400 also match @samp{F} and @samp{O}, but we consider this a generalization
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
401 of ``the same string,'' rather than an exception.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
402
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
403 Any two regular expressions @var{a} and @var{b} can be concatenated. The
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
404 result is a regular expression which matches a string if @var{a} matches
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
405 some amount of the beginning of that string and @var{b} matches the rest of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
406 the string.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
407
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
408 As a simple example, we can concatenate the regular expressions @samp{f}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
409 and @samp{o} to get the regular expression @samp{fo}, which matches only
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
410 the string @samp{fo}. Still trivial. To do something nontrivial, you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
411 need to use one of the special characters. Here is a list of them.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
412
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
413 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
414 @item .@: @r{(Period)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
415 is a special character that matches any single character except a newline.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
416 Using concatenation, we can make regular expressions like @samp{a.b}, which
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
417 matches any three-character string that begins with @samp{a} and ends with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
418 @samp{b}.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
419
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
420 @item *
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
421 is not a construct by itself; it is a postfix operator that means to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
422 match the preceding regular expression repetitively as many times as
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
423 possible. Thus, @samp{o*} matches any number of @samp{o}s (including no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
424 @samp{o}s).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
425
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
426 @samp{*} always applies to the @emph{smallest} possible preceding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
427 expression. Thus, @samp{fo*} has a repeating @samp{o}, not a repeating
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
428 @samp{fo}. It matches @samp{f}, @samp{fo}, @samp{foo}, and so on.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
429
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
430 The matcher processes a @samp{*} construct by matching, immediately,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
431 as many repetitions as can be found. Then it continues with the rest
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
432 of the pattern. If that fails, backtracking occurs, discarding some
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
433 of the matches of the @samp{*}-modified construct in case that makes
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
434 it possible to match the rest of the pattern. For example, in matching
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
435 @samp{ca*ar} against the string @samp{caaar}, the @samp{a*} first
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
436 tries to match all three @samp{a}s; but the rest of the pattern is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
437 @samp{ar} and there is only @samp{r} left to match, so this try fails.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
438 The next alternative is for @samp{a*} to match only two @samp{a}s.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
439 With this choice, the rest of the regexp matches successfully.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
440
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
441 @item +
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
442 is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it must match
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
443 the preceding expression at least once. So, for example, @samp{ca+r}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
444 matches the strings @samp{car} and @samp{caaaar} but not the string
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
445 @samp{cr}, whereas @samp{ca*r} matches all three strings.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
446
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
447 @item ?
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
448 is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it can match the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
449 preceding expression either once or not at all. For example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
450 @samp{ca?r} matches @samp{car} or @samp{cr}; nothing else.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
451
27094
6500fd0a7d8e *** empty log message ***
Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
452 @item *?, +?, ??
27139
a9508422287d Improve markup for the description of non-greedy operators.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 27094
diff changeset
453 @cindex non-greedy regexp matching
27094
6500fd0a7d8e *** empty log message ***
Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
454 are non-greedy variants of the operators above. The normal operators
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
455 @samp{*}, @samp{+}, @samp{?} are @dfn{greedy} in that they match as
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
456 much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can still match. With
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
457 a following @samp{?}, they are non-greedy: they will match as little
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
458 as possible.
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
459
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
460 Thus, both @samp{ab*} and @samp{ab*?} can match the string @samp{a}
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
461 and the string @samp{abbbb}; but if you try to match them both against
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
462 the text @samp{abbb}, @samp{ab*} will match it all (the longest valid
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
463 match), while @samp{ab*?} will match just @samp{a} (the shortest
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
464 valid match).
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
465
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
466 @item \@{@var{n}\@}
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
467 is a postfix operator that specifies repetition @var{n} times---that
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
468 is, the preceding regular expression must match exactly @var{n} times
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
469 in a row. For example, @samp{x\@{4\@}} matches the string @samp{xxxx}
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
470 and nothing else.
