~ / ex / global-and-sortlesson 5/7

Matching lines: :g, :v and :sort

Run a command on every line that matches (or doesn't), and sort lines.

?how it works

:g/pattern/command runs an Ex command on every line that matches pattern; :v/pattern/command (same as :g!) runs it on every line that doesn't.

:g/console/d deletes every line mentioning console
:v/error/d keeps only the error lines
:g/^$/d deletes empty lines (^$ is "start, then end")
:g/^/m0 reverses the file: each line in turn moves to the top
:g/TODO/t$ copies every TODO line to the end; :g/pat/normal A; runs Normal-mode keys

:g first marks all the matching lines and only then runs the command on each one, so deleting or moving lines as it goes is safe.

:sort sorts the lines of the file (or a range like '<,'>). Add flags: u drops duplicate lines, n sorts by the first number in each line, ! reverses the order.

Like /, a lowercase pattern also matches capitals here: this editor turns on 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase', as many Neovim configs do.

⌨keys

`:g/{pattern}/d`	delete every matching line
`:v/{pattern}/d`	delete every line that does not match
`:g/^/m0`	reverse the order of the lines
`:g/{pattern}/t$`	copy every matching line to the end
`:sort`	sort lines
`:sort u`	sort and drop duplicates
`:sort n`	sort by the first number
`:sort!`	sort in reverse

4 drills

Delete the noise: Delete every line that the target no longer has, with one :g/pattern/d. Pick a short pattern that only those lines contain.
Keep only the matches: Keep only the lines that match a pattern and delete all the others, with :v/pattern/d.
Move and copy with :g: Combine :g with :m or :t to rearrange lines: :g/^/m0 reverses the file, :g/pat/m$ moves matches to the end, :g/pat/t$ copies them there.
Sort lines: Sort the lines into the order of the target with :sort and the right flag, if any: u (unique), n (by number) or ! (reverse).

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