Fixing Titles using regular expression

THartmann9374 · 03-13-2026, 05:47 AM

Hello all,
I'm trying to figure how to trim down titles using regular expressions. For example, the title would be like this "OSS 123 - this is example" and I want to trim down to "OSS 124", so how I delete "this is example"?

Other books like this

RAID 345 - this is other example
OSS 643 - this is different example
GI: This is solider

Okay, I know it sounds silly, but I want to do batch to trim down to RAID 345, OSS 643 and GI. How do I do in regular expression?

Thanks! THartmann9374

BetterRed · 03-13-2026, 06:02 AM

Trim where - in the Book itself, or in the Library metadata?

BR

THartmann9374 · 03-13-2026, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Trim where - in the Book itself, or in the Library metadata?

BR

Library with Bulk thing

theducks · 03-13-2026, 01:04 PM

Moderator Notice
Moved, this is a Metadata Editor Q, not a Editor Q.

theducks · 03-13-2026, 01:19 PM

Here you go
looks for Caps, a space followed by digits followed by a space dash /anything/
only saves the part up to the dash

THartmann9374 · 03-13-2026, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

Here you go
looks for Caps, a space followed by digits followed by a space dash /anything/
only saves the part up to the dash

Thanks so much! It works! I keep this for my future reference! One more thing, suppose it is OSS 123. instead of OSS 123 - that it.

Thanks! THartmann9374

theducks · 03-13-2026, 06:55 PM

Grab a REGEDIT cheat sheet (and a CSS one while you are at it

)
I like cheatography ones.
a period is a REGEDIT special character You saw .+? all 3 have special meaning
Calibre and Sigil use PCRE flavor, so not all on the sheet apply

special characters need to be 'escaped', thus \.
\s is any kind of space
\d any digit

THartmann9374 · 03-13-2026, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

Grab a REGEDIT cheat sheet (and a CSS one while you are at it

)
I like cheatography ones.
a period is a REGEDIT special character You saw .+? all 3 have special meaning
Calibre and Sigil use PCRE flavor, so not all on the sheet apply

special characters need to be 'escaped', thus \.
\s is any kind of space
\d any digit

Thanks for this tip! Thanks again!

03-13-2026, 05:47 AM	#1
THartmann9374 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2026 Device: none	Fixing Titles using regular expression Hello all, I'm trying to figure how to trim down titles using regular expressions. For example, the title would be like this "OSS 123 - this is example" and I want to trim down to "OSS 124", so how I delete "this is example"? Other books like this RAID 345 - this is other example OSS 643 - this is different example GI: This is solider Okay, I know it sounds silly, but I want to do batch to trim down to RAID 345, OSS 643 and GI. How do I do in regular expression? Thanks! THartmann9374

03-13-2026, 01:19 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,596 Karma: 62544528 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Here you go looks for Caps, a space followed by digits followed by a space dash /anything/ only saves the part up to the dash Attached Thumbnails

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Regular Expression help: complicated remaming of titles	Ersatzreifen	Library Management	1	03-30-2016 10:37 AM
More than 3 regular expression?	james968	Conversion	1	04-04-2012 05:39 AM
Regular Expression Help	iKarampa	Calibre	13	12-15-2010 07:17 AM
Regular expression help	krendk	Calibre	4	12-04-2010 04:32 PM
Help with the regular expression	Dysonco	Calibre	9	03-22-2010 10:45 PM

03-13-2026, 06:02 AM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,482 Karma: 31000706 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Trim where - in the Book itself, or in the Library metadata? BR

03-13-2026, 01:04 PM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,596 Karma: 62544528 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Moderator Notice Moved, this is a Metadata Editor Q, not a Editor Q.

03-13-2026, 06:55 PM	#7
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,596 Karma: 62544528 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Grab a REGEDIT cheat sheet (and a CSS one while you are at it ) I like cheatography ones. a period is a REGEDIT special character You saw .+? all 3 have special meaning Calibre and Sigil use PCRE flavor, so not all on the sheet apply special characters need to be 'escaped', thus \. \s is any kind of space \d any digit