27094
6500fd0a7d8e *** empty log message ***
Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
471
28063
f1b33463506d *** empty log message ***
Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
parents: 27694
diff changeset
472 @item \@{@var{n},@var{m}\@}
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
473 is a postfix operator that specifies repetition between @var{n} and
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
474 @var{m} times---that is, the preceding regular expression must match
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
475 at least @var{n} times, but no more than @var{m} times. If @var{m} is
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
476 omitted, then there is no upper limit, but the preceding regular
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
477 expression must match at least @var{n} times.@* @samp{\@{0,1\@}} is
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
478 equivalent to @samp{?}. @* @samp{\@{0,\@}} is equivalent to
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
479 @samp{*}. @* @samp{\@{1,\@}} is equivalent to @samp{+}.
27694
5c14849aee4c documented \{n,m\} intervals
Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
parents: 27217
diff changeset
480
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
481 @item [ @dots{} ]
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
482 is a @dfn{character set}, which begins with @samp{[} and is terminated
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
483 by @samp{]}. In the simplest case, the characters between the two
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
484 brackets are what this set can match.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
485
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
486 Thus, @samp{[ad]} matches either one @samp{a} or one @samp{d}, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
487 @samp{[ad]*} matches any string composed of just @samp{a}s and @samp{d}s
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
488 (including the empty string), from which it follows that @samp{c[ad]*r}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
489 matches @samp{cr}, @samp{car}, @samp{cdr}, @samp{caddaar}, etc.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
490
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
491 You can also include character ranges in a character set, by writing the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
492 starting and ending characters with a @samp{-} between them. Thus,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
493 @samp{[a-z]} matches any lower-case ASCII letter. Ranges may be
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
494 intermixed freely with individual characters, as in @samp{[a-z$%.]},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
495 which matches any lower-case ASCII letter or @samp{$}, @samp{%} or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
496 period.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
497
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
498 Note that the usual regexp special characters are not special inside a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
499 character set. A completely different set of special characters exists
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
500 inside character sets: @samp{]}, @samp{-} and @samp{^}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
501
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
502 To include a @samp{]} in a character set, you must make it the first
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
503 character. For example, @samp{[]a]} matches @samp{]} or @samp{a}. To
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
504 include a @samp{-}, write @samp{-} as the first or last character of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
505 set, or put it after a range. Thus, @samp{[]-]} matches both @samp{]}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
506 and @samp{-}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
507
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
508 To include @samp{^} in a set, put it anywhere but at the beginning of
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
509 the set. (At the beginning, it complements the set---see below.)
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
510
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
511 When you use a range in case-insensitive search, you should write both
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
512 ends of the range in upper case, or both in lower case, or both should
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
513 be non-letters. The behavior of a mixed-case range such as @samp{A-z}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
514 is somewhat ill-defined, and it may change in future Emacs versions.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
515
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
516 @item [^ @dots{} ]
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
517 @samp{[^} begins a @dfn{complemented character set}, which matches any
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
518 character except the ones specified. Thus, @samp{[^a-z0-9A-Z]} matches
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
519 all characters @emph{except} ASCII letters and digits.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
520
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
521 @samp{^} is not special in a character set unless it is the first
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
522 character. The character following the @samp{^} is treated as if it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
523 were first (in other words, @samp{-} and @samp{]} are not special there).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
524
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
525 A complemented character set can match a newline, unless newline is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
526 mentioned as one of the characters not to match. This is in contrast to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
527 the handling of regexps in programs such as @code{grep}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
528
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
529 @item ^
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
530 is a special character that matches the empty string, but only at the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
531 beginning of a line in the text being matched. Otherwise it fails to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
532 match anything. Thus, @samp{^foo} matches a @samp{foo} that occurs at
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
533 the beginning of a line.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
534
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
535 @item $
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
536 is similar to @samp{^} but matches only at the end of a line. Thus,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
537 @samp{x+$} matches a string of one @samp{x} or more at the end of a line.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
538
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
539 @item \
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
540 has two functions: it quotes the special characters (including
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
541 @samp{\}), and it introduces additional special constructs.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
