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Increment long sequence of numbers by 1

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
August 5, 2023
3 replies
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Hi,

Newbie here!

I have a very long list of entries that I imported from Word and they were not automatically sequenced. That is, if I remove an entry, the numbering does NOT change.

Thing is, I do need to add an entry in the middle of this long list, and I was wondering if there's a way to automatically find all the entry numbers and increment them by 1.

The formatting is always the same:

paragraph break + entry number + period + text, as in:

1. text

2. text

3. text

4. text

5. text

If I add a new entry after entry 3, for instance, how do I change change entry 4 to entry 5, and entry 5 to entry 6.

I think I can find all the numbers using \r[\d.]+ but I have no idea how to replace those numbers incrementally.

Thanks!

How to

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Peter Kahrel

I added the period as above, but the script is picking some instances where the number is preceded by a paragraph break and followed by either a ( or a / but not a period. See below:

Ugh. Add another backslash before \.:

'^\\d+(?=\\.)'

P

Peter Kahrel

Community Expert

Sure 🙂

Select the paragraph that should be renumbered and the paragraph before that range. Make sure that the entire first paragraph is selected. In your example, you select these paragraphs:

24. text

25. text

and the first one must be selected entirely. Of the last paragraph (25) only the number needs to be selected.

(function () {
  app.findGrepPreferences = null;
  app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = '^\\d+';
  var start = Number (app.selection[0].paragraphs[0].contents.match(/^\d+/)[0]);
  var n = app.selection[0].findGrep();
  for (var i = n.length-1; i >= 0; i--) {
    n[i].contents = String(i+start);
  }
}());

E

eib24740488m4unAuthor

Known Participant

Works great indeed! Thanks a lot.

Thing is, there are a few --not many-- numbers in the main body of text that the script is picking and replacing as if they were entry numbers.

Would it be possible to add to the "findWhat" the period that follows the number in each entry? That would definitely skip those numbers in the main body of text.

Thanks!

P

Peter Kahrel

Community Expert

Or, if it's any easier, add an extra paragraph break right before the number in the "findWhat" since the sequence is actually:

24. Text

26. Text

That is, there are two paragraph breaks between entries.

You can add the period:

app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = '^\\d+(?=\.)';

The caret (^) limits the search to the start of the paragraph, adding returns makes no difference. The period should do it.

P.

P

Peter Kahrel

Community Expert

Sure. Click in any of the paragraphs that have a manual number, then run this script:

(function () {
  app.findGrepPreferences = null;
  app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = '^\\d+';
  app.findGrepPreferences.appliedParagraphStyle = 
    app.selection[0].appliedParagraphStyle;
  var n = app.selection[0].parentStory.findGrep();
  for (var i = n.length-1; i >= 0; i--) {
    n[i].contents = String(i+1);
  }
}());

This assumes that all the manual numbers are in the same paragraph style. If that's not the case, i.e. the numbers can be in any paragraph and all paragraphs that start with a number should be targeted, then use this one (now select a frame or an insertion point):

(function () {
  app.findGrepPreferences = null;
  app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = '^\\d+';
  var n = app.selection[0].parentStory.findGrep();
  for (var i = n.length-1; i >= 0; i--) {
    n[i].contents = String(i+1);
  }
}());