Duplicate single char with the shortest keys combinations

Question

Lets say I have "string" and I want to dupplicate the double quotes. What is the shortest way to do it?.

I have done a search of double quotes using /". Then I navigate to the different occurences using n command and I apply this sequence of commands: xPP

I know this can be done also using these commands: xPp or xP.

Excluding macros and function definitions, is there a shorter key combination to achieve that?

Answer 1

I would do:

1. /" to search for the character
2. yl to copy the character
3. p to paste the character
4. then alternate between n and . to search and replace

Answer 2

If you don't mind using the plugin vim-surround it can be as short as ysa"":

• Put your cursor on the word you want to surround
• ys is the vim surround command
• a" is the text object to operate on, it could also be aW
• " is the character you want to use to surround the text object

And as a bonus you can to the reverse operation i.e removing the surrounding quotes with ds"

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Without a plugin I would go for :s/"[^"]\+"/"&"

• "[^"]\+" allows you to capture a quote followed by any number of characters other than " followed by "
• "&" here & is a reference to the whole matched text which as to be surrounded by two quotes.