542
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
543 Because @samp{\} quotes special characters, @samp{\$} is a regular
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
544 expression that matches only @samp{$}, and @samp{\[} is a regular
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
545 expression that matches only @samp{[}, and so on.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
546 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
547
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
548 Note: for historical compatibility, special characters are treated as
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
549 ordinary ones if they are in contexts where their special meanings make no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
550 sense. For example, @samp{*foo} treats @samp{*} as ordinary since there is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
551 no preceding expression on which the @samp{*} can act. It is poor practice
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
552 to depend on this behavior; it is better to quote the special character anyway,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
553 regardless of where it appears.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
554
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
555 For the most part, @samp{\} followed by any character matches only that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
556 character. However, there are several exceptions: two-character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
557 sequences starting with @samp{\} that have special meanings. The second
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
558 character in the sequence is always an ordinary character when used on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
559 its own. Here is a table of @samp{\} constructs.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
560
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
561 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
562 @item \|
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
563 specifies an alternative. Two regular expressions @var{a} and @var{b}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
564 with @samp{\|} in between form an expression that matches some text if
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
565 either @var{a} matches it or @var{b} matches it. It works by trying to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
566 match @var{a}, and if that fails, by trying to match @var{b}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
567
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
568 Thus, @samp{foo\|bar} matches either @samp{foo} or @samp{bar}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
569 but no other string.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
570
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
571 @samp{\|} applies to the largest possible surrounding expressions. Only a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
572 surrounding @samp{\( @dots{} \)} grouping can limit the grouping power of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
573 @samp{\|}.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
574
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
575 Full backtracking capability exists to handle multiple uses of @samp{\|}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
576
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
577 @item \( @dots{} \)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
578 is a grouping construct that serves three purposes:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
579
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
580 @enumerate
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
581 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
582 To enclose a set of @samp{\|} alternatives for other operations.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
583 Thus, @samp{\(foo\|bar\)x} matches either @samp{foox} or @samp{barx}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
584
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
585 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
586 To enclose a complicated expression for the postfix operators @samp{*},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
587 @samp{+} and @samp{?} to operate on. Thus, @samp{ba\(na\)*} matches
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
588 @samp{bananana}, etc., with any (zero or more) number of @samp{na}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
589 strings.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
590
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
591 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
592 To record a matched substring for future reference.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
593 @end enumerate
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
594
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
595 This last application is not a consequence of the idea of a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
596 parenthetical grouping; it is a separate feature that is assigned as a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
597 second meaning to the same @samp{\( @dots{} \)} construct. In practice
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
598 there is usually no conflict between the two meanings; when there is
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
599 a conflict, you can use a ``shy'' group.
28063
f1b33463506d *** empty log message ***
Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
parents: 27694
diff changeset
600
f1b33463506d *** empty log message ***
Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
parents: 27694
diff changeset
601 @item \(?: @dots{} \)
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
602 @cindex shy group, in regexp
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
603 specifies a ``shy'' group that does not record the matched substring;
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
604 you can't refer back to it with @samp{\@var{d}}. This is useful
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
605 in mechanically combining regular expressions, so that you
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
606 can add groups for syntactic purposes without interfering with
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
607 the numbering of the groups that were written by the user.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
608
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
609 @item \@var{d}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
610 matches the same text that matched the @var{d}th occurrence of a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
611 @samp{\( @dots{} \)} construct.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
612
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
613 After the end of a @samp{\( @dots{} \)} construct, the matcher remembers
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
614 the beginning and end of the text matched by that construct. Then,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
615 later on in the regular expression, you can use @samp{\} followed by the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
616 digit @var{d} to mean ``match the same text matched the @var{d}th time
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
617 by the @samp{\( @dots{} \)} construct.''
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
618
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
619 The strings matching the first nine @samp{\( @dots{} \)} constructs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
620 appearing in a regular expression are assigned numbers 1 through 9 in
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
621 the order that the open-parentheses appear in the regular expression.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
622 So you can use @samp{\1} through @samp{\9} to refer to the text matched
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
623 by the corresponding @samp{\( @dots{} \)} constructs.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
624
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
625 For example, @samp{\(.*\)\1} matches any newline-free string that is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
626 composed of two identical halves. The @samp{\(.*\)} matches the first
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
627 half, which may be anything, but the @samp{\1} that follows must match
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
628 the same exact text.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
629
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
630 If a particular @samp{\( @dots{} \)} construct matches more than once
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
631 (which can easily happen if it is followed by @samp{*}), only the last
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
632 match is recorded.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
633
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
634 @item \`
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
635 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
636 of the buffer or string being matched against.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
637
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
638 @item \'
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
639 matches the empty string, but only at the end of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
640 the buffer or string being matched against.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
641
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
642 @item \=
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
643 matches the empty string, but only at point.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
644
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
645 @item \b
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
646 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
647 end of a word. Thus, @samp{\bfoo\b} matches any occurrence of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
648 @samp{foo} as a separate word. @samp{\bballs?\b} matches
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
649 @samp{ball} or @samp{balls} as a separate word.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
650
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
651 @samp{\b} matches at the beginning or end of the buffer
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
652 regardless of what text appears next to it.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
653
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
654 @item \B
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
655 matches the empty string, but @emph{not} at the beginning or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
656 end of a word.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
657
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
658 @item \<
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
659 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a word.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
660 @samp{\<} matches at the beginning of the buffer only if a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
661 word-constituent character follows.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
662
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
663 @item \>
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
664 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word. @samp{\>}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
665 matches at the end of the buffer only if the contents end with a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
666 word-constituent character.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
667
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
668 @item \w
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
669 matches any word-constituent character. The syntax table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
670 determines which characters these are. @xref{Syntax}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
671
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
672 @item \W
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
673 matches any character that is not a word-constituent.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
674
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
675 @item \s@var{c}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
676 matches any character whose syntax is @var{c}. Here @var{c} is a
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
677 character that designates a particular syntax class: thus, @samp{w}
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
678 for word constituent, @samp{-} or @samp{ } for whitespace, @samp{.}
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
679 for ordinary punctuation, etc. @xref{Syntax}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
680
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
681 @item \S@var{c}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
682 matches any character whose syntax is not @var{c}.
35904
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
683
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
684 @cindex categories of characters
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
685 @cindex characters which belong to a specific language
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
686 @findex describe-categories
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
687 @item \c@var{c}
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
688 matches any character that belongs to the category @var{c}. For
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
689 example, @samp{\cc} matches Chinese characters, @samp{\cg} matches
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
690 Greek characters, etc. For the description of the known categories,
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
691 type @kbd{M-x describe-categories @key{RET}}.
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
692
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
693 @item \C@var{c}
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
694 matches any character that does @emph{not} belong to category
250691f20cec (Incremental Search): Document C-\ and C-^.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35876
diff changeset
695 @var{c}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
696 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
697
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
698 The constructs that pertain to words and syntax are controlled by the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
699 setting of the syntax table (@pxref{Syntax}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
700
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
701 Here is a complicated regexp, stored in @code{sentence-end} and used
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
702 by Emacs to recognize the end of a sentence together with any
37607
2f80188cbbd6 Typo: "we show it Lisp syntax" --> ... its LIsp ..
Francesco Potortì <pot@gnu.org>
parents: 37235
diff changeset
703 whitespace that follows. We show its Lisp syntax to distinguish the
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
704 spaces from the tab characters. In Lisp syntax, the string constant
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
705 begins and ends with a double-quote. @samp{\"} stands for a
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
706 double-quote as part of the regexp, @samp{\\} for a backslash as part
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
707 of the regexp, @samp{\t} for a tab, and @samp{\n} for a newline.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
708
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
709 @example
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
710 "[.?!][]\"')]*\\($\\| $\\|\t\\| \\)[ \t\n]*"
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
711 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
712
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
713 @noindent
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
714 This contains four parts in succession: a character set matching
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
715 period, @samp{?}, or @samp{!}; a character set matching
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
716 close-brackets, quotes, or parentheses, repeated zero or more times; a
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
717 set of alternatives within backslash-parentheses that matches either
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
718 end-of-line, a space at the end of a line, a tab, or two spaces; and a
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
719 character set matching whitespace characters, repeated any number of
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
720 times.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
721
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
722 To enter the same regexp interactively, you would type @key{TAB} to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
723 enter a tab, and @kbd{C-j} to enter a newline. You would also type
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
724 single backslashes as themselves, instead of doubling them for Lisp syntax.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
725
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
726 @ignore
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
727 @c I commented this out because it is missing vital information
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
728 @c and therefore useless. For instance, what do you do to *use* the
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
729 @c regular expression when it is finished? What jobs is this good for?
