Re: Problem with simple regex

Hi Niels!

On Mo, 14 Sep 2015, Niels Kobschaetzki wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have a problem with a substitution with a simple regex. I want to
> change occurrences of page numbers and years that are using a hyphen, to
> an en-dash. Something like "308-309" should become "308--309".
> My best try so far is:
>
> :s/\d-\d/\1--\2
>
> But this creates 30--09. My understanding is that \1 and \2 keep the
> value of the content of \d. Apparently not for whatever reason. What can
> I do to get this replacement working?

The \d only captures a single digit. You want to capture as many digits
as possible, so use \d\+ and to remember them as \1 and \2 you need to
put that into a group, e.g. \(\d\+\)
So your substitution should look like this:

:%s/\(\d\+\)-\(\d\+\)/\1--\2/g

Best,
Christian
--
Das einzig Gute an Lichterketten: Mit Kerzen in den Händen kann man
nicht klatschen.
-- Volker Pispers

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