vi question 1

[kasparov]

If I do this:

:1,$s/ *//

It deletes the first instance of (any number of) repeated spaces on any line in my file.

Is there a way to say "delete the first instance of 10 (only) repeated spaces" on a line? (Without doing

:1,$s/ //

- i.e. just entering 10 spaces). I'd like to do this for sometimes 40 or more spaces & I'm likely to miscount my spaces!

Thanks, Chris

 

[columb]

Try

:%s/ {10}//

P.S. I haven't tested it, but it should work.

Ceci n'est pas une signature
Columb Healy

 

[kasparov]

Columb - Unfortunately it doesn't work (for me anyway).

I'm actually working in Vim but could FTP the file to Unix if I needed to. In Vim I get:
E486: Pattern not found: {10}

On my Solaris box (running ksh) I get:
Substitute pattern match failed.

Any other ideas? You've given me something to go on though & I'll search for solutions.

Thanks, Chris

 

[columb]

Hmm...
I was asuming that the sed commands would translate to vi, obviously they don't in this case.
Ah.. got it

%s/ \{10\}//

Tested on vi on AIX 4.3

Ceci n'est pas une signature
Columb Healy

 

[kasparov]

Many thanks Columb