emacs string-insert-rectangle vector of numbers?

Question

How can I use emacs string-insert-rectangle operation to add a vector of numbers to a series of lines? For example, I\'ve got this shortened version of a bunch of text entri

Answer 1

You can use query-replace-regexp directly, by adding a new column with the match count \#.

The matches look for 3 columns separated by spaces, which will be stored in submatch strings \1 to \3. The replaced string adds a new column using the match count.

Version 1 (simpler, but starts at 0):

M-x query-replace-regexp RET
^\(\w+\)\ +\(\w+\)\ +\(\w+\)$ RET
\1 \2 id\# \3 RET

Note I used spaces for matching and replacing. You can use tabs instead.

Version 2 (uses lisp to customize the row count with the +1 function):

M-x query-replace-regexp RET
^\(\w+\)\ +\(\w+\)\ +\(\w+\)$ RET
\,(format "%s %s id%d %s" \1 \2 (+1 \#) \3) RET