RE: Regexp: match any character including newline

[Drew Adams]

> “.” needs to match any character including newline.
> I know the obvious solution: instead of “.”, use the following
> monstrosity:
>
> \(?:.\|
> \)
> 
> However, I find that very cumbersome to type, especially since I
> have to press C-q C-j in between.
> 
> Is there a way to make “.” match newline too, or is there an easier
> way to match any character including newline?

1. I and others have requested this for vanilla Emacs a few times,
as a user toggle.  E.g.:

* http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2006-03/msg00162.html
* http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2006-03/msg00476.html
* http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2006-11/msg01559.html
* http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2006-12/msg00115.html

2. In Icicles at least, you can use `C-M-.' to toggle what `.'
represents in the minibuffer (i.e., for most interactive use).  When
`.' matches also a newline, it appears as `.' in the minibuffer, but
the actual regexp used under the covers is "\(.\|[
]\)".  (When this is the case, it is also highlighted, so you can tell.)

IOW, when newline is also being matched by `.', this propertized string
is inserted in the minibuffer when you type `.':

#("\\(.\\|[
]\\)" 0 10 (face highlight display "."))

Not the ideal solution (hence the requests cited), but handy enough.