In Eclipse, how do I replace a character by a new line?

Question

In Eclipse 3.3.2, I would like to replace a character (say ',') by a new line in a file. What should I write in the "Replace with" box in order to do so ?

EDIT : Many answers seems to be for Eclipse 3.4. Is there a solution for Eclipse 3.3.X ?

David Pierre · Accepted Answer · 2008-10-01T08:46:31.920

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Check box 'Regular Expressions' and use '\R' in the 'Replace with' box

It's a new feature introduced with Eclipse 3.4, See What's New in 3.4

edited Oct 01 '08 at 08:46

answered Oct 01 '08 at 08:35

David Pierre

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Check if Eclipse value assistance in the Replace with box offers you \R as a possibility, if it doesn't your Eclipse version doesn't handle it – David Pierre Oct 01 '08 at 08:43
I'm on version 3.3.2 and, the assistance doesn't show me that value. – paulgreg Oct 01 '08 at 08:44
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This has bugged me for years. I can't believe I never took the time to google how to do it (which of course brought me here.) – corsiKa Jan 31 '12 at 17:53
You saved my as minimum 15 minutes – Jun 12 '13 at 15:46
Eclipse.org have stopped hosting that archived release. I found it online here: http://www.helpml.com:8088/help/index.jsp?topic=/org.eclipse.platform.doc.user/whatsNew/platform_whatsnew.html (click on **Search** in the Table of contents) – Sam Hasler Sep 21 '15 at 10:03
With the `Find/Replace` dialog open and in focus, press `F1` to bring up a context sensitive help popup and then click on the link to `Find/Replace with regular expressions` to see all the supported escape sequences. – Sam Hasler Sep 21 '15 at 10:31
I am using Eclipse 4.25, and as suggested by @user9796835, I have to **search** with the `Regular expression` option **selected** (i.e. ticked) in order to **enable** the `Regular expression` option when I _subsequently_ select the `Replace` option(s). – Harry Mantheakis Feb 07 '23 at 13:21

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 01 '08 at 08:41

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Check box 'Regular Expressions' and use '\n' in the 'Replace with' box

answered Oct 01 '08 at 08:41

Liam

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Yes, I tried that first but it is not working on my eclipse (3.3.2). – paulgreg Oct 01 '08 at 08:45
This worked for netbeans – Orbiting Eden Jan 05 '23 at 18:20

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 01 '17 at 12:25

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Like the others said, just use regular expression, but instead of just \r, put \r\n

answered Jun 01 '17 at 12:25

emersonblima

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 15 '18 at 21:35

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if the file search is performed with Regular Expressions checkbox checked, then replace all / replace selected will also allow regular expression and will transform \n to a newline in the file(s)

answered May 15 '18 at 21:35

user9796835

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score 0 · Answer 5 · edited May 26 '15 at 23:15

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I've just found an article about that problem. It seems to be a bug.

There's a workaround which is to copy a new line in clipboard and then paste it inside the "replace" box.

edited May 26 '15 at 23:15

Andy Jarrett

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answered Oct 01 '08 at 08:40

paulgreg

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I don't even understand what the workaround is supposed to be – David Pierre Oct 01 '08 at 08:51
You'll have to select the "new line character" by clicking on the last character's line and move the mouse before the first character on the next line. I indeed select something but I'm not able to paste it in the replace box. – paulgreg Oct 01 '08 at 09:07
Managed to paste using right click menu, but the replace won't insert newlines. – David Pierre Oct 01 '08 at 09:12
invalid link on the answer – Siddharth Sep 17 '17 at 13:42

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 12 '11 at 18:50

I'm using Helios and it works, however I had some issues with replacement... I wanted to place a line break between any of these brackets "><" (to make each new XML tag go to a new line)... first I had to place a chacter between the 2 brackets, for instance /r, after this i checked the "regular expressions" box and replaced the /r with \R, which resulted in the correct linebreak. otherwise, the replace seemed to be greyed out.

In Eclipse, how do I replace a character by a new line?

6 Answers6

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