Skip to main content
K
Keren34504470y1wu
Participant
December 29, 2023
Question

HELP with GREP in indesign

  • December 29, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 604 views

I would like to create a GREP for finding and changing

a whole sentence within quotation marks.

I have only found the GREP for a single word  ‭(")(‬\w‭+)(")‬ 

Anyone has the answer?

again, for a whole sentence

Thanks so much

Keren

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

5 replies

Peter Kahrel
Community Expert
Peter KahrelCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 2, 2024

The parentheses around the quotes aren't necessary, and instead of .+ you need .+? 

Without the question mark you match from the first quote in the text to the last one, skipping every quote inbetween -- i.e. Grep is greedy. The question mark avoids that.

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    January 2, 2024

    We don't know OP's Change string... 

     

    Maybe he wants to style inside - text between quotes - but also remove them? 

     

    In this case parentheses will be needed:

     

    () () () -> $2

     

    But the greedy part is a very good point. 

     

    Peter Kahrel
    Community Expert
    Peter KahrelCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2024

    You would then use a lookbehind and a lookahead:

    "\K.+?(?=")

    This matches everthing between quotes but the format set in the Change format panel is applied only to whatever matches \.+?, not the quotes.

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    January 2, 2024

    I'm not sure if it's just this forum or there is something "extra" in the GREP phrase you are using - and pasted here - but there are TWO extra hidden characters - "?":

     

    This is my GREP expression - 3rd line:

     

    Peter Kahrel
    Community Expert
    Peter KahrelCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2024

    You didn't accidentally enter the Grep expression in the Text tab, did you? Please check.

      K
      Keren34504470y1wuAuthor
      Participant
      January 2, 2024

      yes, in the GREP.

      we got it...

      Thanks!

      Peter Kahrel
      Community Expert
      Peter KahrelCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 29, 2023

      Use 

       

      ".+?"

       

      to include the quotes. If you want the sentence (whatever that means) without the quotes, use

       

      "\K.+?(?=")

       

       

        K
        Keren34504470y1wuAuthor
        Participant
        January 2, 2024

        Thank you,

        I tried these but they are not finding anything...

        GREP GODS, I wonder what is the magic equation??

        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Legend
        December 29, 2023

        I'm not GREP guru and away from my computer right now - but maybe instead of (\w+) - (.+) will work?

        "." means "any character".

         

        But "sentence" is a bit tricky beast - as it can end with "?!.".

         

        Also, you can have "." in the middle - like "i.e." or "e.g." or "J. Doe".

         

        Or by "sentence" you just mean bunch of characters between quotation marks?

         

        K
        Keren34504470y1wuAuthor
        Participant
        January 2, 2024

        Hi,

        Or by "sentence" you just mean bunch of characters between quotation marks?  YES

        (I tried (.+) - it does not work)

        Thanks

        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Robert at ID-Tasker
        Legend
        January 2, 2024

        Works for me:

         

         

        Can you upload sample INDD file?

         

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices