In IntelliJ IDEA how do I replace text with a new line?

Mastering replacements using Regex

Let's dive deeper into using Regex with the Replace function.

Real-world examples of text replacement

Situation 1: Converting CSV data to multiline text

If you need to turn a CSV file into mulitiline text, here's how:

• Find: ,
• Replace with: \\n

Situation 2: Adding extra line breaks

Want to double space your lines? Here, \\n becomes \\n\\n:

• Find: \\n
• Replace with: \\n\\n

Boost productivity with keyboard shortcuts

IntelliJ IDEA's wide range of keyboard shortcuts can significantly speed up your text replacement tasks:

• On a Mac, the shortcut combo ⌘-shift-enter is like vim's \r function, which essentially corresponds to \n with Regex in a Unix environment.
• Ctrl+Shift+F is your universal remote for text across all files. For text in the current file, Ctrl+F is your friend. Once done, hit Ctrl+R to replace.

Replacing special characters with Regex

Regex allows you to replace more than just simple text. Here are a few examples of special character replacements:

• Tabs -> Spaces: Find: \\t Replace with:
• Spaces before period -> Newline before period: Find: \\. Replace with: \\n.

When using Regex, remember that not all characters are equal; escape those that have special meanings! After all, we're coding, not playing hide and seek.😉

Advanced text manipulations

IntelliJ IDEA supports Regex for complex text manipulations:

• For conditional line breaks, use positive lookaheads or lookbehinds within your regex to add new lines only under certain conditions.
• With capturing groups (parentheses), catch and release parts of the matched text in the replace field using $1, $2, etc. Who says fishing is only a weekend activity?