Delete unicode character 0xFEFF

[laurent tourniel7664515]

Hello

Do you know how to delete this character 0xFEFF (ZERO WIDTH NO-BREAK SPACE) between two letters. When I copy-past it in find-change dialog box, it appears like an index tag (~I in GREP). But when I search it, only index tags are find.

 

Thanks

Laurent

[vladan saveljic]

If you don't need these characters in your text you can delet them with find-change.

Find: <feff>

change: leave empty

[Laubender]

FWIW:

<FEFF>

That's not a GREP Find/Change pattern, it's a TEXT Find Change expression.

Laurent,

also note that this special character is used for several applications.

So be careful what instants you want to remove.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[laurent tourniel7664515]

Thanks.

But I wan't te delete only space, not index tag.

I think it is impossible.

[Test Screen Name]

FEFF is a special code, just in case you did not know.

Because it has no effect, it is used for a special meaning. It is included at the start of many, perhaps most Unicode files. Apps can see that a file starts with hex FFFE (UCS2-BE) or FEFF (UCS2-LE) or  EFBBBF (UTF-8) - all of which are U+FEFF - and know it is Unicode instead of plain text. You may often find it in your text, and it's probably best to ignore it.

[vladan saveljic]

"But I wan't te delete only space, not index tag"

FEFF is 0 width space

[Laubender]

Hi Laurent,

your screenshot is clearly showing an FEFF special character between the R and the A.

You could try to shield all index markers from your search if you first apply a character formatting to all index tags that is unique to your text. Perhaps a character width of 50%. Then in a second search  you are looking for a character with pattern <FEFF> plus a character width of 100%.

TEXT Find pattern for index markers:

^I

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[laurent tourniel7664515]

Great idea. You are resolved the problem. 

A tip to keep in mind.

Best

Laurent

[Laubender]

But also note that <FEFF> special characters are also used for other purposes.

InDesign Note objects for example. Or hyperlink anchor markers:

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[laurent tourniel7664515]

Thanks for this presentation of the character.

Best

[jphphoto]

This saved me a ton of time today. 3397 instances of "<feff>X" removed by "magic" 

Thanks a lot for sharing here.