How to search in beginning of line and add something at end of that line

Question

I want to search lines beginning with certain string in Vim, and then add something at the end of file. I have tried the following but it removed everything instead of appending

:%s/^12138/*something_at_end_of_file/g

This search all lines which begin with 12138 but it removes everything and add something_at_end_of_file

But I want to preserve actually string and add at end of line.

Answer 1

use the :g command:

:g/^12138/s/something-at-the-end$/something-new-at-the-end/

More information on :help :g

Answer 2

You may try this:

%s/\v^(12138.*)/\1something_at_end_of_line/g

That means:

%s substitute on all lines

/\v starts search pattern and uses very-magic mode, saves you from the need to escape everything (see :help \v)

^(12138.*) starting from the beginning of the line, find all text that starts with 12138 and is followed by anything else (.*) and put it into a group

/\1something_at_end_of_line/g replace the found patterns with the first group content and then add your text.

HTH

Answer 3

Another similar alternative: use :normal and Append in a :global command:

:g/^12138/norm!Asomething_at_the_end