Self-propagating ampersands in GREP in a paragragh style

[Guest]

Hello. I'm using GREPs in (InDesign CS6) paragraph styles to color specific words and have hit an odd thing when the words I'm trying to color include an ampersand (&).

The style works fine the first time, but if I call up the paragraph style, additional ampersands start appearing in the GREP expression, not just for the expression I'm changing, but other expressions that include an ampersand as well.

Example: I enter  ^(?i)track \& field

The next time I edit a grep in this style, the grep changes to ^(?i)track \&& field. Then ^(?i)track \&&& field.

So I take out the extra &'s, only to see them come back again. And having a space or not having spaces on either side of the ampersand doesn't

affect the problem. I've tried using \s instead of the space, but it makes not difference. I've also tried dumping my InDesign preferences and exporting the document as an .idml file in an effort to clear out any funkiness.

Has anyone seen this? Thanks!

Kelly

[pixxxelschubser · Accepted solution]

Sorry, I've never seen this before.

A vague presumption: to much Grep styles at once?

But perhaps you try this instead:

(?i)a\x{26}e

[Guest]

Thank you! I don't know why it was doing that, but your way of writing around the ampersand did the trick.