I've the following content:
group1
item1
item2
item3
group2
item4
item5
group3
item6
where I'd like to select all items which belong to group2 using a search range.
Here is my approach:
:/group2\n\zs/;,/^\ze\S/p
however it seems the \ze doesn't take any effect, because this is what is printed:
item4
item5
group3
I expect only item4 and item5 to be printed, without ending pattern (group3).
How do I exclude the ending pattern then?
I could be wrong but I think the atom \ze does take effect, it just doesn't prevent Vim to find a match on the group3 line.
It's an empty match since you write \ze just after the anchor ^ which excludes everything afterwards. But even if it's empty, it's still something, the beginning of the line.
Maybe you could use an offset:
:/group2\n\zs/;,/^\ze\S/- p
^
|___ minus sign, to decrease the line address by one
My approach
:g/group2/+1,/group3/-1p
,is redundant btw. You could get the effect you want by changing^to\nin the second pattern, but you might be better off with offsets (e.g.:/^group2/+;/^group/-p) as noted in the accepted answer.