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
730 @c -- rms
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
731
31072
e500b247bb59 Document re-builder.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31062
diff changeset
732 @findex re-builder
e500b247bb59 Document re-builder.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31062
diff changeset
733 @cindex authoring regular expressions
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
734 For convenient interactive development of regular expressions, you
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
735 can use the @kbd{M-x re-builder} command. It provides a convenient
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
736 interface for creating regular expressions, by giving immediate visual
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
737 feedback. The buffer from which @code{re-builder} was invoked becomes
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
738 the target for the regexp editor, which pops in a separate window. At
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
739 all times, all the matches in the target buffer for the current
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
740 regular expression are highlighted. Each parenthesized sub-expression
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
741 of the regexp is shown in a distinct face, which makes it easier to
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
742 verify even very complex regexps. (On displays that don't support
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
743 colors, Emacs blinks the cursor around the matched text, as it does
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
744 for matching parens.)
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
745 @end ignore
31072
e500b247bb59 Document re-builder.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31062
diff changeset
746
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
747 @node Search Case, Replace, Regexps, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
748 @section Searching and Case
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
749
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
750 Incremental searches in Emacs normally ignore the case of the text
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
751 they are searching through, if you specify the text in lower case.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
752 Thus, if you specify searching for @samp{foo}, then @samp{Foo} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
753 @samp{foo} are also considered a match. Regexps, and in particular
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
754 character sets, are included: @samp{[ab]} would match @samp{a} or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
755 @samp{A} or @samp{b} or @samp{B}.@refill
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
756
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
757 An upper-case letter anywhere in the incremental search string makes
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
758 the search case-sensitive. Thus, searching for @samp{Foo} does not find
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
759 @samp{foo} or @samp{FOO}. This applies to regular expression search as
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
760 well as to string search. The effect ceases if you delete the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
761 upper-case letter from the search string.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
762
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
763 Typing @kbd{M-c} within an incremental search toggles the case
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
764 sensitivity of that search. The effect does not extend beyond the
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
765 current incremental search to the next one, but it does override the
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
766 effect of including an upper-case letter in the current search.
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
767
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
768 @vindex case-fold-search
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
769 If you set the variable @code{case-fold-search} to @code{nil}, then
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
770 all letters must match exactly, including case. This is a per-buffer
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
771 variable; altering the variable affects only the current buffer, but
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
772 there is a default value which you can change as well. @xref{Locals}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
773 This variable applies to nonincremental searches also, including those
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
774 performed by the replace commands (@pxref{Replace}) and the minibuffer
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
775 history matching commands (@pxref{Minibuffer History}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
776
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
777 @node Replace, Other Repeating Search, Search Case, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
778 @section Replacement Commands
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
779 @cindex replacement
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
780 @cindex search-and-replace commands
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
781 @cindex string substitution
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
782 @cindex global substitution
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
783
38127
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
784 Global search-and-replace operations are not needed often in Emacs,
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
785 but they are available. In addition to the simple @kbd{M-x
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
786 replace-string} command which is like that found in most editors,
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
787 there is a @kbd{M-x query-replace} command which finds each occurrence
eb0f8509d107 Rewrite the texts that explain basic incremental search,
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38049
diff changeset
788 of the pattern and asks you whether to replace it.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
789
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
790 The replace commands normally operate on the text from point to the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
791 end of the buffer; however, in Transient Mark mode, when the mark is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
792 active, they operate on the region. The replace commands all replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
793 one string (or regexp) with one replacement string. It is possible to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
794 perform several replacements in parallel using the command
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
795 @code{expand-region-abbrevs} (@pxref{Expanding Abbrevs}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
796
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
797 @menu
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
798 * Unconditional Replace:: Replacing all matches for a string.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
799 * Regexp Replace:: Replacing all matches for a regexp.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
800 * Replacement and Case:: How replacements preserve case of letters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
801 * Query Replace:: How to use querying.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
802 @end menu
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
803
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
804 @node Unconditional Replace, Regexp Replace, Replace, Replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
805 @subsection Unconditional Replacement
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
806 @findex replace-string
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
807 @findex replace-regexp
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
808
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
809 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
810 @item M-x replace-string @key{RET} @var{string} @key{RET} @var{newstring} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
811 Replace every occurrence of @var{string} with @var{newstring}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
812 @item M-x replace-regexp @key{RET} @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{newstring} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
813 Replace every match for @var{regexp} with @var{newstring}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
814 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
815
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
816 To replace every instance of @samp{foo} after point with @samp{bar},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
817 use the command @kbd{M-x replace-string} with the two arguments
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
818 @samp{foo} and @samp{bar}. Replacement happens only in the text after
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
819 point, so if you want to cover the whole buffer you must go to the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
820 beginning first. All occurrences up to the end of the buffer are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
821 replaced; to limit replacement to part of the buffer, narrow to that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
822 part of the buffer before doing the replacement (@pxref{Narrowing}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
823 In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, replacement is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
824 limited to the region (@pxref{Transient Mark}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
825
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
826 When @code{replace-string} exits, it leaves point at the last
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
827 occurrence replaced. It sets the mark to the prior position of point
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
828 (where the @code{replace-string} command was issued); use @kbd{C-u
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
829 C-@key{SPC}} to move back there.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
830
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
831 A numeric argument restricts replacement to matches that are surrounded
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
832 by word boundaries. The argument's value doesn't matter.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
833
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
834 @node Regexp Replace, Replacement and Case, Unconditional Replace, Replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
835 @subsection Regexp Replacement
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
836
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
837 The @kbd{M-x replace-string} command replaces exact matches for a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
838 single string. The similar command @kbd{M-x replace-regexp} replaces
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
839 any match for a specified pattern.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
840
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
841 In @code{replace-regexp}, the @var{newstring} need not be constant: it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
842 can refer to all or part of what is matched by the @var{regexp}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
843 @samp{\&} in @var{newstring} stands for the entire match being replaced.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
844 @samp{\@var{d}} in @var{newstring}, where @var{d} is a digit, stands for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
845 whatever matched the @var{d}th parenthesized grouping in @var{regexp}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
846 To include a @samp{\} in the text to replace with, you must enter
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
847 @samp{\\}. For example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
848
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
849 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
850 M-x replace-regexp @key{RET} c[ad]+r @key{RET} \&-safe @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
851 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
852
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
853 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
854 replaces (for example) @samp{cadr} with @samp{cadr-safe} and @samp{cddr}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
855 with @samp{cddr-safe}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
856
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
857 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
858 M-x replace-regexp @key{RET} \(c[ad]+r\)-safe @key{RET} \1 @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
859 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
860
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
861 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
862 performs the inverse transformation.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
863
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
864 @node Replacement and Case, Query Replace, Regexp Replace, Replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
865 @subsection Replace Commands and Case
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
866
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
867 If the first argument of a replace command is all lower case, the
38016
51351cf9de04 Fix a typo.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37607
diff changeset
868 command ignores case while searching for occurrences to
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
869 replace---provided @code{case-fold-search} is non-@code{nil}. If
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
870 @code{case-fold-search} is set to @code{nil}, case is always significant
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
871 in all searches.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
872
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
873 @vindex case-replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
874 In addition, when the @var{newstring} argument is all or partly lower
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
875 case, replacement commands try to preserve the case pattern of each
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
876 occurrence. Thus, the command
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
877
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
878 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
879 M-x replace-string @key{RET} foo @key{RET} bar @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
880 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
881
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
882 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
883 replaces a lower case @samp{foo} with a lower case @samp{bar}, an
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
884 all-caps @samp{FOO} with @samp{BAR}, and a capitalized @samp{Foo} with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
885 @samp{Bar}. (These three alternatives---lower case, all caps, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
886 capitalized, are the only ones that @code{replace-string} can
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
887 distinguish.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
888
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
889 If upper-case letters are used in the replacement string, they remain
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
890 upper case every time that text is inserted. If upper-case letters are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
891 used in the first argument, the second argument is always substituted
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
892 exactly as given, with no case conversion. Likewise, if either
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
893 @code{case-replace} or @code{case-fold-search} is set to @code{nil},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
894 replacement is done without case conversion.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
895
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
896 @node Query Replace,, Replacement and Case, Replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
897 @subsection Query Replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
898 @cindex query replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
899
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
900 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
901 @item M-% @var{string} @key{RET} @var{newstring} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
902 @itemx M-x query-replace @key{RET} @var{string} @key{RET} @var{newstring} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
903 Replace some occurrences of @var{string} with @var{newstring}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
904 @item C-M-% @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{newstring} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
905 @itemx M-x query-replace-regexp @key{RET} @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{newstring} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
906 Replace some matches for @var{regexp} with @var{newstring}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
907 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
908
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
909 @kindex M-%
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
910 @findex query-replace
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
911 If you want to change only some of the occurrences of @samp{foo} to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
912 @samp{bar}, not all of them, then you cannot use an ordinary
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
913 @code{replace-string}. Instead, use @kbd{M-%} (@code{query-replace}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
914 This command finds occurrences of @samp{foo} one by one, displays each
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
915 occurrence and asks you whether to replace it. Aside from querying,
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
916 @code{query-replace} works just like @code{replace-string}. It
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
917 preserves case, like @code{replace-string}, provided
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
918 @code{case-replace} is non-@code{nil}, as it normally is. A numeric
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
919 argument means consider only occurrences that are bounded by
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
920 word-delimiter characters.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
921
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
922 @kindex C-M-%
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
923 @findex query-replace-regexp
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
924 @kbd{C-M-%} performs regexp search and replace (@code{query-replace-regexp}).
