at beginning of paragraph - how do I change?

Chris_Snow · 06-29-2015, 01:55 AM

Greetings,

I have a file I'm using as a test bed to learn regex. It is a badly converted PDF to epub. The original file had the actual body of the text under the misc folder within the epub.

I didn't know how to fix that so I converted to html, then back to epub. That seems to have fixed the problem of the text body now being where it should be.

However...the code for the paragraphs is...

Code:

<p class="calibre2"></p>The paragraph goes in here.

As you can see the "" is at the beginning and not at the end. Is there an easy way to change this? There must be a regex I can use to "find/replace" it?

I have learned a lot about how to tweak things using regex on this file, but this is somewhat beyond me.

Appreciate the assistance.

Update: I found out I could use .* and some variations to achieve a result. Got all the end tags where they belong now.

doubleshuffle · 06-29-2015, 02:24 AM

The experts will certainly have more interesting solutions, but I just tested this and it works:

Search:

Code:

</p>(.*?) <(.*?)>

Replace with:

Code:

\1</p> <\2>

rubeus · 06-29-2015, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris_Snow

Code:

<p class="calibre2"></p>The paragraph goes in here.

As you can see the "" is at the beginning and not at the end. Is there an easy way to change this? There must be a regex I can use to "find/replace" it?

For this particular problem there's a regex for sure. But i guess this example does not cover all problems. There might be sentences not ending with a full stop, but with question marks, exclamation marks, parenthesis etc etc.

My approach would be to delete all and let tiny do the rest.

Notjohn · 06-29-2015, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubeus

My approach would be to delete all and let tiny do the rest.

Neat! I was going to replace with

DiapDealer · 06-29-2015, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubeus

My approach would be to delete all and let tiny do the rest.

I assume you're referring to Tiny, the helpful Sigil gnome?

rubeus · 06-29-2015, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I assume you're referring to Tiny, the helpful Sigil gnome?

Tiny, the Sigil gnome also known as tidy

avantman42 · 06-29-2015, 10:29 AM

I don't claim to be great at regular expressions, but I think this should work, and preserve any class/style attributes in the paragraph:

Find:

Code:

(<p[^>]+>)<\/p>(.*)

Replace:

Code:

\1\2</p>

rubeus · 06-29-2015, 10:37 AM

I would use * instead of + to catch tags without attributes.

avantman42 · 06-29-2015, 01:57 PM

Good point. I admit I didn't have time to test it much.

Chris_Snow · 06-29-2015, 04:09 PM

Thx very muchly for all the pointers. You are right, in that my small regex didn't pick up all the paragraph instances (endings with question marks etc) - but surprisingly there were very few and I figured how to mod the regex to pick up a question mark. I seem to be able to sort out small changes but have a lot of trouble trying to get one regex to pick up everything

I'll trial the regexes here and see what the results are. Thx again.

Chris_Snow · 06-29-2015, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubeus

My approach would be to delete all and let tiny do the rest.

Will sigil automagically fix things in this instance? There are lots of times there is no undo in sigil, so I worry about stuffing things up. Usually I have to close the prog. without saving (that's if I haven't saved it without thinking!!)

Update: Yep...found that it does (well at least in small doses)

eschwartz · 06-30-2015, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avantman42

I don't claim to be great at regular expressions, but I think this should work, and preserve any class/style attributes in the paragraph:

Find:

Code:

(<p[^>]+>)<\/p>(.*)

Replace:

Code:

\1\2</p>

I would explicitly leave out paragraph tags in the text body, as such:

Code:

(<p(?: [^>]+)?>)</p>((?:(?!</?p>).)+)

Using the power of negative lookarounds.

Hitch · 06-30-2015, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris_Snow

Will sigil automagically fix things in this instance? There are lots of times there is no undo in sigil, so I worry about stuffing things up. Usually I have to close the prog. without saving (that's if I haven't saved it without thinking!!)

Update: Yep...found that it does (well at least in small doses)

Big-time experts say, "make copy of file first, before committing Regexus Non-Interruptus."

Just sayin'! All these years, and Regex Buddy is still my closest, well...buddy.

Hitch

theducks · 06-30-2015, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitch

Big-time experts say, "make copy of file first, before committing Regexus Non-Interruptus."

Hitch

Small fry users say same thing

oops is a 4 letter word

avantman42 · 07-01-2015, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitch

Big-time experts say, "make copy of file first, before committing Regexus Non-Interruptus."

Extremely good advice. I've never used RegexBuddy, but I do use the online tester at https://regex101.com/

06-29-2015, 01:55 AM	#1
Chris_Snow Zealot Posts: 148 Karma: 8170 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: kobo glo	</p> at beginning of paragraph - how do I change? Greetings, I have a file I'm using as a test bed to learn regex. It is a badly converted PDF to epub. The original file had the actual body of the text under the misc folder within the epub. I didn't know how to fix that so I converted to html, then back to epub. That seems to have fixed the problem of the text body now being where it should be. However...the code for the paragraphs is... Code: <p class="calibre2"></p>The paragraph goes in here. As you can see the "</p>" is at the beginning and not at the end. Is there an easy way to change this? There must be a regex I can use to "find/replace" it? I have learned a lot about how to tweak things using regex on this file, but this is somewhat beyond me. Appreciate the assistance. Update: I found out I could use .* and some variations to achieve a result. Got all the end tags where they belong now. Last edited by Chris_Snow; 06-29-2015 at 02:18 AM.

06-29-2015, 02:24 AM	#2
doubleshuffle Unicycle Daredevil Posts: 13,944 Karma: 185432100 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Planet of the Pudding Brains Device: Aura HD (R.I.P. After six years the USB socket died.) tolino shine 3	The experts will certainly have more interesting solutions, but I just tested this and it works: Search: Code: </p>(.?) <(.?)> Replace with: Code: \1</p> <\2>

06-29-2015, 10:29 AM	#7
avantman42 Wizard Posts: 1,090 Karma: 6058305 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I don't claim to be great at regular expressions, but I think this should work, and preserve any class/style attributes in the paragraph: Find: Code: (<p[^>]+>)<\/p>(.*) Replace: Code: \1\2</p>

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06-29-2015, 10:37 AM	#8
rubeus Banned Posts: 272 Karma: 1224588 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Sony PRS 650	I would use * instead of + to catch tags without attributes.

06-29-2015, 01:57 PM	#9
avantman42 Wizard Posts: 1,090 Karma: 6058305 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Good point. I admit I didn't have time to test it much.

06-29-2015, 04:09 PM	#10
Chris_Snow Zealot Posts: 148 Karma: 8170 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: kobo glo	Thx very muchly for all the pointers. You are right, in that my small regex didn't pick up all the paragraph instances (endings with question marks etc) - but surprisingly there were very few and I figured how to mod the regex to pick up a question mark. I seem to be able to sort out small changes but have a lot of trouble trying to get one regex to pick up everything I'll trial the regexes here and see what the results are. Thx again.