Replace the substitute mode launched with the c flag (as in :s/foo/bar/c) with a solution that allows you to stay in normal mode and freely move / execute other commands while substituting.
Type :s/foo/bar like you normally would to substitute "foo" with "bar". Then press the initiate key set by this plugin (ctrl-enter if you run Vim with a GUI, otherwise ctrl-g for the command line and ctrl-b for the command window). You'll be put back to normal mode on the next match of foo. Now you can press ctrl-n in normal mode replace the closest foo with bar (and move to the next foo if possible). Or, unlike with :s/foo/bar/c, you can do any normal mode stuff you feel like doing. Use n to skip results between c-ns as you normally would.
You can prefix the ctrl-n command with a count to replace the next n matches at once.
Press cpr (mnemonic: change previous replace) in normal mode to make easyreplace always replace the latest search result with your latest substitution. This is also the default if you haven't started a replace with the initiate key yet, which means you can just type :s/foo/bar<cr> and start replacing foos with bars by hitting ctrl-n.
NOTE: If you are sure you'll never have multiple matches on one line, this built-in solution is probably better for you:
nnoremap <c-n> :&&<cr>j0gn<esc>`<
The above replaces all the matches on the current line with the result of your latest substitution. The difference to easyreplace is that easyreplace can handle multiple matches on a line one by one, and is immune to new searches and substitutions if you want it to be.
Use your favorite plugin manager or just paste the files in your vim folder
:let g:erepl_after_initiate = "zz" (default '') Replace the zz to issue any normal mode commands to executue after you've entered a regex. NOTE: special characters (such as <esc>) and " must be escaped with \
:let g:erepl_after_replace = "zz" (default '') Same as g:erepl_after_initiate, except this gets executed after each substitution
:let g:erepl_always_verymagic = 1 (default 0) Treat the target regex when executing a new substitution as if it started with \v if no other modifiers are given
Available mappings:
<Plug>EasyReplaceInitiate Map this to what you want to press in command line or cmdwindow to start the substitution.
example: :cmap <c-x> <Plug>EasyReplaceInitiate
<Plug>EasyReplaceDo Map this to what you want to press in normal mode to substitute the current match and move to the next match after that.
example: :nmap <c-x> <Plug>EasyReplaceDo
<Plug>EasyReplaceInPlace Map this to what you want to press in normal mode to substitute the current match and stay in place.
example: :nmap <leader>n <Plug>EasyReplaceInPlace
<Plug>EasyReplaceBackwards Map this to what you want to press in normal mode to substitute the current match and move to the preceding match.
example: :nmap <c-x> <Plug>EasyReplaceBackwards
<Plug>EasyReplaceToggleUsePrevious Make easyreplace always replace the latest search result with your latest substitution.
example: :nmap cpr <Plug>EasyReplaceToggleUsePrevious
<Plug>EasyReplaceArea Map this in visual mode to replace all your selected matches at once.
example: :xmap <c-x> <Plug>EasyReplaceArea
- The 'history' setting set to 1 or more (sorry!)
- Vim 7.4+
- Really long / complex searches might not work. The gn function used by this plugin tends to sometimes select only the first char on those, and these situations are where the plugin also fails.
- Searches containing only one char might not work. gn sometimes fails to keep the cursor still when the match is only 1 char long and you're on it. gn might even skip these matches altogether.
- If your substitution contains lookbehinds you might unwantedly get new matches or lose old ones between substitutions. This happens when the text seen by the next lookbehind changes after a substitution. If this ever becomes a problem you'll just have to use a normal substitution with the
cflag instead. - Doesn't "bump up" search/cmd history items (if needed) after replaces, only after initializations.
Published under the MIT License.