Searching and replacing with styles

Question

Hi friends!Sorry for posting such an ignorant question, but I am still just beginning.If I have text that is within square brackets [ffgggggvgtgg] how can  I search for any string of text like that and apply a certain char style to that text.I think I could handle this in Word in ID I don't have a clue. Thank youSusan

Robert at ID-Tasker · Accepted Answer

@James Gifford—NitroPress

If you apply any kind of formatting - you don't have to fill Change To - just left if blank.

If there is no formatting to be applied - then empty Change To will delete found text.

James Gifford—NitroPress · Answer

There are several approaches of varying complexity (and something like automation) but the simple answer is just to use Find/Replace — actually, the GREP variation of it.

Search for: \[.+\], which is a string of any number of any characters between square brackets. (Note you have to 'escape' the brackets with a backslash, so they are interpreted as a literal character and not a string formatting limiter.)
Replace with: $0, which is all "found text."
Under "Change Format," specify the Character Style you wish to apply.

GREP is a bit mysterious and tricky to master, but it's the key to all complex searches and "replace" operations.

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