Re: [h-e-w] search and replace across lines

[Peter Davis]

Lance Johnston <address@hidden> writes:

> Hi,
> 
> I'm wondering how I can do a search and replace across lines in
> emacs. 

Use C-q to "quote" your newline characters, so you can actually
include them in search strings.  For example ...

> For example, let's say I have the following text in a file:
> 
>   constant_text variable_text
>   {
>   ...
> 
> And I want to turn this into:
> 
>   constant_text variable_text
>   {
>     added_text
>     ...

Search for: \(constant_text <regexp for variable_text>^J{^J\)

Replace with: \1added_text

Note that the ^J's in the search string are added by typing C-q C-j.


> After trying for a while to get this to work, I think this question
> can be simplified to "How can I search across lines?", as I can't
> even get a search expression to span lines. 

Think of it as "How do I include a newline in my search string?"


-pd



-- 
--------
                             Peter Davis
               Funny stuff at http://www.pfdstudio.com
                 The artwork formerly shown as prints
    List of resources for children's writers and illustrators at:
                  http://www.pfdstudio.com/cwrl.html