I'm trying to figure out how to use Regex to merge the contents of my text file
(25 lines of data) into one line.
So far, I can get Notepad++ to successfully find the lines I'm looking for by making it search for (^) , but what I'm unsure of is what is what to replace it with.
Syntax-wise I'm looking for the correct script that essentially attaches the beginning of one line to the end of the previous one. Can anyone help? Thanks
Find \R and replace with empty string.
\R matches multiple linebreak styles, including most common \r\n and \n.
Search Mode must be set to Regular expression.
Highlight the lines you want to join (or use Ctrl + A to select everything)
Choose Edit → Line Operations → Join Lines from the menu or press Ctrl + J.
It will put in spaces automatically if necessary to prevent words from getting stuck together
As an alternative you can
press Ctrl+H
In Search Mode pick Extended
Find - \r\n Replace - leave it empty.
^ is an anchor, that means it does not match characters (it matches the position after a \n, or the the start of the string). So nothing to replace.
If you need to use regex (aelors answer sounds good => +1), then
[\n\r]+
and replace with nothing or a space, according to your needs.
You can replace
[\r\n]+
with an empty string (or replace \n+ if you know your newlines are \n)
You can do the following:
Highlight all the lines you wish to join, then click "Ctrl" + "J"
I want to replace two lines with other lines in Notepad++.
The main problem is that I am not able to copy all the lines which should be replaced. Only the first line is inserted in the "Replace with:" input field if I paste all lines in the field. It seems that the line break is not correctly copied.
Selecting the lines (with the line break) which should be inserted in the "Find what:" field is quite easy because I can select them in the document and simply hit "CTRL + H".
What to do? Please no solutions how it could work with command line tools.
Regards
Albeit a bit late for an answer, I think it's OK.
You can not search for a multi line string in Notepad++ using the normal search mode.You should use the extended search mode instead.
You just have to escape the new lines.What's best, you can use Notepad++ to prepare the escaped text to be searched and replaced.
I assume you are using windows text files meaning the new line is represented with \r\n
To achieve what you want:
1.
Create a new document and paste your multiline text to be replaced
Do a replace on it using the extended search mode. Find what: \r\n Replace With:\\r\\n
The result will be your "Find what" string.
2.
Create a new document and paste your multiline replacement text
Do a replace on it using the extended search mode. Find what: \r\n Replace With:\\r\\n
The result will be your "Replace with" string.
3.
Now that you have your escaped data, do a Replace on all the open documents using the extended search mode AND the results from the previous steps.
Hope this helps.
None of these suggestions are acceptable! TextFX's Ctrl+R replace plugin falls way short.
What EVERYONE wants, everyone that wants to perform a replacement of multiline blocks of text with another multiline block of text, is this...
2 large text boxes:
Find This:
This is line one
This is LIKE two
This is line TREE
Replace with This:
This is line 1
This is line 2
This is line 3
A checkbox for "All Open Documents"
And/Or...
Option for "Find-Replace in all Files of Type"
Then a GO button............
How hard could that be to create in Notepad++? It was done way back in 1998, a freeware utility called Search-Replace 98.
UPDATE:
The plugin suggested by numediaweb DOES EXACTLY what I needed! Hats off to numediaweb for the tip and standing applause for paul at phdesign!
ToolBucket multi-line search plugin for Notepad++
http://www.phdesign.com.au/programming/toolbucket-multi-line-search-plugin-for-notepad/
ToolBucket contains the following features:
Multi-line search and replace dialog.
Change indentation dialog.
Generate GUID
Generate Lorem Ipsum
Compute MD5 Hash
Compute SHA1 Hash
Base 64 encode
Base 64 decode
Download
The latest version is available here:
https://github.com/phdesign/NppToolBucket/downloads
For regular expressions you can use Ctrl-R, aka TextFX -> TextFX Quick -> Find/Replace.
If not check this plugin, it does what you want!
Based on the response of Nikanos Polykarpou below is my...
