vim-operator-substitute

Use the :s command like an operator and apply substitutions to text-objects or in the range of motions. Operator-alternatives for & and g&, which repeat substitutions, are also provided.

Usage

The operator works as expected: si) substitutes inside parentheses, sG from the cursor position to the end of the file, s$ from the cursor position to the end of the line etc. Once you enter the command, a prompt appears: "s/". You can type in the substitution command (e.g. "s/pattern/replacement/g") and press enter for the substitution to be applied.

Similarly, &i] repeats the last substitution command inside brackets. g&i] does so as well but ignores the flags of the last substitution.

For more tips and tricks, read the documentation: :help operator-substitute.txt.

Advantages over :s:

• Less keys to press: Substituting all as by bs in a paragraph can be done with sipa/b instead of vip:s/a/b.

• Substitute only inside the given text-object or range of motion. In contrast, :s works linewise unless you use a tedious workaround with \%V.

• Do not ignore the last character in a selection like :s.

• Move to the beginning of the text-object or motion, not to the beginning of the line like :s.

• Use the input-history instead of cluttering your commandline-history.

Installation

This plugin depends on kana/vim-operator-user, so you have to install it, too.

Use your favorite plugin-installation method. If you do not have one, here are the instructions for pathogen and vim-plug.

pathogen

Using pathogen, run these commands with your shell:

cd ~/.vim/bundle
git clone git://github.com/kana/vim-operator-user.git
git clone git://github.com/milsen/vim-operator-substitute.git

vim-plug

Using vim-plug, copy and paste these lines into your .vimrc, reload it and run :PlugInstall:

plug#begin()
Plug 'kana/vim-operator-user'
Plug 'milsen/vim-operator-substitute'
plug#end()

Recommended Configuration

Paste the following lines into your .vimrc for a quick start. Of course you can map other keys to these operators as well if you like.

map s <Plug>(operator-substitute)
map S <Plug>(operator-substitute)$
map & <Plug>(operator-substitute-repeat)
map g& <Plug>(operator-substitute-repeat-no-flags)

Customization

These are the variables that can be used to customize this plugin, each accompanied by an example:

• The type of completion to use in the input prompt, see :command-complete:

let g:operator#substitute#completion_type = "custom,Func" " string (default: "")

• The delimiter that is the default input for the input prompt.

let g:operator#substitute#default_delimiter = "#"         " char (default: "/")

• The flag(s) that should always be used for a substitution. Take a look at :help gdefault before letting the variable be "g".

let g:operator#substitute#default_flags = "e"             " string (default: "")

License

Copyright (c) 2016 Max B. Ilsen

MIT License, see LICENSE