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regexreplacenano

Regex-based matching and sustitution with nano?

I am aware of nano's search and replace functionality, but is it capable of using regular expressions for matching and substitution (particularly substitutions that use a part of the match)? If so, can you provide some examples of the syntax used (both for matching and replacing)?

I cut my teeth on Perl-style regular expressions, but I've found that text editors will sometimes come up with their own syntax.

Solution

  • You need to add, or un-comment, the following entry in your global nanorc file (on my machine, it was /etc/nanorc):

    set regexp

    Then fire up a new terminal and press CTRL + / and do your replacements which should now be regex-aware.

    EDIT

    Search for conf->(\S+):

    enter image description here

    Replace with \1_conf

    enter image description here

    Press a to replace all occurrences:

    enter image description here

    End result:

    enter image description here