Hi @Adriaan_Metz Another way to automate this would be to use a script. I have previously written a script that performs a find/change grep (a bit like in Indesign) which you could use for this task. Here it is below, and I've configured the settings object to search for a space and replace with nothing (empty string) with no UI showing. You can run this script from an action and assign a keyboard shortcut, or choose it from the scripts menu as usual for scripts. Let me know if it helps.
- Mark
/**
* @file Find Change RegExp.js
*
* Perform a find/change operation on textRanges of target object(s).
*
* Notes
* - `findWhat` is a RegExp and is always global.
*
* @author m1b
* @version 2025-02-09
* @discussion https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-jsx-to-delete-lt-b-gt-lt-b-gt-tags-in-paragraph-text-an-keep-the-differents-font-style/m-p/14269543
*/
(function () {
if (0 === app.documents.length)
return alert('Please open a document and try again.');
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var settings = {
// what to search (can be a document, a story, a text frame etc.)
target: doc.selection,
// find using RegExp
findWhat: / /,
// replacement string
changeTo: '',
// whether to search lock and/or hidden texts
doNotSearchLockedOrHidden: true,
// whether to show a UI
showUI: false,
// whether to show results after script is finished
showResult: true,
};
// show UI
if (
settings.showUI
&& 2 === ui(settings)
)
// user cancelled
return;
if (
undefined != settings.findWhat
&& 'String' === settings.findWhat.constructor.name
)
// convert to RegExp
settings.findWhat = new RegExp(settings.findWhat, 'g');
if (
undefined == settings.findWhat
|| settings.findWhat.constructor.name !== 'RegExp'
)
return alert('Sorry, "' + (settings.findWhat || 'findWhat') + '" was an invalid RegExp.');
// findWhat regex must be global!
if (!settings.findWhat.global)
settings.findWhat = new RegExp(settings.findWhat.source, 'g'
+ (settings.findWhat.ignoreCase ? 'i' : '')
+ (settings.findWhat.multiline ? 'm' : ''));
var textRanges = getTexts(settings.target, settings.doNotSearchLockedOrHidden),
counter = 0;
for (var i = textRanges.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
if (
settings.doNotSearchLockedOrHidden
&& isLockedOrHidden(textRanges[i].story.textFrames[0])
)
// ignore this text
continue;
// do the find/change
counter += findChangeRegExp(textRanges[i], settings.findWhat, settings.changeTo);
}
if (settings.showResult) {
app.redraw();
alert('Performed ' + counter + ' find/change operations.');
}
})();
/**
* Returns array of TextRanges, given `target`.
* @author m1b
* @version 2025-02-04
* @param {TextRange|TextFrame|Document|GroupItem} target - the item to search for texts.
* @returns {Array<TextRange>}
*/
function getTexts(target) {
var texts = [];
if (target == undefined)
throw Error('findChange: bad `text` supplied. Expected [TextRange] or [TextFrame]');
if ('Document' === target.constructor.name)
target = asArray(target.stories);
if (
(
// to bypass bug in TextFrames object:
undefined != target.typename
&& 'TextFrames' === target.typename
)
|| 'Stories' === target.constructor.name
)
target = asArray(target);
if ('Array' === target.constructor.name) {
// handle array of text frames
for (var i = target.length - 1; i >= 0; i--)
texts = texts.concat(getTexts(target[i]));
}
else if (
'GroupItem' === target.constructor.name
|| 'Layer' === target.constructor.name
) {
// handle the group's items
for (var i = target.pageItems.length - 1; i >= 0; i--)
texts = texts.concat(getTexts(target.pageItems[i]));
}
if (
'Story' === target.constructor.name
|| 'TextFrame' === target.constructor.name
)
target = target.textRange;
if ('TextRange' === target.constructor.name)
texts.push(target)
return texts;
};
/**
* Performs a Find/Change operation on `text` and
* returns a count of how many changes were made.
* @author m1b
* @version 2023-12-01
* @param {TextRange} text - the text to search.
* @param {RegExp} findWhat - the RegExp to find with.
* @param {String} [changeTo] - the change-to string.
* @param {Boolean} [adjustSelection] - whether to adjust the selection (default: true when `text` has textSelection).
* @returns {Number}
*/
function findChangeRegExp(text, findWhat, changeTo, adjustSelection) {
var counter = 0;
if (
undefined == findWhat
|| 'RegExp' !== findWhat.constructor.name
)
throw TypeError('findChange: Bad `findWhat` supplied.');
// reset findWhat index
findWhat.lastIndex = 0;
if (changeTo == undefined)
changeTo = '';
var contents = text.contents,
selectLength = 0,
selectStart,
selectEnd,
match,
found = [];
if (
text.hasOwnProperty('textSelection')
&& text.textSelection.length > 0
) {
// record the selection for later
selectStart = text.textSelection[0].start;
selectEnd = text.textSelection[0].end;
selectLength = selectEnd - selectStart;
}
while (match = findWhat.exec(contents))
found.push({
start: match.index,
end: findWhat.lastIndex,
str: contents.slice(match.index, findWhat.lastIndex),
});
counter = found.length;
// process each found, going backwards
var s, e;
while (match = found.pop()) {
// remove the found text, except first character
for (e = match.end - 1, s = match.start; s < e; e--) {
text.characters[e].remove();
selectEnd--;
}
var replacement = match.str.replace(findWhat, changeTo);
if (replacement) {
// set the contents of the first character
text.characters[e].contents = replacement;
selectEnd += replacement.length - match.str.length;
}
else {
// no contents to replace with
text.characters[e].remove();
selectEnd--;
}
}
if (
!adjustSelection
&& selectLength > 0
) {
// adjust the selection
app.selection = [];
for (var s = selectStart; s < selectEnd; s++)
text.story.characters[s].select(true);
}
return counter;
};
/**
* Returns a collection as an Array.
