summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/uvim/runtime/doc/pattern.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorMehmet Samet Duman <yongdohyun@projecttick.org>2026-04-04 12:41:27 +0300
committerMehmet Samet Duman <yongdohyun@projecttick.org>2026-04-04 12:41:27 +0300
commit4f2d36194b4f299aa7509d815c07121039ea833b (patch)
treef3ded014bad3a4c76ff6a22b8726ebaab68c3d13 /uvim/runtime/doc/pattern.txt
parent5b578e70c314723a3cde5c9bfc2be0bf1dadc93b (diff)
downloadProject-Tick-4f2d36194b4f299aa7509d815c07121039ea833b.tar.gz
Project-Tick-4f2d36194b4f299aa7509d815c07121039ea833b.zip
NOISSUE change uvim folder name to mnv
Signed-off-by: Mehmet Samet Duman <yongdohyun@projecttick.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'uvim/runtime/doc/pattern.txt')
-rw-r--r--uvim/runtime/doc/pattern.txt1560
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 1560 deletions
diff --git a/uvim/runtime/doc/pattern.txt b/uvim/runtime/doc/pattern.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 0b6dfc9050..0000000000
--- a/uvim/runtime/doc/pattern.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,1560 +0,0 @@
-*pattern.txt* For MNV version 10.0. Last change: 2026 Feb 14
-
-
- MNV REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
-
-
-Patterns and search commands *pattern-searches*
-
-The very basics can be found in section |03.9| of the user manual. A few more
-explanations are in chapter 27 |usr_27.txt|.
-
-1. Search commands |search-commands|
-2. The definition of a pattern |search-pattern|
-3. Magic |/magic|
-4. Overview of pattern items |pattern-overview|
-5. Multi items |pattern-multi-items|
-6. Ordinary atoms |pattern-atoms|
-7. Ignoring case in a pattern |/ignorecase|
-8. Composing characters |patterns-composing|
-9. Compare with Perl patterns |perl-patterns|
-10. Highlighting matches |match-highlight|
-11. Fuzzy matching |fuzzy-matching|
-
-==============================================================================
-1. Search commands *search-commands*
-
- */*
-/{pattern}[/]<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of
- {pattern} |exclusive|.
-
-/{pattern}/{offset}<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of
- {pattern} and go |{offset}| lines up or down.
- |linewise|.
-
- */<CR>*
-/<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the
- latest used pattern |last-pattern| with latest used
- |{offset}|.
-
-//{offset}<CR> Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the
- latest used pattern |last-pattern| with new
- |{offset}|. If {offset} is empty no offset is used.
-
- *?*
-?{pattern}[?]<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th previous
- occurrence of {pattern} |exclusive|.
-
-?{pattern}?{offset}<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th previous
- occurrence of {pattern} and go |{offset}| lines up or
- down |linewise|.
-
- *?<CR>*
-?<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th occurrence of the
- latest used pattern |last-pattern| with latest used
- |{offset}|.
-
-??{offset}<CR> Search backward for the [count]'th occurrence of the
- latest used pattern |last-pattern| with new
- |{offset}|. If {offset} is empty no offset is used.
-
- *n*
-n Repeat the latest "/" or "?" [count] times.
- If the cursor doesn't move the search is repeated with
- count + 1.
- |last-pattern|
-
- *N*
-N Repeat the latest "/" or "?" [count] times in
- opposite direction. |last-pattern|
-
- *star* *E348* *E349*
-* Search forward for the [count]'th occurrence of the
- word nearest to the cursor. The word used for the
- search is the first of:
- 1. the keyword under the cursor 'iskeyword'
- 2. the first keyword after the cursor, in the
- current line
- 3. the non-blank word under the cursor
- 4. the first non-blank word after the cursor,
- in the current line
- Only whole keywords are searched for, like with the
- command "/\<keyword\>". |exclusive|
- 'ignorecase' is used, 'smartcase' is not.
-
- *#*
-# Same as "*", but search backward. The pound sign
- (character 163) also works. If the "#" key works as
- backspace, try using "stty erase <BS>" before starting
- MNV (<BS> is CTRL-H or a real backspace).
-
- *gstar*
-g* Like "*", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word.
- This makes the search also find matches that are not a
- whole word.
-
- *g#*
-g# Like "#", but don't put "\<" and "\>" around the word.
- This makes the search also find matches that are not a
- whole word.
-
- *gd*
-gd Goto local Declaration. When the cursor is on a local
- variable, this command will jump to its declaration.
- This was made to work for C code, in other languages
- it may not work well.
- First MNV searches for the start of the current
- function, just like "[[". If it is not found the
- search stops in line 1. If it is found, MNV goes back
- until a blank line is found. From this position MNV
- searches for the keyword under the cursor, like with
- "*", but lines that look like a comment are ignored
- (see 'comments' option).
- Note that this is not guaranteed to work, MNV does not
- really check the syntax, it only searches for a match
- with the keyword. If included files also need to be
- searched use the commands listed in |include-search|.
- After this command |n| searches forward for the next
- match (not backward).
-
- *gD*
-gD Goto global Declaration. When the cursor is on a
- global variable that is defined in the file, this
- command will jump to its declaration. This works just
- like "gd", except that the search for the keyword
- always starts in line 1.
-
- *1gd*
-1gd Like "gd", but ignore matches inside a {} block that
- ends before the cursor position.
-
- *1gD*
-1gD Like "gD", but ignore matches inside a {} block that
- ends before the cursor position.
-
- *CTRL-C*
-CTRL-C Interrupt current (search) command. Use CTRL-Break on
- MS-Windows |dos-CTRL-Break|.
- In Normal mode, any pending command is aborted.
- When MNV was started with output redirected and there
- are no changed buffers CTRL-C exits MNV. That is to
- help users who use "mnv file | grep word" and don't
- know how to get out (blindly typing :qa<CR> would
- work).
- If a popup with a |popup-filter| is open, the popup
- will be closed.
-
- *:noh* *:nohlsearch*
-:noh[lsearch] Stop the highlighting for the 'hlsearch' option. It
- is automatically turned back on when using a search
- command, or setting the 'hlsearch' option.
- This command doesn't work in an autocommand, because
- the highlighting state is saved and restored when
- executing autocommands |autocmd-searchpat|.
- Same thing for when invoking a user function.
-
-
-While typing the search pattern the current match will be shown if the
-'incsearch' option is on. Remember that you still have to finish the search
-command with <CR> to actually position the cursor at the displayed match. Or
-use <Esc> to abandon the search.
-
- *nohlsearch-auto*
-All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set
-the 'hlsearch' option. This can be suspended with the |:nohlsearch| command
-or auto suspended with nohlsearch plugin. See |nohlsearch-install|.
-
-
-When 'shortmess' does not include the "S" flag, MNV will automatically show an
-index, on which the cursor is. This can look like this: >
-
- [1/5] Cursor is on first of 5 matches.
- [1/>99] Cursor is on first of more than 99 matches.
- [>99/>99] Cursor is after 99 match of more than 99 matches.
- [?/??] Unknown how many matches exists, generating the
- statistics was aborted because of search timeout.
-
-Note: the count does not take offset into account.
-
-When no match is found you get the error: *E486* Pattern not found
-Note that for the `:global` command, when used in legacy script, you get a
-normal message "Pattern not found", for Vi compatibility.
-In |MNV9| script you get E486 for "pattern not found" or *E538* when the pattern
-matches in every line with `:vglobal`.
-For the |:s| command the "e" flag can be used to avoid the error message
-|:s_flags|.
-
- *search-options*
-The following options affect how a search is performed in MNV:
- 'hlsearch' highlight matches
- 'ignorecase' ignore case when searching
- 'imsearch' use |IME| when entering the search pattern
- 'incsearch' show matches incrementally as the pattern is typed
- 'maxsearchcount' maximum number for the search count |shm-S|
- 'shortmess' suppress messages |shm-s|; show search count |shm-S|
- 'smartcase' override 'ignorecase' if pattern contains uppercase
- 'wrapscan' continue searching from the start of the file
-
- *search-offset* *{offset}*
-These commands search for the specified pattern. With "/" and "?" an
-additional offset may be given. There are two types of offsets: line offsets
-and character offsets.
