~ / neovim / repeat-substitutelesson 6/7

&: repeat the last substitution

Run your last :s again on another line, flags and all.

?how it works

After a :s on one line, move somewhere else and press & to run the same substitution there: same pattern, same replacement and, in Neovim, the same flags. & is mapped to :&&, and the second & means "keep the flags". So a :s/;/,/g repeated with & still replaces every match on the line, not just the first.

A count turns into a range, like it does for any : command: 3& repeats the substitution on this line and the two below. You can also give :&& a range yourself, for example :%&& for the whole file. Plain :& (one ampersand) repeats it without the flags.

Mnemonic: & means "and again".

⌨keys

`&`	repeat the last :s on this line, keeping its flags (:&&)nvim
`{count}&`	repeat it on count lines from the cursornvim
`:[range]&&`	repeat the last :s on a range, keeping its flags
`:[range]&`	repeat the last :s without its flags

Nin neovim

In Vim, & is the same as :s, which forgets the flags, so the g would be lost. Neovim maps & to :&&<CR> (:h &-default).

2 drills

Same change, another line: Run the substitution on the first line (it needs the g flag), then repeat it on the other line that needs it with &. Leave the middle line alone.
A count makes a range: Run the substitution on the first line, then repeat it on the last three lines with one counted &. The comment lines stay as they are.

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