Notepad++ - Replace by a multiple lines string
Select the string to replace (can have multiple lines).
Follow...
Ctrl+h -> Replace (tab) -> Enable "Extended (\n, \r, \t, \0, \x...)"
... in "Replace with:" enter a string to do the replace with "\r\n" (if Windows) instead of real line breaks as this example...
"model" "models/aztec100500/flo_grass.mdl"\r\n"framerate" "10"\r\n"angles" "0 30 0"\r\n"classname" "cycler_sprite"
... do the replace!
I have a dataset that looks like this:
1 -0.151714363660730E+03 0.681572558518519E+02
-0.147787110884357E+03 0.702453634941157E+02
-0.147765104000000E+03 0.702198060000000E+02
-0.147681722000000E+03 0.701999540000000E+02
-0.147648000000000E+03 0.702032990000000E+02
-0.147585678000000E+03 0.702033980000000E+02
-0.147505270000000E+03 0.702003840000000E+02
-0.147431532000000E+03 0.701888260000000E+02
-0.147402283000000E+03 0.701852730000000E+02
how can I use find and replace in notepad++ to put all the data on one line
The general algorithm:
Switch to advanced search mode
Replace all \r\n to space
Replace all \n to space
Switch to RegExp search mode
Replace \s+ to space
*HINTS:
depending on encoding of the endline symbol point 2 or 3 can be excluded.
I don't have English version of notepad++, and my translation of search modes could be incorrect.
Hey, and now where is the part about single space delimiter?
If you do not need it, just remove steps 4-5.
Press ctrl+h
Select 'extended'
Replace all \r\n with `` (CR+LF line endings)
Replace all \n with `` (LF line endings)
My first idea would be only a simple search and replace with this params:
from: " "
to: " "
But it's trivial, and I assume it wouldn't work, just because you asked this question. I don't know anything about your files, but there is another way to complete tasks like this using Notepad++.
You can use "Macros" very simply. You have to click to the "Recording Macros" button (Macros menu), and show a repeatable solution only for 1 line. After that you can stop the recording, and with Ctrl+Shift+P you can repeat it very quickly. It's a very useful and general solution, since i've found it I use it all the time to solve this kind of problems.
I'm trying to add a macro/command to Textmate for some file cleanup and the last tidbit I haven't figured out is simply to remove blank lines from the beginning and end of a file -- does anyone know how to do this? I know some Textmate or regex trick must exist, just not sure what...
For the tasks you mentioned, you can use built-in commands from the "Text" Bundle.
Even if you just want to script your own, i would suggest using these as templates for your own efforts.
To access these:
Removing Trailing Spaces:
ctrl-cmd-t to bring up the context-sensitive Bundle menu
begin typing "remove trailing",
before you finish "remove", you
should see the "Remove Trailing
Spaces" Command move to the top of
the menu (this Command is in the
"Text" Bundle, one of the Bundles
included with the TextMate )
"enter" will execute the command
(assume the cursor is positioned
correctly, etc.)
Alternatively, you can access this Command using a key equivalent, but since one is not assigned in the default TextMate installation, you'll need to assign it yourself, which is simple to do:
ctrl-alt-cmd-b to bring up the
Bundle Editor
find the Text Bundle then click on
the "Remove Trailing Spaces" Command
In the upper right-hand-side of the
Editor, toggle "Settings" and enter
either a key equivalent or a "tab
trigger" (which is activated by
entering some key combination you
assigned followed by the tab key.
Remove Leading Spaces:
This one's a macro rather than a command. It's probably easiest to access it via it's pre-configured key-equivalent, which is cmd-del
This regex will remove the whitespace at the beginning of the file
Find ^[\r\n\t ]+ and replace with (nothing).
And this one will remove the whitespace at the end
Find [\r\n\t ]+$ and replace with (nothing).
I've never used Textmate regular expressions. There can be a \s (whitespace) class you can use instead of [\r\n\t ]. Also, you might need to turn multi-line mode on, if there is one.
to match use the following regEx
^[ ]+|[ ]+$
and replace it by empty sting("")
How can I find/replace all CR/LF characters in Notepad++?