-
-The offset gives the cursor position relative to the found match:
- [num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1
- +[num] [num] lines downwards, in column 1
- -[num] [num] lines upwards, in column 1
- e[+num] [num] characters to the right of the end of the match
- e[-num] [num] characters to the left of the end of the match
- s[+num] [num] characters to the right of the start of the match
- s[-num] [num] characters to the left of the start of the match
- b[+num] [num] identical to s[+num] above (mnemonic: begin)
- b[-num] [num] identical to s[-num] above (mnemonic: begin)
- ;{pattern} perform another search, see |//;|
-
-If a '-' or '+' is given but [num] is omitted, a count of one will be used.
-When including an offset with 'e', the search becomes inclusive (the
-character the cursor lands on is included in operations).
-
-Examples:
-
-pattern cursor position ~
-/test/+1 one line below "test", in column 1
-/test/e on the last t of "test"
-/test/s+2 on the 's' of "test"
-/test/b-3 three characters before "test"
-
-If one of these commands is used after an operator, the characters between
-the cursor position before and after the search is affected. However, if a
-line offset is given, the whole lines between the two cursor positions are
-affected.
-
-An example of how to search for matches with a pattern and change the match
-with another word: >
- /foo<CR> find "foo"
- c//e<CR> change until end of match
- bar<Esc> type replacement
- //<CR> go to start of next match
- c//e<CR> change until end of match
- beep<Esc> type another replacement
- etc.
-<
- *//;* *E386*
-A very special offset is ';' followed by another search command. For example: >
-
- /test 1/;/test
- /test.*/+1;?ing?
-
-The first one first finds the next occurrence of "test 1", and then the first
-occurrence of "test" after that.
-
-This is like executing two search commands after each other, except that:
-- It can be used as a single motion command after an operator.
-- The direction for a following "n" or "N" command comes from the first
- search command.
-- When an error occurs the cursor is not moved at all.
-
- *last-pattern*
-The last used pattern and offset are remembered. They can be used to repeat
-the search, possibly in another direction or with another count. Note that
-two patterns are remembered: One for "normal" search commands and one for the
-substitute command ":s". Each time an empty pattern is given, the previously
-used pattern is used. However, if there is no previous search command, a
-previous substitute pattern is used, if possible.
-
-The 'magic' option sticks with the last used pattern. If you change 'magic',
-this will not change how the last used pattern will be interpreted.
-The 'ignorecase' option does not do this. When 'ignorecase' is changed, it
-will result in the pattern to match other text.
-
-All matches for the last used search pattern will be highlighted if you set
-the 'hlsearch' option.
-
-To clear the last used search pattern: >
- :let @/ = ""
-This will not set the pattern to an empty string, because that would match
-everywhere. The pattern is really cleared, like when starting MNV.
-
-The search usually skips matches that don't move the cursor. Whether the next
-match is found at the next character or after the skipped match depends on the
-'c' flag in 'cpoptions'. See |cpo-c|.
- with 'c' flag: "/..." advances 1 to 3 characters
- without 'c' flag: "/..." advances 1 character
-The unpredictability with the 'c' flag is caused by starting the search in the
-first column, skipping matches until one is found past the cursor position.
-
-When searching backwards, searching starts at the start of the line, using the
-'c' flag in 'cpoptions' as described above. Then the last match before the
-cursor position is used.
-
-In Vi the ":tag" command sets the last search pattern when the tag is searched
-for. In MNV this is not done, the previous search pattern is still
-remembered, unless the 't' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. The search pattern
-is always put in the search history.
-
-If the 'wrapscan' option is on (which is the default), searches wrap around
-the end of the buffer. If 'wrapscan' is not set, the backward search stops
-at the beginning and the forward search stops at the end of the buffer. If
-'wrapscan' is set and the pattern was not found the error message "pattern
-not found" is given, and the cursor will not be moved. If 'wrapscan' is not
-set the message becomes "search hit BOTTOM without match" when searching
-forward, or "search hit TOP without match" when searching backward. If
-wrapscan is set and the search wraps around the end of the file the message
-"search hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" or "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at
-TOP" is given when searching backwards or forwards respectively. This can be
-switched off by setting the 's' flag in the 'shortmess' option. The highlight
-method 'w' is used for this message (default: standout).
-
- *search-range*
-You can limit the search command "/" to a certain range of lines by including
-\%>l items. For example, to match the word "limit" below line 199 and above
-line 300: >
- /\%>199l\%<300llimit
-Also see |/\%>l|.
-
-Another way is to use the ":substitute" command with the 'c' flag. Example: >
- :.,300s/Pattern//gc
-This command will search from the cursor position until line 300 for
-"Pattern". At the match, you will be asked to type a character. Type 'q' to
-stop at this match, type 'n' to find the next match.
-
-The "*", "#", "g*" and "g#" commands look for a word near the cursor in this
-order, the first one that is found is used:
-- The keyword currently under the cursor.
-- The first keyword to the right of the cursor, in the same line.
-- The WORD currently under the cursor.
-- The first WORD to the right of the cursor, in the same line.
-The keyword may only contain letters and characters in 'iskeyword'.
-The WORD may contain any non-blanks (<Tab>s and/or <Space>s).
-Note that if you type with ten fingers, the characters are easy to remember:
-the "#" is under your left hand middle finger (search to the left and up) and
-the "*" is under your right hand middle finger (search to the right and down).
-(this depends on your keyboard layout though).
-
- *E956*
-In very rare cases a regular expression is used recursively. This can happen
-when executing a pattern takes a long time and when checking for messages on
-channels a callback is invoked that also uses a pattern or an autocommand is
-triggered. In most cases this should be fine, but if a pattern is in use when
-it's used again it fails. Usually this means there is something wrong with
-the pattern.
-
-==============================================================================
-2. The definition of a pattern *search-pattern* *pattern* *[pattern]*
- *regular-expression* *regexp* *Pattern*
- *E383* *E476*
-
-For starters, read chapter 27 of the user manual |usr_27.txt|.
-
- */bar* */\bar* */pattern*
-1. A pattern is one or more branches, separated by "\|". It matches anything
- that matches one of the branches. Example: "foo\|beep" matches "foo" and
- matches "beep". If more than one branch matches, the first one is used.
-
- pattern ::= branch
- or branch \| branch
- or branch \| branch \| branch
- etc.
-
- */branch* */\&*
-2. A branch is one or more concats, separated by "\&". It matches the last
- concat, but only if all the preceding concats also match at the same
- position. Examples:
- "foobeep\&..." matches "foo" in "foobeep".
- ".*Peter\&.*Bob" matches in a line containing both "Peter" and "Bob"
-
- branch ::= concat
- or concat \& concat
- or concat \& concat \& concat
- etc.
-
- */concat*
-3. A concat is one or more pieces, concatenated. It matches a match for the
- first piece, followed by a match for the second piece, etc. Example:
- "f[0-9]b", first matches "f", then a digit and then "b".
-
- concat ::= piece
- or piece piece
- or piece piece piece
- etc.
-
- */piece*
-4. A piece is an atom, possibly followed by a multi, an indication of how many
- times the atom can be matched. Example: "a*" matches any sequence of "a"
- characters: "", "a", "aa", etc. See |/multi|.
-
- piece ::= atom
- or atom multi
-
- */atom*
-5. An atom can be one of a long list of items. Many atoms match one character
- in the text. It is often an ordinary character or a character class.
- Parentheses can be used to make a pattern into an atom. The "\z(\)"
- construct is only for syntax highlighting.
-
- atom ::= ordinary-atom |/ordinary-atom|
- or \( pattern \) |/\(|
- or \%( pattern \) |/\%(|
- or \z( pattern \) |/\z(|
-
-
- */\%#=* *two-engines* *NFA*
-MNV includes two regexp engines:
-1. An old, backtracking engine that supports everything.
-2. A new, NFA engine that works much faster on some patterns, possibly slower
- on some patterns.
- *E1281*
-MNV will automatically select the right engine for you. However, if you run
-into a problem or want to specifically select one engine or the other, you can
-prepend one of the following to the pattern:
-
- \%#=0 Force automatic selection. Only has an effect when
- 'regexpengine' has been set to a non-zero value.
