On Sat 25-Nov-06 2:17pm -0600, you wrote:
> On 11/25/06, Bill McCarthy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> let a = 'a\b'
>> echo substitute(a,'\','/','')
> Backslash is special not only for "...". It is special in regex.
> Thus when you want to match literal [\] in regex inside
> '', you double it:
> echo substitute(a,'\\','/','')
Right, I need to think of the two operations, how the single
or double quote deals with the backslash AND how the result
is treated as a regex.
But the example I gave:
echo substitute(a,'\','/','')
actually works. The regex process appears to treat a single
backslash as a special case - it treats it like a pair of
backslashes.
On the other hand, if I want to replace \b with /b then,
using a literal, I clearly need that second backslash:
echo substitute(a,'\\b','/b','')
Likewise, if I want to eliminate an embedded <CR>, I can use
any of '\n', "\n" or "\\n" as the pattern of a substitute().
[The first and third pass on a literal \n which is
translated by the regex process. The second passes on a
literal EOL with is used by the regex process without
translation.]
Thanks!
--
Best regards,
Bill
