I try to substitute the text:
abc def ghi
and delete the third word:
For this I use:
.s:\(\w+ \w+\) \w+:\1/
following this tutorial: 4.5 Grouping and Backreferences
Unfortunately when I execute this command I get
E486: Pattern not found: \(\w+ \w+\) w+
Any idea what I’m doing wrong?
>Solution :
The Quantifier, +, Needs to be Escaped
Your pattern is fine, it is just that you need to escape your quantifier, +.
You had this:
.s:\(\w+ \w+\) \w+:\1/
Change it to this:
.s:\(\w\+ \w\+\) \w\+:\1/
When in doubt, look it up in Vim’s help files.
:help pattern /notice section 3 covers magic and section 5 covers quantifiers/
Some people like using magic which reduce the amount of escaping. You might want to peruse this.