- \%#=1 Force using the old engine.
- \%#=2 Force using the NFA engine.
-
-You can also use the 'regexpengine' option to change the default.
-
- *E864* *E868* *E874* *E875* *E876* *E877* *E878*
-If selecting the NFA engine and it runs into something that is not implemented
-the pattern will not match. This is only useful when debugging MNV.
-
-==============================================================================
-3. Magic */magic*
-
-Some characters in the pattern, such as letters, are taken literally. They
-match exactly the same character in the text. When preceded with a backslash
-however, these characters may get a special meaning. For example, "a" matches
-the letter "a", while "\a" matches any alphabetic character.
-
-Other characters have a special meaning without a backslash. They need to be
-preceded with a backslash to match literally. For example "." matches any
-character while "\." matches a dot.
-
-If a character is taken literally or not depends on the 'magic' option and the
-items in the pattern mentioned next. The 'magic' option should always be set,
-but it can be switched off for Vi compatibility. We mention the effect of
-'nomagic' here for completeness, but we recommend against using that.
- */\m* */\M*
-Use of "\m" makes the pattern after it be interpreted as if 'magic' is set,
-ignoring the actual value of the 'magic' option.
-Use of "\M" makes the pattern after it be interpreted as if 'nomagic' is used.
- */\v* */\V*
-Use of "\v" means that after it, all ASCII characters except '0'-'9', 'a'-'z',
-'A'-'Z' and '_' have special meaning: "very magic"
-
-Use of "\V" means that after it, only a backslash and the terminating
-character (usually / or ?) have special meaning: "very nomagic"
-
-Examples:
-after: \v \m \M \V matches ~
- 'magic' 'nomagic'
- a a a a literal 'a'
- \a \a \a \a any alphabetic character
- . . \. \. any character
- \. \. . . literal dot
- $ $ $ \$ end-of-line
- * * \* \* any number of the previous atom
- ~ ~ \~ \~ latest substitute string
- () \(\) \(\) \(\) group as an atom
- | \| \| \| nothing: separates alternatives
- \\ \\ \\ \\ literal backslash
- \{ { { { literal curly brace
-
-{only MNV supports \m, \M, \v and \V}
-
-If you want to you can make a pattern immune to the 'magic' option being set
-or not by putting "\m" or "\M" at the start of the pattern.
-
-==============================================================================
-4. Overview of pattern items *pattern-overview*
- *E865* *E866* *E867* *E869*
-
-Overview of multi items. */multi* *E61* *E62*
-More explanation and examples below, follow the links. *E64* *E871*
-
- multi ~
- 'magic' 'nomagic' matches of the preceding atom ~
-|/star| * \* 0 or more as many as possible
-|/\+| \+ \+ 1 or more as many as possible
-|/\=| \= \= 0 or 1 as many as possible
-|/\?| \? \? 0 or 1 as many as possible
-
-|/\{| \{n,m} \{n,m} n to m as many as possible
- \{n} \{n} n exactly
- \{n,} \{n,} at least n as many as possible
- \{,m} \{,m} 0 to m as many as possible
- \{} \{} 0 or more as many as possible (same as *)
-
-|/\{-| \{-n,m} \{-n,m} n to m as few as possible
- \{-n} \{-n} n exactly
- \{-n,} \{-n,} at least n as few as possible
- \{-,m} \{-,m} 0 to m as few as possible
- \{-} \{-} 0 or more as few as possible
-
- *E59*
-|/\@>| \@> \@> 1, like matching a whole pattern
-|/\@=| \@= \@= nothing, requires a match |/zero-width|
-|/\@!| \@! \@! nothing, requires NO match |/zero-width|
-|/\@<=| \@<= \@<= nothing, requires a match behind |/zero-width|
-|/\@<!| \@<! \@<! nothing, requires NO match behind |/zero-width|
-
-
-Overview of ordinary atoms. */ordinary-atom*
-More explanation and examples below, follow the links.
-
- ordinary atom ~
- magic nomagic matches ~
-|/^| ^ ^ start-of-line (at start of pattern) |/zero-width|
-|/\^| \^ \^ literal '^'
-|/\_^| \_^ \_^ start-of-line (used anywhere) |/zero-width|
-|/$| $ $ end-of-line (at end of pattern) |/zero-width|
-|/\$| \$ \$ literal '$'
-|/\_$| \_$ \_$ end-of-line (used anywhere) |/zero-width|
-|/.| . \. any single character (not an end-of-line)
-|/\_.| \_. \_. any single character or end-of-line
-|/\<| \< \< beginning of a word |/zero-width|
-|/\>| \> \> end of a word |/zero-width|
-|/\zs| \zs \zs anything, sets start of match
-|/\ze| \ze \ze anything, sets end of match
-|/\%^| \%^ \%^ beginning of file |/zero-width| *E71*
-|/\%$| \%$ \%$ end of file |/zero-width|
-|/\%V| \%V \%V inside Visual area |/zero-width|
-|/\%#| \%# \%# cursor position |/zero-width|
-|/\%'m| \%'m \%'m mark m position |/zero-width|
-|/\%l| \%23l \%23l in line 23 |/zero-width|
-|/\%c| \%23c \%23c in column 23 |/zero-width|
-|/\%v| \%23v \%23v in virtual column 23 |/zero-width|
-
-Character classes: */character-classes*
- magic nomagic matches ~
-|/\i| \i \i identifier character (see 'isident' option)
-|/\I| \I \I like "\i", but excluding digits
-|/\k| \k \k keyword character (see 'iskeyword' option)
-|/\K| \K \K like "\k", but excluding digits
-|/\f| \f \f file name character (see 'isfname' option)
-|/\F| \F \F like "\f", but excluding digits
-|/\p| \p \p printable character (see 'isprint' option)
-|/\P| \P \P like "\p", but excluding digits
-|/\s| \s \s whitespace character: <Space> and <Tab>
-|/\S| \S \S non-whitespace character; opposite of \s
-|/\d| \d \d digit: [0-9]
-|/\D| \D \D non-digit: [^0-9]
-|/\x| \x \x hex digit: [0-9A-Fa-f]
-|/\X| \X \X non-hex digit: [^0-9A-Fa-f]
-|/\o| \o \o octal digit: [0-7]
-|/\O| \O \O non-octal digit: [^0-7]
-|/\w| \w \w word character: [0-9A-Za-z_]
-|/\W| \W \W non-word character: [^0-9A-Za-z_]
-|/\h| \h \h head of word character: [A-Za-z_]
-|/\H| \H \H non-head of word character: [^A-Za-z_]
-|/\a| \a \a alphabetic character: [A-Za-z]
-|/\A| \A \A non-alphabetic character: [^A-Za-z]
-|/\l| \l \l lowercase character: [a-z]
-|/\L| \L \L non-lowercase character: [^a-z]
-|/\u| \u \u uppercase character: [A-Z]
-|/\U| \U \U non-uppercase character [^A-Z]
-|/\_| \_x \_x where x is any of the characters above: character
- class with end-of-line included
-(end of character classes)
-
- magic nomagic matches ~
-|/\e| \e \e <Esc>
-|/\t| \t \t <Tab>
-|/\r| \r \r <CR>
-|/\b| \b \b <BS>
-|/\n| \n \n end-of-line
-|/~| ~ \~ last given substitute string
-|/\1| \1 \1 same string as matched by first \(\)
-|/\2| \2 \2 Like "\1", but uses second \(\)
- ...
-|/\9| \9 \9 Like "\1", but uses ninth \(\)
- *E68*
-|/\z1| \z1 \z1 only for syntax highlighting, see |:syn-ext-match|
- ...
-|/\z1| \z9 \z9 only for syntax highlighting, see |:syn-ext-match|
-
- x x a character with no special meaning matches itself
-
-|/[]| [] \[] any character specified inside the []
-|/\%[]| \%[] \%[] a sequence of optionally matched atoms
-
-|/\c| \c \c ignore case, do not use the 'ignorecase' option
-|/\C| \C \C match case, do not use the 'ignorecase' option
-|/\Z| \Z \Z ignore differences in Unicode "combining characters".
- Useful when searching voweled Hebrew or Arabic text.
