GREP find/change problem

[Actualsize]

Hi, am trying to execute InDesign's default find/change AppleScript script to fix many formatting issues in a large document. One of them is occurences of a two-digit dollar figure followed by a comma (eg. "$10,") that needs to be changed to have no comma.

Using GREP I can pick it up by finding "\$\d\d," but when I replace it with "\$\d\d" I get the actual string "\$\d\d". IE. "$10," becomes "\$\d\d" rather than "$10". Am I misundersting how the 'change' part of GREP works? Can any one advise?

FYI the line in the find/change support .txt doc is:

grep

{find what:"\\$\\d\\d,"}

{change to:"\\$\\d\\d"}

{include footnotes:true, include master pages:true, include hidden layers:true, whole word:false}

Remove commas after prices.

...which includes extra backslashes to escape the backslashes that are part of the GREP expression.

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks.

[Larry G. Schneider]

I think it's replace with $1.

[Actualsize]

Thanks for your reply, but that replaces the found text with the string "$1." or "$1" (not sure if the full stop was meant to be part of the string, but the result is the same). Same outcome using the find/change script or the find/change dialog within InDesign.

[shilpa25]

Hi Luke....,

see the screen shot & try ....

thanks

shil...

[Actualsize]

Thanks, although this appeared to pick up any number followed by a comma, not just those preceded by a dollar sign. I might have messed up the syntax though as yours and Vandy's response came in al most simultaneously and I was keen to try both as quickly as possible. Same question goes for you though, why does your find/change work with the change to as "$1" when mine simply changed the found text to the actual strong "$1"?

[Actualsize]

Now I'm thinking I somehow did something wrong when using your method. The two posts below suggested changing to "$1" and it worked in both instances, but not yours. I suspect the error might be at my end! Thanks.

[Peter Kahrel]

It's easier to do this:

Find what: (?<=\$\d\d),

Change to: nothing (i.e. leave the field empty)

This is more efficient as you needn't use references. (?<=\$\d\d) is a lookbehind, so in effect the Find what expression says "if a comma is preceded by $ and two digits, then delete the comma."

If you use CS6 8.0.0 or earlier, by the way, you'll have problems with \$ as it will find only the first $. Better use [$] or \x24 to find dollar symbols.

Peter

[Actualsize]

Thanks very much for your help, that's great. Out of interest, can the find statement be modified to be broader, say if a comma is preceded by a $ and any number of digits? Is it  (?<=\$\d+),

I'm really struggling to get to grips with how GREP statements work. Thanks again.

[Peter Kahrel]

No, unfortunately lookbehinds don't work with variable-length strings. That's the case with all GREP implemantations, not just InDesign's. You can sort of get around it by using or-constructs, but they soon become unmanageable. Here's an example (split and indented just for clarity, you would need to write all this on one line):

(

     (?<=\$\d)

     |

     (?<=\$\d\d)

     |

     (?<=\$\d\d\d)

)

,

This one says "if a comma is preceded by $ and a digit OR by $ and two digits OR by $ and three digits, then . . ." As you understand, if you need to allow up to six or seven digits, possibly thousand separators too, then lookbehinds become unpracticable.

>I'm really struggling to get to grips with how GREP statements work.

Try this: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596156008/

Peter

[Actualsize]

Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it. Will definitely check out that book.

[Sajeev Sridharan · Accepted solution]

In Grep Pallette, use the below syntax to find  two or multiple digit dollar figure followed by a comma text,

Find what:     (\$\d+),

Change to:     $1

Vandy

[Actualsize]

Thanks, that worked perfectly. But here's what I don't understand: when I did change "\$\d\d," to "$1" it just replaced with the actual string "$1", but when I used your method, it worked fine. Apart from the difference in the 'find what' string, what makes your method work?