VIM Search and replace contents between square brackets

Question

I need to replace contents in square bracket with \ while preserving the contents in the bracket.

eg : string

[.\*][.\*][.\*]

to be replaced with string

\\[.\*\\]\\[.\*\\][.*]

Given the following line :

abcdef[0][box][21] 

I need to replace it with

abcdef\\[0\\]\\[box\\][21]

Answer 1

VIM command search and replace all occurrence of [ ] to \[ \]:

syntax: %s/pattern/replacement/flags

Command

:%s/\(\[\|\]\)/\\\1/g

Pattern Explanation

:%s makes it work on the whole file, rather than just the current line.

\(\[\|\]\) :

• \( starting of group
• \[ escaped opening square bracket
• \| OR operator
• \] escaped closing square bracket
• \) end of pattern group

\\\1 : Replace previous captured group with \[ or \]

/g: Replace all occurrences in the line