-
- magic nomagic matches ~
-|/\m| \m \m 'magic' on for the following chars in the pattern
-|/\M| \M \M 'magic' off for the following chars in the pattern
-|/\v| \v \v the following chars in the pattern are "very magic"
-|/\V| \V \V the following chars in the pattern are "very nomagic"
-|/\%#=| \%#=1 \%#=1 select regexp engine |/zero-width|
-
-|/\%d| \%d \%d match specified decimal character (eg \%d123)
-|/\%x| \%x \%x match specified hex character (eg \%x2a)
-|/\%o| \%o \%o match specified octal character (eg \%o040)
-|/\%u| \%u \%u match specified multibyte character (eg \%u20ac)
-|/\%U| \%U \%U match specified large multibyte character (eg
- \%U12345678)
-|/\%C| \%C \%C match any composing characters
-
-Example matches ~
-\<\I\i* or
-\<\h\w*
-\<[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*
- An identifier (e.g., in a C program).
-
-\(\.$\|\. \) A period followed by <EOL> or a space.
-
-[.!?][])"']*\($\|[ ]\) A search pattern that finds the end of a sentence,
- with almost the same definition as the ")" command.
-
-cat\Z Both "cat" and "càt" ("a" followed by 0x0300)
- Does not match "càt" (character 0x00e0), even
- though it may look the same.
-
-
-==============================================================================
-5. Multi items *pattern-multi-items*
-
-An atom can be followed by an indication of how many times the atom can be
-matched and in what way. This is called a multi. See |/multi| for an
-overview.
-
- */star* */\star*
-* (use \* when 'magic' is not set)
- Matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible.
- Example 'nomagic' matches ~
- a* a\* "", "a", "aa", "aaa", etc.
- .* \.\* anything, also an empty string, no end-of-line
- \_.* \_.\* everything up to the end of the buffer
- \_.*END \_.\*END everything up to and including the last "END"
- in the buffer
-
- Exception: When "*" is used at the start of the pattern or just after
- "^" it matches the star character.
-
- Be aware that repeating "\_." can match a lot of text and take a long
- time. For example, "\_.*END" matches all text from the current
- position to the last occurrence of "END" in the file. Since the "*"
- will match as many as possible, this first skips over all lines until
- the end of the file and then tries matching "END", backing up one
- character at a time.
-
- */\+*
-\+ Matches 1 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible.
- Example matches ~
- ^.\+$ any non-empty line
- \s\+ white space of at least one character
-
- */\=*
-\= Matches 0 or 1 of the preceding atom, as many as possible.
- Example matches ~
- foo\= "fo" and "foo"
-
- */\?*
-\? Just like \=. Cannot be used when searching backwards with the "?"
- command.
-
- */\{* *E60* *E554* *E870*
-\{n,m} Matches n to m of the preceding atom, as many as possible
-\{n} Matches n of the preceding atom
-\{n,} Matches at least n of the preceding atom, as many as possible
-\{,m} Matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as many as possible
-\{} Matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as many as possible (like *)
- */\{-*
-\{-n,m} matches n to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible
-\{-n} matches n of the preceding atom
-\{-n,} matches at least n of the preceding atom, as few as possible
-\{-,m} matches 0 to m of the preceding atom, as few as possible
-\{-} matches 0 or more of the preceding atom, as few as possible
-
- n and m are positive decimal numbers or zero
- *non-greedy*
- If a "-" appears immediately after the "{", then a shortest match
- first algorithm is used (see example below). In particular, "\{-}" is
- the same as "*" but uses the shortest match first algorithm. BUT: A
- match that starts earlier is preferred over a shorter match: "a\{-}b"
- matches "aaab" in "xaaab".
-
- Example matches ~
- ab\{2,3}c "abbc" or "abbbc"
- a\{5} "aaaaa"
- ab\{2,}c "abbc", "abbbc", "abbbbc", etc.
- ab\{,3}c "ac", "abc", "abbc" or "abbbc"
- a[bc]\{3}d "abbbd", "abbcd", "acbcd", "acccd", etc.
- a\(bc\)\{1,2}d "abcd" or "abcbcd"
- a[bc]\{-}[cd] "abc" in "abcd"
- a[bc]*[cd] "abcd" in "abcd"
-
- The } may optionally be preceded with a backslash: \{n,m\}.
-
- */\@=*
-\@= Matches the preceding atom with zero width.
- Like "(?=pattern)" in Perl.
- Example matches ~
- foo\(bar\)\@= "foo" in "foobar"
- foo\(bar\)\@=foo nothing
- */zero-width*
- When using "\@=" (or "^", "$", "\<", "\>") no characters are included
- in the match. These items are only used to check if a match can be
- made. This can be tricky, because a match with following items will
- be done in the same position. The last example above will not match
- "foobarfoo", because it tries match "foo" in the same position where
- "bar" matched.
-
- Note that using "\&" works the same as using "\@=": "foo\&.." is the
- same as "\(foo\)\@=..". But using "\&" is easier, you don't need the
- parentheses.
-
-
- */\@!*
-\@! Matches with zero width if the preceding atom does NOT match at the
- current position. |/zero-width|
- Like "(?!pattern)" in Perl.
- Example matches ~
- foo\(bar\)\@! any "foo" not followed by "bar"
- a.\{-}p\@! "a", "ap", "app", "appp", etc. not immediately
- followed by a "p"
- if \(\(then\)\@!.\)*$ "if " not followed by "then"
-
- Using "\@!" is tricky, because there are many places where a pattern
- does not match. "a.*p\@!" will match from an "a" to the end of the
- line, because ".*" can match all characters in the line and the "p"
- doesn't match at the end of the line. "a.\{-}p\@!" will match any
- "a", "ap", "app", etc. that isn't followed by a "p", because the "."
- can match a "p" and "p\@!" doesn't match after that.
-
- You can't use "\@!" to look for a non-match before the matching
- position: "\(foo\)\@!bar" will match "bar" in "foobar", because at the
- position where "bar" matches, "foo" does not match. To avoid matching
- "foobar" you could use "\(foo\)\@!...bar", but that doesn't match a
- bar at the start of a line. Use "\(foo\)\@<!bar".
-
- Useful example: to find "foo" in a line that does not contain "bar": >
- /^\%(.*bar\)\@!.*\zsfoo
-< This pattern first checks that there is not a single position in the
- line where "bar" matches. If ".*bar" matches somewhere the \@! will
- reject the pattern. When there is no match any "foo" will be found.
- The "\zs" is to have the match start just before "foo".
-
- */\@<=*
-\@<= Matches with zero width if the preceding atom matches just before what
- follows. |/zero-width|
- Like "(?<=pattern)" in Perl, but MNV allows non-fixed-width patterns.
- Example matches ~
- \(an\_s\+\)\@<=file "file" after "an" and white space or an
- end-of-line
- For speed it's often much better to avoid this multi. Try using "\zs"
- instead |/\zs|. To match the same as the above example:
- an\_s\+\zsfile
- At least set a limit for the look-behind, see below.
-
- "\@<=" and "\@<!" check for matches just before what follows.
- Theoretically these matches could start anywhere before this position.
- But to limit the time needed, only the line where what follows matches
- is searched, and one line before that (if there is one). This should
- be sufficient to match most things and not be too slow.
-
- In the old regexp engine the part of the pattern after "\@<=" and
- "\@<!" are checked for a match first, thus things like "\1" don't work
- to reference \(\) inside the preceding atom. It does work the other
- way around:
- Bad example matches ~
- \%#=1\1\@<=,\([a-z]\+\) ",abc" in "abc,abc"
-
- However, the new regexp engine works differently, it is better to not
- rely on this behavior, do not use \@<= if it can be avoided:
- Example matches ~
- \([a-z]\+\)\zs,\1 ",abc" in "abc,abc"
-
-\@123<=
- Like "\@<=" but only look back 123 bytes. This avoids trying lots
- of matches that are known to fail and make executing the pattern very
- slow. Example, check if there is a "<" just before "span":
- /<\@1<=span
- This will try matching "<" only one byte before "span", which is the
- only place that works anyway.
- After crossing a line boundary, the limit is relative to the end of
- the line. Thus the characters at the start of the line with the match
- are not counted (this is just to keep it simple).
