Reg ex scripting

[Joseph Christian5C7F]

Hi everyone, im trying to format a line of text that has a bullet separator. see example below.

before: Word • Word Word Word

convert to: Word • Word Word Word

However, it only formats the first word after the bullet. I want to convert all the succeding words to condensed like the example above.

heres the code im currently using;

app.findGrepPreferences.properties = ({findWhat:"\\• \\w+"});

app.changeGrepPreferences.properties = ({fontStyle:"Condensed"});

thank you!

[m1b · Accepted solution]

Hi Joseph,

Have a look at this script:

var doc = app.activeDocument,

// the regex to find anything before first bullet
// uses a 'positive lookahead' ?=
myFindWhat = '^.*?(?=•)',

// this is example change to make
changeStyle = doc.characterStyles.itemByName("Bolder");

if (!changeStyle.isValid) {
    alert('There is no character style named "Bolder".');
    return;
}

// set up the find/changes
app.findGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.NOTHING;
app.changeGrepPreferences = NothingEnum.NOTHING;
app.findGrepPreferences.findWhat = myFindWhat;
app.changeGrepPreferences.appliedCharacterStyle = changeStyle;

// do the changes
doc.stories.everyItem().paragraphs.everyItem().changeGrep();

But do you know you can do this exact thing using a Grep Style?

[Joseph Christian5C7F]

Hi @m1b thank you for the code you've provided. How about for lines that have multiple bullets?

example: Word • Word • Word • Word • Word

convert to: Word • Word • Word • Word • Word

Thank you!

We are also using the Grep Style, however I need to include some scripting that is not availble on Greps.

[Joseph Christian5C7F]

@m1b please disregard my second inquiry, I've figured it out base on the code you gave! Thank you so much!

[m1b]

Great! Glad you figured it out! And you're right, my regex finds characters before every bullet, not just the first. Oops, didn't test. I've edited my original.

- Mark