Emacs replace-regexp reference the match in the replace argument

Question

Is there an easy way to use replace-regexp to do something like:

XYZ001
XYZ002
XYZ003

to

'XYZ001'
'XYZ002'
'XYZ003'

i.e. replace-regexp XYZ* 'XYZ*'

Is replace-regexp the the wrong tool for the job? Or is there some special regex syntax to replace with the item that was matched?

Answer 1

replace-regexp is perfect for the job. You could also use query-replace-regexp, which is more visual.

You want to replace XYZ\(...\) with 'XYZ\1'.
Explanation:
. stands for a single character, you could also use [0-9] if you know it is a number.
\( and \) groups those 3 characters in between and saves them.
\1 recalls the saved character group number one.

For more regular expression info, you can have a look at the emacs wiki.

Edit: If your string is on an entire line you could use ^XYZ\(...\)$ as search string.
^ means beginning of line. $ means end of line.

You can use '\&' as replace string. The \& replaces the entire match, which was found.

Answer 2

In stock Emacs, I would break it into two steps.

Step 1: Insert leading quote

Define a (empty) rectangle consisting of the start of each line. Replace the contents of that (empty) rectangle with a '.

1. At the top of the block, press C-<SPC> to set mark
2. Navigate to the beginning of the last line
3. Use C-x r t (string-rectangle) to insert a ' to each of the lines defined in the rectangle

Step2: Insert a trailing quote

Define a region and replace all line endings in the region with a '.

1. Navigate to the end of the last line with C-e
2. Set mark with C-<SPC>
3. Navigate to the beginning of the first line
4. Call M-x replace-regexp with $ for the end of the line and ' to replace the end of the line with a trailing quote

What I do in my day-to-day is use evil with evil-surround. In that case, it simply becomes ysiw'. The ys is the evil-surround command used to operate on a text object iw (i.e. inner word). The quote is then what you surround the inner word with. Altogether, I think of it as "you surround inner word (with) quote".