- The number zero is the same as no limit.
-
- */\@<!*
-\@<! Matches with zero width if the preceding atom does NOT match just
- before what follows. Thus this matches if there is no position in the
- current or previous line where the atom matches such that it ends just
- before what follows. |/zero-width|
- Like "(?<!pattern)" in Perl, but MNV allows non-fixed-width patterns.
- The match with the preceding atom is made to end just before the match
- with what follows, thus an atom that ends in ".*" will work.
- Warning: This can be slow (because many positions need to be checked
- for a match). Use a limit if you can, see below.
- Example matches ~
- \(foo\)\@<!bar any "bar" that's not in "foobar"
- \(\/\/.*\)\@<!in "in" which is not after "//"
-
-\@123<!
- Like "\@<!" but only look back 123 bytes. This avoids trying lots of
- matches that are known to fail and make executing the pattern very
- slow.
-
- */\@>*
-\@> Matches the preceding atom like matching a whole pattern.
- Like "(?>pattern)" in Perl.
- Example matches ~
- \(a*\)\@>a nothing (the "a*" takes all the "a"'s, there can't be
- another one following)
-
- This matches the preceding atom as if it was a pattern by itself. If
- it doesn't match, there is no retry with shorter sub-matches or
- anything. Observe this difference: "a*b" and "a*ab" both match
- "aaab", but in the second case the "a*" matches only the first two
- "a"s. "\(a*\)\@>ab" will not match "aaab", because the "a*" matches
- the "aaa" (as many "a"s as possible), thus the "ab" can't match.
-
-
-==============================================================================
-6. Ordinary atoms *pattern-atoms*
-
-An ordinary atom can be:
-
- */^*
-^ At beginning of pattern or after "\|", "\(", "\%(" or "\n": matches
- start-of-line; at other positions, matches literal '^'. |/zero-width|
- Example matches ~
- ^beep( the start of the C function "beep" (probably).
-
- */\^*
-\^ Matches literal '^'. Can be used at any position in the pattern, but
- not inside [].
-
- */\_^*
-\_^ Matches start-of-line. |/zero-width| Can be used at any position in
- the pattern, but not inside [].
- Example matches ~
- \_s*\_^foo white space and blank lines and then "foo" at
- start-of-line
-
- */$*
-$ At end of pattern or in front of "\|", "\)" or "\n" ('magic' on):
- matches end-of-line <EOL>; at other positions, matches literal '$'.
- |/zero-width|
-
- */\$*
-\$ Matches literal '$'. Can be used at any position in the pattern, but
- not inside [].
-
- */\_$*
-\_$ Matches end-of-line. |/zero-width| Can be used at any position in the
- pattern, but not inside []. Note that "a\_$b" never matches, since
- "b" cannot match an end-of-line. Use "a\nb" instead |/\n|.
- Example matches ~
- foo\_$\_s* "foo" at end-of-line and following white space and
- blank lines
-
-. (with 'nomagic': \.) */.* */\.*
- Matches any single character, but not an end-of-line.
-
- */\_.*
-\_. Matches any single character or end-of-line.
- Careful: "\_.*" matches all text to the end of the buffer!
-
- */\<*
-\< Matches the beginning of a word: The next char is the first char of a
- word. The 'iskeyword' option specifies what is a word character.
- |/zero-width|
-
- */\>*
-\> Matches the end of a word: The previous char is the last char of a
- word. The 'iskeyword' option specifies what is a word character.
- |/zero-width|
-
- */\zs*
-\zs Matches at any position, but not inside [], and sets the start of the
- match there: The next char is the first char of the whole match.
- |/zero-width|
- Example: >
- /^\s*\zsif
-< matches an "if" at the start of a line, ignoring white space.
- Can be used multiple times, the last one encountered in a matching
- branch is used. Example: >
- /\(.\{-}\zsFab\)\{3}
-< Finds the third occurrence of "Fab".
- This cannot be followed by a multi. *E888*
- {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature}
- */\ze*
-\ze Matches at any position, but not inside [], and sets the end of the
- match there: The previous char is the last char of the whole match.
- |/zero-width|
- Can be used multiple times, the last one encountered in a matching
- branch is used.
- Example: "end\ze\(if\|for\)" matches the "end" in "endif" and
- "endfor".
- This cannot be followed by a multi. |E888|
- {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature}
-
- */\%^* *start-of-file*
-\%^ Matches start of the file. When matching with a string, matches the
- start of the string.
- For example, to find the first "MNV" in a file: >
- /\%^\_.\{-}\zsMNV
-<
- */\%$* *end-of-file*
-\%$ Matches end of the file. When matching with a string, matches the
- end of the string.
- Note that this does NOT find the last "MNV" in a file: >
- /MNV\_.\{-}\%$
-< It will find the next MNV, because the part after it will always
- match. This one will find the last "MNV" in the file: >
- /MNV\ze\(\(MNV\)\@!\_.\)*\%$
-< This uses |/\@!| to ascertain that "MNV" does NOT match in any
- position after the first "MNV".
- Searching from the end of the file backwards is easier!
-
- */\%V*
-\%V Match inside the Visual area. When Visual mode has already been
- stopped match in the area that |gv| would reselect.
- This is a |/zero-width| match. To make sure the whole pattern is
- inside the Visual area put it at the start and just before the end of
- the pattern, e.g.: >
- /\%Vfoo.*ba\%Vr
-< This also works if only "foo bar" was Visually selected. This: >
- /\%Vfoo.*bar\%V
-< would match "foo bar" if the Visual selection continues after the "r".
- Only works for the current buffer.
-
- */\%#* *cursor-position*
-\%# Matches with the cursor position. Only works when matching in a
- buffer displayed in a window.
- WARNING: When the cursor is moved after the pattern was used, the
- result becomes invalid. MNV doesn't automatically update the matches.
- This is especially relevant for syntax highlighting and 'hlsearch'.
- In other words: When the cursor moves the display isn't updated for
- this change. An update is done for lines which are changed (the whole
- line is updated) or when using the |CTRL-L| command (the whole screen
- is updated). Example, to highlight the word under the cursor: >
- /\k*\%#\k*
-< When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes
- this will clearly show when the match is updated or not.
-
- */\%'m* */\%<'m* */\%>'m*
-\%'m Matches with the position of mark m.
-\%<'m Matches before the position of mark m.
-\%>'m Matches after the position of mark m.
- Example, to highlight the text from mark 's to 'e: >
- /.\%>'s.*\%<'e..
-< Note that two dots are required to include mark 'e in the match. That
- is because "\%<'e" matches at the character before the 'e mark, and
- since it's a |/zero-width| match it doesn't include that character.
- WARNING: When the mark is moved after the pattern was used, the result
- becomes invalid. MNV doesn't automatically update the matches.
- Similar to moving the cursor for "\%#" |/\%#|.
-
- */\%l* */\%>l* */\%<l* *E951* *E1204* *E1273*
-\%23l Matches in a specific line.
-\%<23l Matches above a specific line (lower line number).
-\%>23l Matches below a specific line (higher line number).
-\%.l Matches at the cursor line.
-\%<.l Matches above the cursor line.
-\%>.l Matches below the cursor line.
- These six can be used to match specific lines in a buffer. The "23"
- can be any line number. The first line is 1.
- WARNING: When inserting or deleting lines MNV does not automatically
- update the matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly becomes
- wrong. Also when referring to the cursor position (".") and
- the cursor moves the display isn't updated for this change. An update
- is done when using the |CTRL-L| command (the whole screen is updated).
- Example, to highlight the line where the cursor currently is: >
- :exe '/\%' .. line(".") .. 'l'
-< Alternatively use: >
- /\%.l
-< When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes
- this will clearly show when the match is updated or not.
-
- */\%c* */\%>c* */\%<c*
-\%23c Matches in a specific column.
-\%<23c Matches before a specific column.
-\%>23c Matches after a specific column.
-\%.c Matches at the cursor column.
-\%<.c Matches before the cursor column.
-\%>.c Matches after the cursor column.
- These six can be used to match specific columns in a buffer or string.
- The "23" can be any column number. The first column is 1. Actually,
- the column is the byte number (thus it's not exactly right for
- multibyte characters).
