GREP expression help

Question

Hi. I need help resolving a GREP issue. I need to apply superscript to reference numbers and the commas or endashes within, but NOT the commas separating the names. For example:

Karen Smith4, Frank Jones2–5, Johnboy Walton12, Harry Bottom10,11.

I have this

\d[–, \d]*?

And it recognises the name separating commas, but not the ones needed between the reference numbers (2–5 or 10,11).

This is for a scientific application, and unfortunately, I must keep the style (commas and endashes), not switch them out for hyphens or semicolons.

Eugene Tyson · Accepted Answer

@Barb Binder did a great job - but if you're finding it's not catching all then here's a slightly more robust version

(?<=\w)\d+(?:[–,]\d+)*\b

(?<=\w): makes sure it only matches numbers after a letter/word (like a surname)

\d+: the starting reference number

(?:[–,]\d+)*: allows any number of ,number or –number combos

\b: ends at a word boundary (avoids accidental overshoot)

Barb Binder · Answer

Hi @Catharine26941291c64a:

We are always happy to help.

I will get my head around these things someday

If you don't yet own a copy of Peter Kahrel's book GREP in InDesign, Third Edition, I highly recommend obtaining one. It's a great learning tool and a great reference.

~Barb

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