Using markup in Vale rule seems erratic

[daobrien]

I want to create a rule that tests something like this:

"Change into the /etc/conf directory." (but for any directory name. The goal is to s/into/to/)

I got as far as this, as a substitution rule:

"change in(?: )?to the (?:.*) directory": change to the **** directory

But, I'm finding that Vale doesn't pick up all the issues in our test files. E.g., if I include two almost identical test sentences it might only pick up one. It also behaves differently depending on where the sentences appear (I suspect because it is processing HTML and not AsciiDoc).

I've experimented with various placements of regexes, no regexes, etc., but as soon as I introduce (e.g.) /dir/name into the test file everything goes to pieces.

Just FYI the asterisks are there in the replacement string because Vale doesn't seem to support capture groups, or at least I haven't worked out how to do it. If you know how, please share. Thanks :-)

[daobrien]

I offer my test files to help anyone who might like to look at this:

Change into the `/etc` directory.

Within the home directory.

Change into the `/home/user` directory.
Change into the `/etc/X11` directory.

extends: substitution
message: "Use '%s' instead of '%s'."
#link: 'https://stylepedia.net/style/'
level: warning
ignorecase: true
action:
  name: replace
swap:
  different to: different from
  different than: different from
  "change in(?: )?to the (?:.*) directory": change to the **** directory
  "within the (?:.*)?repository": in the **** repository
  "within the (?:.*)?directory": in the **** directory

And the output when I run Vale over that test file:

/home/david/testing/hack-test.adoc
 3:1  warning  Use 'in the **** directory' instead of 'Within the home directory'.                  rht.prepositions 
 5:1  warning  Use 'change to the **** directory' instead of 'Change into the ******** directory'.  rht.prepositions

[jdkato]

If you need to match against markup syntax (e.g., words inside backticks here), you'll want to use scope: raw to bypass any markup processing.

[daobrien]

And just like that it works. Thanks so much. Now, I just need to get capture groups and substitution working... ;-)

[jdkato]

If you're referring to populating the %s specifiers with capture groups, that isn't supported.

[daobrien]

Yes, that's what I was referring to, and we're working around it for now. Perhaps one day in the future...

[jdkato]

Yes, it's certainly a useful idea. I've creating an issue for it here: #612