- WARNING: When inserting or deleting text MNV does not automatically
- update the matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly becomes
- wrong. Also when referring to the cursor position (".") and
- the cursor moves the display isn't updated for this change. An update
- is done when using the |CTRL-L| command (the whole screen is updated).
- Example, to highlight the column where the cursor currently is: >
- :exe '/\%' .. col(".") .. 'c'
-< Alternatively use: >
- /\%.c
-< When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes
- this will clearly show when the match is updated or not.
- Example for matching a single byte in column 44: >
- /\%>43c.\%<46c
-< Note that "\%<46c" matches in column 45 when the "." matches a byte in
- column 44.
- */\%v* */\%>v* */\%<v*
-\%23v Matches in a specific virtual column.
-\%<23v Matches before a specific virtual column.
-\%>23v Matches after a specific virtual column.
-\%.v Matches at the current virtual column.
-\%<.v Matches before the current virtual column.
-\%>.v Matches after the current virtual column.
- These six can be used to match specific virtual columns in a buffer or
- string. When not matching with a buffer in a window, the option
- values of the current window are used (e.g., 'tabstop').
- The "23" can be any column number. The first column is 1.
- Note that some virtual column positions will never match, because they
- are halfway through a tab or other character that occupies more than
- one screen character.
- WARNING: When inserting or deleting text MNV does not automatically
- update highlighted matches. This means Syntax highlighting quickly
- becomes wrong. Also when referring to the cursor position (".") and
- the cursor moves the display isn't updated for this change. An update
- is done when using the |CTRL-L| command (the whole screen is updated).
- Example, to highlight all the characters after virtual column 72: >
- /\%>72v.*
-< When 'hlsearch' is set and you move the cursor around and make changes
- this will clearly show when the match is updated or not.
- To match the text up to column 17: >
- /^.*\%17v
-< To match all characters after the current virtual column (where the
- cursor is): >
- /\%>.v.*
-< Column 17 is not included, because this is a |/zero-width| match. To
- include the column use: >
- /^.*\%17v.
-< This command does the same thing, but also matches when there is no
- character in column 17: >
- /^.*\%<18v.
-< Note that without the "^" to anchor the match in the first column,
- this will also highlight column 17: >
- /.*\%17v
-< Column 17 is highlighted by 'hlsearch' because there is another match
- where ".*" matches zero characters.
-
-
-Character classes:
-\i identifier character (see 'isident' option) */\i*
-\I like "\i", but excluding digits */\I*
-\k keyword character (see 'iskeyword' option) */\k*
-\K like "\k", but excluding digits */\K*
-\f file name character (see 'isfname' option) */\f*
-\F like "\f", but excluding digits */\F*
-\p printable character (see 'isprint' option) */\p*
-\P like "\p", but excluding digits */\P*
-
-NOTE: the above also work for multibyte characters. The ones below only
-match ASCII characters, as indicated by the range.
-
- *whitespace* *white-space*
-\s whitespace character: <Space> and <Tab> */\s*
-\S non-whitespace character; opposite of \s */\S*
-\d digit: [0-9] */\d*
-\D non-digit: [^0-9] */\D*
-\x hex digit: [0-9A-Fa-f] */\x*
-\X non-hex digit: [^0-9A-Fa-f] */\X*
-\o octal digit: [0-7] */\o*
-\O non-octal digit: [^0-7] */\O*
-\w word character: [0-9A-Za-z_] */\w*
-\W non-word character: [^0-9A-Za-z_] */\W*
-\h head of word character: [A-Za-z_] */\h*
-\H non-head of word character: [^A-Za-z_] */\H*
-\a alphabetic character: [A-Za-z] */\a*
-\A non-alphabetic character: [^A-Za-z] */\A*
-\l lowercase character: [a-z] */\l*
-\L non-lowercase character: [^a-z] */\L*
-\u uppercase character: [A-Z] */\u*
-\U non-uppercase character: [^A-Z] */\U*
-
- NOTE: Using the atom is faster than the [] form.
-
- NOTE: 'ignorecase', "\c" and "\C" are not used by character classes.
-
- */\_* *E63* */\_i* */\_I* */\_k* */\_K* */\_f* */\_F*
- */\_p* */\_P* */\_s* */\_S* */\_d* */\_D* */\_x* */\_X*
- */\_o* */\_O* */\_w* */\_W* */\_h* */\_H* */\_a* */\_A*
- */\_l* */\_L* */\_u* */\_U*
-\_x Where "x" is any of the characters above: The character class with
- end-of-line added
-(end of character classes)
-
-\e matches <Esc> */\e*
-\t matches <Tab> */\t*
-\r matches <CR> */\r*
-\b matches <BS> */\b*
-\n matches an end-of-line */\n*
- When matching in a string instead of buffer text a literal newline
- character is matched.
-
-~ matches the last given substitute string */~* */\~*
-
-\(\) A pattern enclosed by escaped parentheses. */\(* */\(\)* */\)*
- E.g., "\(^a\)" matches 'a' at the start of a line.
- There can only be nine of these. You can use "\%(" to add more, but
- not counting it as a sub-expression.
- *E51* *E54* *E55* *E872* *E873*
-
-\1 Matches the same string that was matched by */\1* *E65*
- the first sub-expression in \( and \).
- Example: "\([a-z]\).\1" matches "ata", "ehe", "tot", etc.
-\2 Like "\1", but uses second sub-expression, */\2*
- ... */\3*
-\9 Like "\1", but uses ninth sub-expression. */\9*
- Note: The numbering of groups is done based on which "\(" comes first
- in the pattern (going left to right), NOT based on what is matched
- first.
-
-\%(\) A pattern enclosed by escaped parentheses. */\%(\)* */\%(* *E53*
- Just like \(\), but without counting it as a sub-expression. This
- allows using more groups and it's a little bit faster.
-
-x A single character, with no special meaning, matches itself
-
- */\* */\\*
-\x A backslash followed by a single character, with no special meaning,
- is reserved for future expansions
-
-[] (with 'nomagic': \[]) */[]* */\[]* */\_[]* */collection* *E76*
-\_[]
- A collection. This is a sequence of characters enclosed in square
- brackets. It matches any single character in the collection.
- Example matches ~
- [xyz] any 'x', 'y' or 'z'
- [a-zA-Z]$ any alphabetic character at the end of a line
- \c[a-z]$ same
- [А-яЁё] Russian alphabet (with utf-8 and cp1251)
-
- */[\n]*
- With "\_" prepended the collection also includes the end-of-line.
- The same can be done by including "\n" in the collection. The
- end-of-line is also matched when the collection starts with "^"! Thus
- "\_[^ab]" matches the end-of-line and any character but "a" and "b".
- This makes it Vi compatible: Without the "\_" or "\n" the collection
- does not match an end-of-line.
- *E769*
- When the ']' is not there MNV will not give an error message but
- assume no collection is used. Useful to search for '['. However, you
- do get E769 for internal searching. And be aware that in a
- `:substitute` command the whole command becomes the pattern. E.g.
- ":s/[/x/" searches for "[/x" and replaces it with nothing. It does
- not search for "[" and replaces it with "x"!
-
- *E944* *E945*
- If the sequence begins with "^", it matches any single character NOT
- in the collection: "[^xyz]" matches anything but 'x', 'y' and 'z'.
- - If two characters in the sequence are separated by '-', this is
- shorthand for the full list of ASCII characters between them. E.g.,
- "[0-9]" matches any decimal digit. If the starting character
- exceeds the ending character, e.g. [c-a], E944 occurs. Non-ASCII
- characters can be used, but the character values must not be more
- than 256 apart in the old regexp engine. For example, searching by
- [\u3000-\u4000] after setting re=1 emits a E945 error. Prepending
- \%#=2 will fix it.
