Regular Expression (notepad++) insert, not replace

Question

In a regular expression (notepad++), I want to search for:( )|(:)|(_)|(\.), and to insert \ before to, as above, a blank space, colon, under line and ".".

Search example: abcd:1234 jiod.8ufd_adfd

Result: abcd\:1234\ jiod\.8ufd\_adfd

Briefly, how can I refer to what was found in the replace expression?

Note that it is not \1, \2, \3 or \4 in the example, as I need to include what was found, there is no way to know which was found, is there?

Do you mean you want to add a backslash before each colon, space dot or underscore? match [:\h._] and replace with a backslash and the full match \\$& regex101.com/r/Si6rHp/1 — The fourth bird
– The fourth bird, Commented Aug 17, 2020 at 15:41

The fourth bird · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-17 16:15:09Z

2

You can use a single character class (instead of using the alternation with capturing groups) to match one of the listed

In the replacement use $& to refer to the matched text and prepend a backslash.

Match

[:\h._]

Replace with

\\$&

The character class matches either a colon, horizontal whitespace char, dot or underscore.

Regex demo

edited Aug 17, 2020 at 16:15

answered Aug 17, 2020 at 15:50

The fourth bird

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Comments

Blindy · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-17 15:50:07Z

0

There's no such thing as insert, because if you think about it, inserting is just replacing the original with a new string that contains the old text as well.

Try this instead: search for ([ :_.]) (your original regex is pointlessly complicated) and replace with \\$1 (ie, slash followed by the original text).

answered Aug 17, 2020 at 15:50

Blindy

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