Replace only after specific pattern

Question

I have lines like this:

$params["request_id_$i"] => $v["request_id_$i"];
$params["drug_name_$i"] => $v["drug_name"];

I want to replace all _ occuring after "=>" with "-". I am able to replace single "_" with following:

s/^.*=> \zs\(.\{-}\)_\(.\{-}\)$/\1-\2/g

But how to do it for multiple _ ?

Answer 1

The simplest way is to use a lookbehind assertion

s/\(=>.*\)\@<=_/-/g

This is telling vim to check backwards for => for each possible _ match.

Answer 2

It's not elegant, but it works:

:%s/=> \zs\(.*\)/\=substitute(submatch(1), '_', '-', 'g')/

I'm sure someone more talented with regexp than I am can find a way that doesn't require the use of a submatch and a second substitute.