This pattern is very useful to me to get the count of a pattern in a vim file:
:%s/pattern//gn
How can I do a keymap so that I can simply invoke it + pattern while I'm in vim?
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You can use a mapping like this:
nnoremap S :%s///gn<LEFT><LEFT><LEFT><LEFT>
<LEFT> is the left arrow key which allows you to move your cursor in command line mode. This way you can press S + pattern and you are good to go.
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The idea comes from Damian's Conway. It does the job and works the same on every platform, I would say it's not that bad :) – statox♦ Mar 8 '18 at 9:03
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You should also be able to ask the user to type the pattern with <c-r>=input("What do you want to count?")<cr>.
But I don't find this approach very ergonomic, I avoid using input() as much as possible.
Instead, I have another approach: I've defined a Count command. In the end, I type :Cou<tab> <pattern><cr>.
It could be defined with the one-liner:
command! -nargs=1 -range=% Count
\ echo eval(join(map(getline(<line1>,<line2>), 'count(v:val, "<args>")'), '+'))
Or if you prefer to stick with s//gn ->
command! -nargs=1 -range=% Count keeppatterns <line1>,<line2>s/<args>//gn
(I prefer the solution with :echo as it leaves the search register unchanged, and as such it doesn't change what's highlighted when &hlsearch is set)
answered Mar 7 '18 at 18:15
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1Could use
:keeppatternswith your substitution to prevent the search register mutation. – Peter Rincker Mar 7 '18 at 19:11 -
@PeterRincker. Yes, you're right. The thing is I'm not completely used to it yet ^^' – Luc Hermitte Mar 7 '18 at 21:52
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1More seriously, in my plugins I often struggle to stay compatible with older versions of vim. As such, there are a few things that haven't entered yet in my everyday vocabulary. – Luc Hermitte Mar 7 '18 at 22:00