- - A character class expression is evaluated to the set of characters
- belonging to that character class. The following character classes
- are supported:
- Name Func Contents ~
-*[:alnum:]* [:alnum:] isalnum ASCII letters and digits
-*[:alpha:]* [:alpha:] isalpha ASCII letters
-*[:blank:]* [:blank:] space and tab
-*[:cntrl:]* [:cntrl:] iscntrl ASCII control characters
-*[:digit:]* [:digit:] decimal digits '0' to '9'
-*[:graph:]* [:graph:] isgraph ASCII printable characters excluding
- space
-*[:lower:]* [:lower:] (1) lowercase letters (all letters when
- 'ignorecase' is used and the old
- engine is in use |two-engines|)
-*[:print:]* [:print:] (2) printable characters including space
-*[:punct:]* [:punct:] ispunct ASCII punctuation characters
-*[:space:]* [:space:] whitespace characters: space, tab, CR,
- NL, vertical tab, form feed
-*[:upper:]* [:upper:] (3) uppercase letters (all letters when
- 'ignorecase' is used and the old
- engine is in use |two-engines|)
-*[:xdigit:]* [:xdigit:] hexadecimal digits: 0-9, a-f, A-F
-*[:return:]* [:return:] the <CR> character
-*[:tab:]* [:tab:] the <Tab> character
-*[:escape:]* [:escape:] the <Esc> character
-*[:backspace:]* [:backspace:] the <BS> character
-*[:ident:]* [:ident:] identifier character (same as "\i")
-*[:keyword:]* [:keyword:] keyword character (same as "\k")
-*[:fname:]* [:fname:] file name character (same as "\f")
- The square brackets in character class expressions are additional to
- the square brackets delimiting a collection. For example, the
- following is a plausible pattern for a UNIX filename:
- "[-./[:alnum:]_~]\+". That is, a list of at least one character,
- each of which is either '-', '.', '/', alphabetic, numeric, '_' or
- '~'.
- These items only work for 8-bit characters, except [:lower:] and
- [:upper:] also work for multibyte characters when using the new
- regexp engine. See |two-engines|. In the future these items may
- work for multibyte characters. For now, to get all "alpha"
- characters you can use: [[:lower:][:upper:]].
-
- The "Func" column shows what library function is used. The
- implementation depends on the system. Otherwise:
- (1) Uses islower() for ASCII and MNV builtin rules for other
- characters.
- (2) Uses MNV builtin rules
- (3) As with (1) but using isupper()
- */[[=* *[==]*
- - An equivalence class. This means that characters are matched that
- have almost the same meaning, e.g., when ignoring accents. This
- only works for Unicode, latin1 and latin9. The form is:
- [=a=]
- */[[.* *[..]*
- - A collation element. This currently simply accepts a single
- character in the form:
- [.a.]
- */\]*
- - To include a literal ']', '^', '-' or '\' in the collection, put a
- backslash before it: "[xyz\]]", "[\^xyz]", "[xy\-z]" and "[xyz\\]".
- (Note: POSIX does not support the use of a backslash this way). For
- ']' you can also make it the first character (following a possible
- "^"): "[]xyz]" or "[^]xyz]".
- For '-' you can also make it the first or last character: "[-xyz]",
- "[^-xyz]" or "[xyz-]". For '\' you can also let it be followed by
- any character that's not in "^]-\bdertnoUux". "[\xyz]" matches '\',
- 'x', 'y' and 'z'. It's better to use "\\" though, future expansions
- may use other characters after '\'.
- - Omitting the trailing ] is not considered an error. "[]" works like
- "[]]", it matches the ']' character.
- - The following translations are accepted when the 'l' flag is not
- included in 'cpoptions':
- \e <Esc>
- \t <Tab>
- \r <CR> (NOT end-of-line!)
- \b <BS>
- \n line break, see above |/[\n]|
- \d123 decimal number of character
- \o40 octal number of character up to 0o377
- \x20 hexadecimal number of character up to 0xff
- \u20AC hex. number of multibyte character up to 0xffff
- \U1234 hex. number of multibyte character up to 8 characters
- 0xffffffff |E1541|
- NOTE: The other backslash codes mentioned above do not work inside
- []!
- - Matching with a collection can be slow, because each character in
- the text has to be compared with each character in the collection.
- Use one of the other atoms above when possible. Example: "\d" is
- much faster than "[0-9]" and matches the same characters. However,
- the new |NFA| regexp engine deals with this better than the old one.
-
- */\%[]* *E69* *E70* *E369*
-\%[] A sequence of optionally matched atoms. This always matches.
- It matches as much of the list of atoms it contains as possible. Thus
- it stops at the first atom that doesn't match. For example: >
- /r\%[ead]
-< matches "r", "re", "rea" or "read". The longest that matches is used.
- To match the Ex command "function", where "fu" is required and
- "nction" is optional, this would work: >
- /\<fu\%[nction]\>
-< The end-of-word atom "\>" is used to avoid matching "fu" in "full".
- It gets more complicated when the atoms are not ordinary characters.
- You don't often have to use it, but it is possible. Example: >
- /\<r\%[[eo]ad]\>
-< Matches the words "r", "re", "ro", "rea", "roa", "read" and "road".
- There can be no \(\), \%(\) or \z(\) items inside the [] and \%[] does
- not nest.
- To include a "[" use "[[]" and for "]" use []]", e.g.,: >
- /index\%[[[]0[]]]
-< matches "index" "index[", "index[0" and "index[0]".
- {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature}
-
- */\%d* */\%x* */\%o* */\%u* */\%U* *E678*
-
-\%d123 Matches the character specified with a decimal number. Must be
- followed by a non-digit.
-\%o40 Matches the character specified with an octal number up to 0o377.
- Numbers below 0o40 must be followed by a non-octal digit or a
- non-digit.
-\%x2a Matches the character specified with up to two hexadecimal characters.
-\%u20AC Matches the character specified with up to four hexadecimal
- characters.
-\%U1234abcd Matches the character specified with up to eight hexadecimal
- characters, up to 0x7fffffff (the maximum allowed value is INT_MAX
- |E1541|, but the maximum valid Unicode codepoint is U+10FFFF).
-
-==============================================================================
-7. Ignoring case in a pattern */ignorecase*
-
-If the 'ignorecase' option is on, the case of normal letters is ignored.
-'smartcase' can be set to ignore case when the pattern contains lowercase
-letters only.
- */\c* */\C*
-When "\c" appears anywhere in the pattern, the whole pattern is handled like
-'ignorecase' is on. The actual value of 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' is
-ignored. "\C" does the opposite: Force matching case for the whole pattern.
-{only MNV supports \c and \C}
-Note that 'ignorecase', "\c" and "\C" are not used for the character classes.
-
-Examples:
- pattern 'ignorecase' 'smartcase' matches ~
- foo off - foo
- foo on - foo Foo FOO
- Foo on off foo Foo FOO
- Foo on on Foo
- \cfoo - - foo Foo FOO
- foo\C - - foo
-
-Technical detail: *NL-used-for-Nul*
-<Nul> characters in the file are stored as <NL> in memory. In the display
-they are shown as "^@". The translation is done when reading and writing
-files. To match a <Nul> with a search pattern you can just enter CTRL-@ or
-"CTRL-V 000". This is probably just what you expect. Internally the
-character is replaced with a <NL> in the search pattern. What is unusual is
-that typing CTRL-V CTRL-J also inserts a <NL>, thus also searches for a <Nul>
-in the file.
-
- *CR-used-for-NL*
-When 'fileformat' is "mac", <NL> characters in the file are stored as <CR>
-characters internally. In the text they are shown as "^J". Otherwise this
-works similar to the usage of <NL> for a <Nul>.
-
-When working with expression evaluation, a <NL> character in the pattern
-matches a <NL> in the string. The use of "\n" (backslash n) to match a <NL>
-doesn't work there, it only works to match text in the buffer.
-
- *pattern-multi-byte* *pattern-multibyte*
-Patterns will also work with multibyte characters, mostly as you would
-expect. But invalid bytes may cause trouble, a pattern with an invalid byte
-will probably never match.
-
-==============================================================================
-8. Composing characters *patterns-composing*
-
- */\Z*
-When "\Z" appears anywhere in the pattern, all composing characters are
-ignored. Thus only the base characters need to match, the composing
-characters may be different and the number of composing characters may differ.
-Only relevant when 'encoding' is "utf-8".
-Exception: If the pattern starts with one or more composing characters, these
-must match.
- */\%C*
-Use "\%C" to skip any composing characters. For example, the pattern "a" does
-not match in "càt" (where the a has the composing character 0x0300), but
-"a\%C" does. Note that this does not match "cát" (where the á is character
-0xe1, it does not have a compositing character). It does match "cat" (where
-the a is just an a).