I am looking for something equivalent to the ^p special character in Microsoft Word.
[\r\n]+ should work too
Update March, 26th 2012, release date of Notepad++ 6.0:
OMG, it actually does work now!!!
Original answer 2008 (Notepad++ 4.x) - 2009-2010-2011 (Notepad++ 5.x)
Actually no, it does not seem to work with regexp...
But if you have Notepad++ 5.x, you can use the 'extended' search mode and look for \r\n. That does find all your CRLF.
(I realize this is the same answer than the others, but again, 'extended mode' is only available with Notepad++ 4.9, 5.x and more)
Since April 2009, you have a wiki article on the Notepad++ site on this topic:
"How To Replace Line Ends, thus changing the line layout".
(mentioned by georgiecasey in his/her answer below)
Some relevant extracts includes the following search processes:
Simple search (Ctrl+F), Search Mode = Normal
You can select an EOL in the editing window.
Just move the cursor to the end of the line, and type Shift+Right Arrow.
or, to select EOL with the mouse, start just at the line end and drag to the start of the next line; dragging to the right of the EOL won't work.
You can manually copy the EOL and paste it into the field for Unix files (LF-only).
Simple search (Ctrl+F), Search Mode = Extended
The "Extended" option shows \n and \r as characters that could be matched.
As with the Normal search mode, Notepad++ is looking for the exact character.
Searching for \r in a UNIX-format file will not find anything, but searching for \n will. Similarly, a Macintosh-format file will contain \r but not \n.
Simple search (Ctrl+F), Search Mode = Regular expression
Regular expressions use the characters ^ and $ to anchor the match string to the beginning or end of the line. For instance, searching for return;$ will find occurrences of "return;" that occur with no subsequent text on that same line. The anchor characters work identically in all file formats.
The '.' dot metacharacter does not match line endings.
[Tested in Notepad++ 5.8.5]: a regular expression search with an explicit \r or \n does not work (contrary to the Scintilla documentation).
Neither does a search on an explicit (pasted) LF, or on the (invisible) EOL characters placed in the field when an EOL is selected.
Advanced search (Ctrl+R) without regexp
Ctrl+M will insert something that matches newlines. They will be replaced by the replace string.
I recommend this method as the most reliable, unless you really need to use regex.
As an example, to remove every second newline in a double spaced file, enter Ctrl+M twice in the search string box, and once in the replace string box.
Advanced search (Ctrl+R) with Regexp.
Neither Ctrl+M, $ nor \r\n are matched.
The same wiki also mentions the Hex editor alternative:
Type the new string at the beginning of the document.
Then select to view the document in Hex mode.
Select one of the new lines and hit Ctrl+H.
While you have the Replace dialog box up, select on the background the new replacement string and Ctrl+C copy it to paste it in the Replace with text input.
Then Replace or Replace All as you wish.
Note: the character selected for new line usually appears as 0a.
It may have a different value if the file is in Windows Format. In that case you can always go to Edit -> EOL Conversion -> Convert to Unix Format, and after the replacement switch it back and Edit -> EOL Conversion -> Convert to Windows Format.
It appears that this is a FAQ, and the resolution offered is:
Simple search (Ctrl+H) without regexp
You can turn on View/Show End of Line
or view/Show All, and select the now
visible newline characters. Then when
you start the command some characters
matching the newline character will be
pasted into the search field. Matches
will be replaced by the replace
string, unlike in regex mode.
Note 1: If you select them with the
mouse, start just before them and drag
to the start of the next line.
Dragging to the end of the line won't
work.
Note 2: You can't copy and paste
them into the field yourself.
Advanced search (Ctrl+R) without regexp
Ctrl+M will insert something that matches newlines. They will be replaced by the replace string.
On the Replace dialog, you want to set the search mode to "Extended". Normal or Regular Expression modes wont work.
