Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!bacchus.pa.dec.com!decuac!hadron!jsdy
From: jsdy@hadron.COM (Joseph S. D. Yao)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: ex search & substitution question
Summary: Yet another quick comment on ...
Message-ID: <903@hadron.COM>
Date: 9 Aug 90 20:36:18 GMT
References: <3440001@hprnd.HP.COM> <26814@nigel.ee.udel.edu> <1990Aug07.174235.28911@hoss.unl.edu> <1990Aug9.003212.12140@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au>
Reply-To: jsdy@hadron.UUCP (Joseph S. D. Yao)
Organization: Hadron, Inc., Fairfax, VA
Lines: 23

In article <1990Aug9.003212.12140@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au> edp367s@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au (Rik Harris) writes:
>sanjiv@hoss.unl.edu (Sanjiv K. Bhatia) writes:
>>:10,20s/^#[iut]55/77/
>a more complicated solution is required:
>:10,20s/\(^#[iut]\)55/\177/

Just to note that the left anchor, '^', must be outside the escaped
parentheses.  While this works, I'd prefer the
	:10,20g/^#[iut]55/s/55/71/
[note corrected second number] technique, because I sometimes make
mistakes typing in the more complicated expressions.  It is always
possible to find a correct substitute command; I don't know why one
person complained that this way led to errors.  But both work, so
whichever works best for YOU is the one you should use.

	Joe Yao				jsdy@hadron.COM
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