Regex Beginning and End of Tag

d351r3d · 06-04-2020, 07:52 PM

Can Regex understand the end of a line or the beginning of a line that has text on it? I want to be able to insert something at the beginning of each line where the text starts and at the end of the line where the text ends. I'm thinking Regex can do this. I've used it so far and it's a very cool guy.

My process is this:

I copy pasta lots of text into a text editor, then I copy pasta that into Sigil and I'd like to use regex to do some hefty formatting inside of Sigil.

The_book · 06-04-2020, 09:19 PM

I think it is ^ and $ in regex. ^ means the start of a line and $ means the end.
What you want is the end of a line or the beginning of a line that has text on it, which I think close to ^.+$

d351r3d · 06-05-2020, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_book

I think it is ^ and $ in regex. ^ means the start of a line and $ means the end.
What you want is the end of a line or the beginning of a line that has text on it, which I think close to ^.+$

If you just put in "find":

Code:

^.+$

Could you put in "replace":

Code:

<p></p>

and that would turn:

Code:

I really like sandwiches!

Into:

Code:

<p>I really like sandwiches</p>

theducks · 06-05-2020, 09:52 AM

NO!

You did not insert any captured data (the \1 )

\1

You did not even CAPTURE any data

Put a ( ) pair around the part you want to capture (if there is a real ( or ) in the template: escape those: $ or $

d351r3d · 06-05-2020, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

NO!

You did not insert any captured data (the \1 )

\1

You did not even CAPTURE any data

Put a ( ) pair around the part you want to capture (if there is a real ( or ) in the template: escape those: $ or $

So you can't do what I'm trying to do with Regex? Like regex can't be like "oh that's the beginning of a line with content, let me just put something before that and there's the end of a line, let me just put something after that line with content."

DNSB · 06-05-2020, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d351r3d

If you just put in "find":

Code:

^.+$

Could you put in "replace":

Code:

<p></p>

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

NO!

You did not insert any captured data (the \1 )

\1

You did not even CAPTURE any data

Put a ( ) pair around the part you want to capture (if there is a real ( or ) in the template: escape those: $ or $

Quote:

Originally Posted by d351r3d

So you can't do what I'm trying to do with Regex? Like regex can't be like "oh that's the beginning of a line with content, let me just put something before that and there's the end of a line, let me just put something after that line with content."

What he is saying is you need to capture the data first and then place it in the replace string. See the brackets around the find string and the \1 in the replace string.

HOWEVER: Please note that this will match EVERY line in your document no matter what it is.

In the case of your sample code:

Code:

(^.+$)

Could you put in "replace":

Code:

<p>\1</p>

I would recommend either pasting your text into a blank text file or using Notepad++ or equivalent to do the replacement in the text before pasting it into Sigil. Notepad++ can use the same find/replace strings making easier for me.

d351r3d · 06-05-2020, 01:55 PM

[QUOTE=DNSB;3996728]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d351r3d

If you just put in "find":

Code:

^.+$

Could you put in "replace":

Code:

<p></p>

I get it now. It selects the entire line and then you can modify the line that's saved. Sorry this is new and it's like a puzzle. Thanks for clarifying.

What he is saying is you need to capture the data first and then place it in the replace string. See the brackets around the find string and the \1 in the replace string.

HOWEVER: Please note that this will match EVERY line in your document no matter what it is.

In the case of your sample code:

Code:

(^.+$)

Could you put in "replace":

Code:

<p>\1</p>

I would recommend either pasting your text into a blank text file or using Notepad++ or equivalent to do the replacement in the text before pasting it into Sigil. Notepad++ can use the same find/replace strings making easier for me.

AlanHK · 06-08-2020, 11:40 PM

This site: https://regexr.com/
is really useful for working out regex codes. Has good references, cheatsheets, and a live test. Seems to be compatible with Sigil's version of regex.

06-04-2020, 07:52 PM	#1
d351r3d Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2017 Device: none	Regex Beginning and End of Tag Can Regex understand the end of a line or the beginning of a line that has text on it? I want to be able to insert something at the beginning of each line where the text starts and at the end of the line where the text ends. I'm thinking Regex can do this. I've used it so far and it's a very cool guy. My process is this: I copy pasta lots of text into a text editor, then I copy pasta that into Sigil and I'd like to use regex to do some hefty formatting inside of Sigil. Last edited by d351r3d; 06-04-2020 at 07:56 PM.

06-05-2020, 09:52 AM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,809 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	NO! You did not insert any captured data (the \1 ) <p>\1</p> You did not even CAPTURE any data Put a ( ) pair around the part you want to capture (if there is a real ( or ) in the template: escape those: \( or \)

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06-04-2020, 09:19 PM	#2
The_book Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2019 Device: none	I think it is ^ and $ in regex. ^ means the start of a line and $ means the end. What you want is the end of a line or the beginning of a line that has text on it, which I think close to ^.+$

06-08-2020, 11:40 PM	#8
AlanHK Guru Posts: 668 Karma: 929286 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: PW-3, iPad, Android phone	This site: https://regexr.com/ is really useful for working out regex codes. Has good references, cheatsheets, and a live test. Seems to be compatible with Sigil's version of regex.

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