Then just find "\r\n" (or just \n for unix files or just \r for mac format files), and set the replace to whatever you want.
I've not had much luck with \r\n regular expressions from the find/replace window.
However, this works in Notepad++ v4.1.2:
Use the "View | Show end of line" menu to enable display of end of line characters.
(Carriage return line feeds should show up as a single shaded CRLF 'character'.)
Select one of the CRLF 'characters' (put the cursor just in front of one, hold down the SHIFT key, and then pressing the RIGHT CURSOR key once).
Copy the CRLF character to the clipboard.
Make sure that you don't have the find or find/replace dialog open.
Open the find/replace dialog.
The 'Find what' field shows the contents of the clipboard: in this case the CRLF character - which shows up as 2 'box characters' (presumably it's an unprintable character?)
Ensure that the 'Regular expression' option is OFF.
Now you should be able to count, find, or replace as desired.
Image with CRLF
Image without CRLF
The way I found it to work is by using the Replace function, and using "\n", with the "Extended" mode. I'm using version 5.8.5.
In 2013, v6.13 or later, use:
Menu Edit → EOL Conversion → Windows Format.
To find any kind of a line break sequence use the following regex construct:
\R
To find and select consecutive line break sequences, add + after \R: \R+.
Make sure you turn on Regular expression mode:
It matches:
U+000DU+000A -CRLF` sequence
U+000A - LINE FEED, LF
U+000B - LINE TABULATION, VT
U+000C - FORM FEED, FF
U+000D - CARRIAGE RETURN, CR
U+0085 - NEXT LINE, NEL
U+2028 - LINE SEPARATOR
U+2029 - PARAGRAPH SEPARATOR
Assuming it has a "regular expressions" search, look for \r\n. I prefer \r?\n, because some files don't use carriage returns.
EDIT: Thanks for the feedback, whoever voted this down. I have learned that... well, nothing, because you provided no feedback. Why is this wrong?
Use the advanced search option (Ctrl + R) and use the keyboard shortcut for CRLF (Ctrl + M) to insert a carriage return.
If you need to do a complex regexp replacement including \r\n, you can workaround the limitation by a three-step approach:
Replace all \r\n by a tag, let's say #GO# → Check 'Extended', replace \r\n by #GO#
Perform your regexp, example removing multiline ICON="*" from an html bookmarks → Check regexp, replace ICON=.[^"]+.> by >
Put back \r\n → Check 'Extended', replace #GO# by \r\n
Go to View--> Show symbol-->Show all character
// Its worked for me
Make this setting. Menu-> View-> Show Symbol-> uncheck Show End of the Line
I opened the file in Notepad++ and did a replacement in a few steps:
Replace all "\r\n" with " \r\n"
Replace all "; \r\n" with "\r\n"
Replace all " \r\n" with " "
This puts all the breaks where they should be and removes those that are breaking up the file.
It worked for me.
I was totally unable to do this in NP v6.9.
I found it easy enough on Msoft Word (2K).
Open the doc, go to edit->replace.
Then in the bottom of the search box, click "more" then find the "Special" button and they have several things for you. For Dos style, I used the "paragraph" one. This is a cr lf pair in windows land.
Just do a \r with a find and replace with a blank in the replace field so everything goes up to one line. Then do a find and replace (in my case by semi colon) and replace with ;\n
:)
-T&C
To change a document of separate lines into a single line, with each line forming one entry in a comma separated list:
ctrl+f to open the search/replacer.
Click the "Replace" tab.
Fill the "Find what" entry with "\r\n".
Fill the "Replace with" entry with "," or ", " (depending on preference).
Un-check the "Match whole word" checkbox (the important bit that eludes logic).
Check the "Extended" radio button.
Click the "Replace all" button.
These steps turn e.g.
foo bar
bar baz
baz foo
into:
foo bar,bar baz,baz foo
or: (depending on preference)
foo bar, bar baz, baz foo
Maybe you can use TextFX plugins
In TextFX, go to textfx edit → delete blank lines