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
925
37235
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
926 The characters you can type when you are shown a match for the string
a60e4b9d5ba3 Mention there are other search-terminating Meta chars.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37069
diff changeset
927 or regexp are:
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
928
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
929 @ignore @c Not worth it.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
930 @kindex SPC @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
931 @kindex DEL @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
932 @kindex , @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
933 @kindex RET @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
934 @kindex . @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
935 @kindex ! @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
936 @kindex ^ @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
937 @kindex C-r @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
938 @kindex C-w @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
939 @kindex C-l @r{(query-replace)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
940 @end ignore
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
941
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
942 @c WideCommands
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
943 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
944 @item @key{SPC}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
945 to replace the occurrence with @var{newstring}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
946
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
947 @item @key{DEL}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
948 to skip to the next occurrence without replacing this one.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
949
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
950 @item , @r{(Comma)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
951 to replace this occurrence and display the result. You are then asked
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
952 for another input character to say what to do next. Since the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
953 replacement has already been made, @key{DEL} and @key{SPC} are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
954 equivalent in this situation; both move to the next occurrence.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
955
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
956 You can type @kbd{C-r} at this point (see below) to alter the replaced
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
957 text. You can also type @kbd{C-x u} to undo the replacement; this exits
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
958 the @code{query-replace}, so if you want to do further replacement you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
959 must use @kbd{C-x @key{ESC} @key{ESC} @key{RET}} to restart
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
960 (@pxref{Repetition}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
961
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
962 @item @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
963 to exit without doing any more replacements.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
964
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
965 @item .@: @r{(Period)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
966 to replace this occurrence and then exit without searching for more
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
967 occurrences.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
968
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
969 @item !
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
970 to replace all remaining occurrences without asking again.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
971
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
972 @item ^
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
973 to go back to the position of the previous occurrence (or what used to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
974 be an occurrence), in case you changed it by mistake. This works by
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
975 popping the mark ring. Only one @kbd{^} in a row is meaningful, because
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
976 only one previous replacement position is kept during @code{query-replace}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
977
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
978 @item C-r
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
979 to enter a recursive editing level, in case the occurrence needs to be
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
980 edited rather than just replaced with @var{newstring}. When you are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
981 done, exit the recursive editing level with @kbd{C-M-c} to proceed to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
982 the next occurrence. @xref{Recursive Edit}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
983
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
984 @item C-w
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
985 to delete the occurrence, and then enter a recursive editing level as in
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
986 @kbd{C-r}. Use the recursive edit to insert text to replace the deleted
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
987 occurrence of @var{string}. When done, exit the recursive editing level
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
988 with @kbd{C-M-c} to proceed to the next occurrence.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
989
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
990 @item e
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
991 to edit the replacement string in the minibuffer. When you exit the
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
992 minibuffer by typing @key{RET}, the minibuffer contents replace the
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
993 current occurrence of the pattern. They also become the new
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
994 replacement string for any further occurrences.
