re = /(?s)\s*\[[^\[\]]*\](?:(?:(?!\[[^\[\]]*\]).)+\[[^\[\]]*\])*\s*/
str = '$ cat smb
Hi this is my config file.
Please dont delete it
[homes]
browseable = No
comment = Your Home
create mode = 0640
csc policy = disable
directory mask = 0750
public = No
writeable = Yes
[proj]
browseable = Yes
comment = Project directories
csc policy = disable
path = /proj
public = No
writeable = Yes
[]
This last second line.
End of the line.'
subst = '\\n'
result = str.sub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html