~ / search / offsetslesson 6/7

Offsets and match edges: /e, \zs, \ze

Land on the end of a match, past it, below it, or on just part of it.

?how it works

After the pattern you can add an offset, separated by another /. /port/e puts the cursor on the end of the match instead of its start. e+1 is one character past the end, s-1 (or b-1) one before the start, and a plain number moves whole lines: /Usage/+1 lands at the start of the line below. n and N remember the offset, and //e reuses the last pattern with a new one.

With an operator, the e offset makes the motion include the last character: d/end/e deletes through "end". A line offset makes the motion linewise.

\zs and \ze are the in-pattern version: they mark where the match starts and ends, so the rest of the pattern is just context. /key = \zs\d\+ lands on the number, not on "key". /\v\(\zs[^)]+\ze\) highlights what's inside parentheses, without the parentheses.

e and . make a great pair: /cfg/e<CR>a...<Esc> appends to one match, then n. repeats it on the next one.

⌨keys

`/{pat}/e`	cursor on the last character of the match
`/{pat}/e+{n}`	{n} characters past the end (e-{n}: before it)
`/{pat}/s-{n}`	{n} characters before the start (also b-{n}, s+{n})
`/{pat}/+{n}`	start of the line {n} lines below the match (-{n}: above)
`//e`	last pattern again, with a new offset
`\zs`	pattern: the match starts here
`\ze`	pattern: the match ends here

3 drills

Append at the end of each match: Expand the short word to the long one wherever the target shows it. Use a search with the e offset, append, then n and .. Skip the one that stays.
Land just past some context: The value under the target also appears earlier. Land on the target with one search, using the text before it as context.
The line below with /pat/+1: Land at the start of the line below a line you can search for, with one search and a line offset.

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