Is this possible in TextPad?

BBowers · Post by **BBowers** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:15 pm

Ames, TX
710 East Main Street
Cedar Grove Park
Anahuac, TX
1512 South Main Street
Trinity Bay
Anna, TX
Hwy. 75 Exit 48
715 South Central Expressway
Love's - Travel Stops

Can I have TextPad search for each of the lines with ,TX but then back up to the beginning of the City ahead of the ,TX and place a \n so it will add a
blank line at that point, and look like the following?

Ames, TX
710 East Main Street
Cedar Grove Park

Anahuac, TX
1512 South Main Street
Trinity Bay

Anna, TX
Hwy. 75 Exit 48
715 South Central Expressway
Love's - Travel Stops

ak47wong · Post by **ak47wong** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 3:03 am

Yes, it is possible:

Find what: .*,?TX$
Replace with: \n&

Ensure the Regular expression check box is selected.

This assumes you are using POSIX regular expression syntax under Configure -> Preferences -> Editor.

Andrew

ben_josephs · Post by **ben_josephs** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:17 am

Yes, that works.

Note that .*,? (any sequence of characters, possibly followed by a comma) is exactly equivalent to .* (any sequence of characters). For the OP's examples
.*, TX$
(with a space after the comma) is a good regex.

BBowers · Post by **BBowers** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:43 am

Thanks, but when I tried your expression it didn't work. I did however drop the $ behind the TX, so:

Find what: .*,?TX did work.

What does the $ supposedly do?

ben_josephs · Post by **ben_josephs** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:27 pm

It anchors the end of the match to the end of the line. Presumably there is white space at the ends of your lines.

Note my remark above, that the ,? after the .* is redundant.