How to use query-replace(-regexp) non-(semi-)interactively in a command?

Question

The title isn't entirely accurate. By "non-interactively" I mean, for lack of a better term, "semi-interactively". In a regular call through M-% or M-x query-replace, the command could be called interactive in two ways: 1) by giving the string to replace and the replacement 2) by choosing one by one which matches to replace. The idea is to skip the former step by giving fixed arguments (string-to-replace and replacement-string), but to keep the latter interactive query behavior.

Often a queried search & replace task needs to be repeated over time (i.e. search and replace the same strings) so the obvious next step is to write a simple command, for example, to create a fix-two-or-more-spaces command replacing " \\{2,\\}" with a single space. How to achieve this? Must admit I got a little intimidated by perform-replace...

Answer 1

OK, this is rather crude but got it to work. (Went lazy on the names.) Suggestions welcome!

;; Main function. A wrapper around ‘perform-replace’
(defun alt-query-replace-wrapper (to-replace replacement is-regexp)
  (apply 'perform-replace to-replace replacement t is-regexp nil nil nil
         ;; Last argument as a list for ‘apply’.
         (and (use-region-p)
              ;; Do replacements only on region or rectangle, if
              ;; there's one.
              (list (region-beginning)
                    (region-end)
                    nil
                    (region-noncontiguous-p)))))

;; An example command
(defun fix-two-or-more-blank-spaces ()
  (interactive)
  (alt-query-replace-wrapper " \\{2,\\}" " " t))