Find & Replace with Data Merge

[Nemesis666first]

Hi everyone,

I try to do a very simple thing, but but but...

I would like to know EXACTLY how the tool is working :
I understood the basics, you take a term, and you change it in something else, okay, but "when" ? When you click on the button ? When you open your document ? What if you delete the request ?

For now, I just tried a simple thing : I put #test# in my Data Merge CSV file, and I want to transform it into THIS IS A TEST.

It should be easy, no ?

I put it in the Find & Replace tool, text mode : I select all possibilities (layers, documents, locked, etc...) nothing happen (the text box tell me : zero modification), I click on "replace all", nothing more, I try with GREP, same result.

I tried to save the request, same result...

Any idea ?

---

Know, I will explain what exactly I'm tring to do : I have some texts I would like to transform into "symbols", so I use a symbolic font (like "Hospital Icons" font), so if I put #CURE in my Data Merge CSV file, I want my InDesign file transforming into a @ symbol, it will be transformed into a CURE symbol.
In my head, it was easy, but the software dont like to be easy with me >.> ...

[Manan Joshi]

Share your document so that we can have a look, by reading what you said it should work. However, as i said difficult to say what's wrong with this without having a look

-Manan

[Nemesis666first]

Ho, it's not that complicated :

Create a new document InDesign, create a new CSV file (American format), link the CSV to the InDesgin file as a Data Merge, put some data inside, then in InDesign, try to Find & Replace a term that you placed in your CSV file : does it work for you ?

[patMorita]

I Did a data merge and replaced stuff afterwards. Worked as expected.

So I assume it's something with your setup. Sharing your document might be necessary if you expect further help.

[Eugene Tyson]

Set a GREP style for the text.

It will be plain text up to your symbol

Hospital Icons Font through 1 symbol

Apply this Paragraph Style with the GREP style to your line of text in the data merge.

https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/quick-tip-automatic-formatting-using-grep-styles-in-adobe-inde...

[Colin Flashman]

So the data contains a unique phrase that you want to convert to an icon DURING a data merge of some sort, fair to say?

I wouldn't use find/replace at all as that will only work on a data merge file that has been merged to a long document, rather than the pre-merge document. Instead, I would use a technique from Daniel Solis (aka Card at work):

https://youtu.be/X5eTBrXRhyk

[Nemesis666first]

Okay, so, it was alsmost the way I was doing it, with a small difference : I was choosing a Font, then I used to add an uncuttable space before then the character, for exemple " *" [ALT255*], then applying a GREP style on it.
It was not perfect because the uncuttable space is not always the same in all Font, so I had to replace the uncuttable space with a GREP >.> (GREP Style on a GREP Style, Inception/10).

On the link you show to me, it seems very interesting, but I didnt understand how the software understand that "xxPoint" was equal to a symbol, it's because of the "ligature" system ?

[Nemesis666first]

Indeed, I have to "force" the ligature on each style, it's working.