Let's say I have some code:
divide(int x) { int a = 0; a += x; } subtract(int x) { int b = 0; b += x; } multiply(int x) { int c = 0; c += x; } I'm using VIM and I'd like to be able to search and replace each instance of += with {'/=', '-=', '*='} in that order, using the vim command line. I'd like to use :%s/+=/..., but I'm not sure how.
I also thought about using python in vim like this, but I would prefer a simpler solution entirely in VIM, if possible.
If all of your += occur on different lines:
:let c=0 | g/\m+=/ s!\m+=!\=['/=', '-=', '*='][c%3]! | let c+=1 If there might be more than one += on the same line:
:fu! Cycle() | let c+=1 | return ['/=', '-=', '*='][c%3] | endf :let c=-1 | %s/\m+=/\=Cycle()/g References:
:h :global:h s/\=
Here is a shorter variant of @SatoKatsura's answer. It first defines a List of replacements, then uses a :help sub-replace-expression to remove the first element of the list.
:let replacements = ['/=', '-=', '*='] | %s#+=#\=remove(replacements, 0)# If there are more than 3 replacements, and you want repeating of the replacements, use this:
:let replacements = ['/=', '-=', '*='] | %s#+=#\=add(replacements, remove(replacements, 0))[-1]# 
remove() returns the element that is removed from the pre-populated list. So, each substitution removes (and uses) one element from the list. The second variant prevents that the list gets empty by re-adding each element again.