-
-When a composing character appears at the start of the pattern or after an
-item that doesn't include the composing character, a match is found at any
-character that includes this composing character.
-
-When using a dot and a composing character, this works the same as the
-composing character by itself, except that it doesn't matter what comes before
-this.
-
-The order of composing characters does not matter. Also, the text may have
-more composing characters than the pattern, it still matches. But all
-composing characters in the pattern must be found in the text.
-
-Suppose B is a base character and x and y are composing characters:
- pattern text match ~
- Bxy Bxy yes (perfect match)
- Bxy Byx yes (order ignored)
- Bxy By no (x missing)
- Bxy Bx no (y missing)
- Bx Bx yes (perfect match)
- Bx By no (x missing)
- Bx Bxy yes (extra y ignored)
- Bx Byx yes (extra y ignored)
-
-==============================================================================
-9. Compare with Perl patterns *perl-patterns*
-
-MNV's regexes are most similar to Perl's, in terms of what you can do. The
-difference between them is mostly just notation; here's a summary of where
-they differ:
-
-Capability in MNVspeak in Perlspeak ~
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-force case insensitivity \c (?i)
-force case sensitivity \C (?-i)
-backref-less grouping \%(atom\) (?:atom)
-conservative quantifiers \{-n,m} *?, +?, ??, {}?
-0-width match atom\@= (?=atom)
-0-width non-match atom\@! (?!atom)
-0-width preceding match atom\@<= (?<=atom)
-0-width preceding non-match atom\@<! (?<!atom)
-match without retry atom\@> (?>atom)
-
-MNV and Perl handle newline characters inside a string a bit differently:
-
-In Perl, ^ and $ only match at the very beginning and end of the text,
-by default, but you can set the 'm' flag, which lets them match at
-embedded newlines as well. You can also set the 's' flag, which causes
-a . to match newlines as well. (Both these flags can be changed inside
-a pattern using the same syntax used for the i flag above, BTW.)
-
-On the other hand, MNV's ^ and $ always match at embedded newlines, and
-you get two separate atoms, \%^ and \%$, which only match at the very
-start and end of the text, respectively. MNV solves the second problem
-by giving you the \_ "modifier": put it in front of a . or a character
-class, and they will match newlines as well.
-
-Finally, these constructs are unique to Perl:
-- execution of arbitrary code in the regex: (?{perl code})
-- conditional expressions: (?(condition)true-expr|false-expr)
-
-...and these are unique to MNV:
-- changing the magic-ness of a pattern: \v \V \m \M
- (very useful for avoiding backslashitis)
-- sequence of optionally matching atoms: \%[atoms]
-- \& (which is to \| what "and" is to "or"; it forces several branches
- to match at one spot)
-- matching lines/columns by number: \%5l \%5c \%5v
-- setting the start and end of the match: \zs \ze
-
-==============================================================================
-10. Highlighting matches *match-highlight*
-
- *syntax-vs-match*
- Note that the match highlight mechanism is independent
- of |syntax-highlighting|, which is (usually) a buffer-local
- highlighting, while matching is window-local, both methods
- can be freely mixed. Match highlighting functions give you
- a bit more flexibility in when and how to apply, but are
- typically only used for temporary highlighting, without strict
- rules. Both methods can be used to conceal text.
-
- Thus the matching functions like |matchadd()| won't consider
- syntax rules and functions like |synconcealed()| and the
- other way around.
-
- *:mat* *:match*
-:mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/
- Define a pattern to highlight in the current window. It will
- be highlighted with {group}. Example: >
- :highlight MyGroup ctermbg=green guibg=green
- :match MyGroup /TODO/
-< Instead of // any character can be used to mark the start and
- end of the {pattern}. Watch out for using special characters,
- such as '"' and '|'.
-
- {group} must exist at the moment this command is executed.
-
- The {group} highlighting still applies when a character is
- to be highlighted for 'hlsearch', as the highlighting for
- matches is given higher priority than that of 'hlsearch'.
- Syntax highlighting (see 'syntax') is also overruled by
- matches.
-
- Note that highlighting the last used search pattern with
- 'hlsearch' is used in all windows, while the pattern defined
- with ":match" only exists in the current window. It is kept
- when switching to another buffer.
-
- 'ignorecase' does not apply, use |/\c| in the pattern to
- ignore case. Otherwise case is not ignored.
-
- 'redrawtime' defines the maximum time searched for pattern
- matches.
-
- When matching end-of-line and MNV redraws only part of the
- display you may get unexpected results. That is because MNV
- looks for a match in the line where redrawing starts.
-
- Also see |matcharg()| and |getmatches()|. The former returns
- the highlight group and pattern of a previous |:match|
- command. The latter returns a list with highlight groups and
- patterns defined by both |matchadd()| and |:match|.
-
- Highlighting matches using |:match| are limited to three
- matches (aside from |:match|, |:2match| and |:3match| are
- available). |matchadd()| does not have this limitation and in
- addition makes it possible to prioritize matches.
-
- Another example, which highlights all characters in virtual
- column 72 and more: >
- :highlight rightMargin term=bold ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
- :match rightMargin /.\%>72v/
-< To highlight all character that are in virtual column 7: >
- :highlight col8 ctermbg=grey guibg=grey
- :match col8 /\%<8v.\%>7v/
-< Note the use of two items to also match a character that
- occupies more than one virtual column, such as a TAB.
-
-:mat[ch]
-:mat[ch] none
- Clear a previously defined match pattern.
-
-
-:2mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ *:2match*
-:2mat[ch]
-:2mat[ch] none
-:3mat[ch] {group} /{pattern}/ *:3match*
-:3mat[ch]
-:3mat[ch] none
- Just like |:match| above, but set a separate match. Thus
- there can be three matches active at the same time. The match
- with the lowest number has priority if several match at the
- same position. It uses the match id 3.
- The ":3match" command is used by (MNV < 9.0.2054) |matchparen|
- plugin. You are suggested to use ":match" for manual matching
- and ":2match" for another plugin or even better make use of
- the more flexible |matchadd()| (and similar) functions instead.
-
-==============================================================================
-11. Fuzzy matching *fuzzy-matching*
-
-Fuzzy matching scores how well a string matches a pattern when the pattern
-characters appear in order but not necessarily contiguously.
-
-Example: >
- Pattern: "mnv"
- Candidates: "mnv" -> perfect
- "mnveo" -> good (m n v)
- "voice mail" -> weaker (m _ n _ _ _ v)
- "vintage" -> no match (no "m")
-<
-If the search string has multiple words, each word is matched separately and
-may appear in any order in the candidate. For example "get pat" matches
-"GetPattern", "PatternGet", "getPattern", "patGetter", "getSomePattern",
-"MatchpatternGet", etc.
-
-The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options do not apply, case is ignored if the
-pattern is all lower case.
-
-MNV's implementation is based on the algorithm from the fzy project:
-https://github.com/jhawthorn/fzy
-
-It uses dynamic programming to compute an optimal score for a given pattern
-and candidate.
-
-The algorithm works in two stages:
-
-1. Forward pass
- Scan the candidate left to right, tracking the best score for each
- pattern position. Matches score higher when they occur at the start
- of the candidate, the start of a word (space, underscore, dash,
- camelCase), or directly after the previous match.
-
-2. Backward pass
- Start from the best-scoring end position and step back to find match
- positions, ensuring the alignment is optimal.
-
-MNV extends the original algorithm to support multibyte codepoints, allowing
-correct matching for UTF-8 and other encodings.
-
-Time complexity is O(pattern * candidate). Memory usage is proportional
-to the same.
-
-The |matchfuzzy()| and |matchfuzzypos()| functions perform fuzzy searching in
-a List of strings. |matchfuzzy()| returns the matching strings, while
-|matchfuzzypos()| returns the matches along with their positions and scores.
-
-The "f" flag of `:mnvgrep` enables fuzzy matching.
-
-To enable fuzzy matching for |ins-completion|, add "fuzzy" to the
-'completeopt' option. For |cmdline-completion|, add "fuzzy" to the
-'wildoptions' option.
-
- mnv:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: