Replace across a whole block of text, literally or by regular expression, with the capture groups available in the replacement.
The result appears hereWhen the thing you are replacing varies: a version number, a path with a changing segment, a whole line matching a shape. For a plain string leave it off and nothing needs escaping.
Yes, in regex mode: $1 and $2 for the capture groups, $& for the whole match. That is how you rewrite an import rather than just deleting it.
No. It works on the text in the pane and gives you the result to copy back, so nothing happens to anything on disk.