* @param {Collection} objs - the collection object.
* @returns {Array<*>}
*/
function asArray(objs) {
var arr = [];
try {
for (var i = 0; i < objs.length; i++)
arr.push(objs[i]);
} catch (error) { }
return arr;
};
/**
* Returns true if item
* is locked or hidden.
* @param {PageItem} item - an Illustrator PageItem.
* @returns {Boolean}
*/
function isLockedOrHidden(item) {
return (
(
item.locked != undefined
&& item.locked == true
)
|| (
item.hidden != undefined
&& item.hidden == true
)
|| (
item.layer != undefined
&& (
item.layer.locked == true
|| item.layer.visible == false
)
)
);
};
/**
* Shows UI suitable for Find/Change
* @param {Object} settings
* @returns {1|2} - ScriptUI result code.
*/
function ui(settings) {
var targets = [];
if (app.activeDocument.selection.length > 0)
targets.push(
{ label: 'Selection', get: function () { return app.activeDocument.selection } }
);
targets.push(
{ label: 'Document', get: function () { return app.activeDocument } },
);
var labelWidth = 100,
columnWidth = 200;
var w = new Window("dialog { text:'Find/Change RegExp' }"),
fields = w.add("Group { orientation: 'column', alignment: ['fill','fill'] }"),
findWhatGroup = fields.add("Group { orientation: 'row', alignment: ['fill','fill'] }"),
findWhatLabel = findWhatGroup.add("StaticText { text: 'Find what:', justify: 'right' }"),
findWhatField = findWhatGroup.add("EditText { text:'', alignment:['fill','top'] }"),
changeToGroup = fields.add("Group { orientation: 'row', alignment: ['fill','fill'] }"),
changeToLabel = changeToGroup.add("StaticText { text: 'Change to:', justify: 'right' }"),
changeToField = changeToGroup.add("EditText { text:'', alignment:['fill','top'] }"),
targetMenuGroup = w.add("Group { orientation: 'row', alignment: ['fill','fill'] }"),
targetLabel = targetMenuGroup.add("StaticText { text: 'Target', justify: 'right' }"),
targetMenu = targetMenuGroup.add("Dropdownlist {alignment:['right','center'] }"),
checkBoxes = w.add("group {orientation:'row', alignment:['fill','bottom'], alignChildren:'left', margins:[5,0,5,0] }"),
ignoreCaseCheckBox = checkBoxes.add("Checkbox { text:'Ignore case', alignment:'left', value:false }"),
doNotSearchLockedOrHiddenCheckBox = checkBoxes.add("Checkbox { text:'Ignore locked/hidden text', alignment:'left', value:false }"),
bottomUI = w.add("group {orientation:'row', alignment:['fill','fill'], margins:[0,20,0,0] }"),
buttons = bottomUI.add("group {orientation:'row', alignment:['right','center'], alignChildren:'right' }"),
cancelButton = buttons.add("Button { text: 'Cancel', properties: {name:'cancel'} }"),
okayButton = buttons.add("Button { text:'Change', enabled: true, properties: {name:'ok'} }");
targetLabel.preferredSize.width = labelWidth;
targetMenu.preferredSize.width = columnWidth;
findWhatLabel.preferredSize.width = labelWidth;
findWhatField.preferredSize.width = columnWidth;
findWhatField.text = settings.findWhat.source;
changeToLabel.preferredSize.width = labelWidth;
changeToField.preferredSize.width = columnWidth;
changeToField.text = settings.changeTo;
ignoreCaseCheckBox.value = settings.findWhat.ignoreCase;
doNotSearchLockedOrHiddenCheckBox.value = settings.doNotSearchLockedOrHidden;
var targetTypes = [];
for (var i = 0; i < targets.length; i++)
targetTypes.push(targets[i].label);
buildMenu(targetMenu, targetTypes, settings.targetType);
okayButton.onClick = function () { return update() && w.close(1) };
cancelButton.onClick = function () { w.close(2) };
w.center();
return w.show();
/**
* Builds dropdown menu items.
*/
function buildMenu(menu, arr, index) {
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++)
menu.add('item', arr[i]);
menu.selection = [index || 0];
};
/**
* Updates settings.
* @returns {Boolean} - valid RegExp?
*/
function update() {
settings.target = targets[targetMenu.selection.index].get();
settings.changeTo = changeToField.text;
settings.findText = findWhatField.text;
settings.ignoreCase = !!ignoreCaseCheckBox.value;
settings.doNotSearchLockedOrHidden = !!doNotSearchLockedOrHiddenCheckBox.value;
try {
settings.findWhat = RegExp(findWhatField.text, 'g' + (ignoreCaseCheckBox.value ? 'i' : ''));
} catch (error) {
settings.findWhat = undefined;
}
return settings.findWhat !== undefined;
};
};
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