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
995
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
996 @item C-l
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
997 to redisplay the screen. Then you must type another character to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
998 specify what to do with this occurrence.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
999
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1000 @item C-h
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1001 to display a message summarizing these options. Then you must type
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1002 another character to specify what to do with this occurrence.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1003 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1004
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1005 Some other characters are aliases for the ones listed above: @kbd{y},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1006 @kbd{n} and @kbd{q} are equivalent to @key{SPC}, @key{DEL} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1007 @key{RET}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1008
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1009 Aside from this, any other character exits the @code{query-replace},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1010 and is then reread as part of a key sequence. Thus, if you type
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1011 @kbd{C-k}, it exits the @code{query-replace} and then kills to end of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1012 line.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1013
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1014 To restart a @code{query-replace} once it is exited, use @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1015 @key{ESC} @key{ESC}}, which repeats the @code{query-replace} because it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1016 used the minibuffer to read its arguments. @xref{Repetition, C-x ESC
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1017 ESC}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1018
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1019 See also @ref{Transforming File Names}, for Dired commands to rename,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1020 copy, or link files by replacing regexp matches in file names.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1021
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1022 @node Other Repeating Search,, Replace, Search
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1023 @section Other Search-and-Loop Commands
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1024
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1025 Here are some other commands that find matches for a regular
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1026 expression. They all ignore case in matching, if the pattern contains
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1027 no upper-case letters and @code{case-fold-search} is non-@code{nil}.
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1028 Aside from @code{occur}, all operate on the text from point to the end
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1029 of the buffer, or on the active region in Transient Mark mode.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1030
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1031 @findex list-matching-lines
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1032 @findex occur
32035
396b07cf1395 (Other Repeating Search): Describe `how-many'
Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org>
parents: 31072
diff changeset
1033 @findex how-many
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1034 @findex delete-non-matching-lines
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1035 @findex delete-matching-lines
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1036 @findex flush-lines
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1037 @findex keep-lines
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1038
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1039 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1040 @item M-x occur @key{RET} @var{regexp} @key{RET}
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1041 Display a list showing each line in the buffer that contains a match
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1042 for @var{regexp}. To limit the search to part of the buffer, narrow
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1043 to that part (@pxref{Narrowing}). A numeric argument @var{n}
36383
d26ad6e1f13f Change "filename" to "file name" or "file-name".
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36263
diff changeset
1044 specifies that @var{n} lines of context are to be displayed before and
d26ad6e1f13f Change "filename" to "file name" or "file-name".
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36263
diff changeset
1045 after each matching line.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1046
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1047 @kindex RET @r{(Occur mode)}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1048 The buffer @samp{*Occur*} containing the output serves as a menu for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1049 finding the occurrences in their original context. Click @kbd{Mouse-2}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1050 on an occurrence listed in @samp{*Occur*}, or position point there and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1051 type @key{RET}; this switches to the buffer that was searched and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1052 moves point to the original of the chosen occurrence.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1053
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1054 @item M-x list-matching-lines
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1055 Synonym for @kbd{M-x occur}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1056
32035
396b07cf1395 (Other Repeating Search): Describe `how-many'
Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org>
parents: 31072
diff changeset
1057 @item M-x how-many @key{RET} @var{regexp} @key{RET}
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1058 Print the number of matches for @var{regexp} that exist in the buffer
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1059 after point. In Transient Mark mode, if the region is active, the
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1060 command operates on the region instead.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1061
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1062 @item M-x flush-lines @key{RET} @var{regexp} @key{RET}
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1063 Delete each line that contains a match for @var{regexp}, operating on
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1064 the text after point. In Transient Mark mode, if the region is
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1065 active, the command operates on the region instead.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1066
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1067 @item M-x keep-lines @key{RET} @var{regexp} @key{RET}
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1068 Delete each line that @emph{does not} contain a match for
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1069 @var{regexp}, operating on the text after point. In Transient Mark
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1070 mode, if the region is active, the command operates on the region
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1071 instead.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1072 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1073
36177
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1074 You can also search multiple files under control of a tags table
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1075 (@pxref{Tags Search}) or through Dired @kbd{A} command
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1076 (@pxref{Operating on Files}), or ask the @code{grep} program to do it
548a3aac5d5d Comment out description of re-builder.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36058
diff changeset
1077 (@pxref{Grep Searching}).