Generic Regex: Replacing in a specific zone of text

Two other examples regarding this generic regex ! In these ones, we’ll even restrict the replacements to each concerned zone before a # character ! Paste the text below in a new tab : 123456 (START) Case_1 This is a (short) text to (easily) see the results (of the modifications)# (12345) test (67890) val (250) 123456 Case_2 And the (obvious) changes occur only in (the) "descrip" tag # Parentheses (Yeaah) OK val (500) 123456 (END) Case_3 All (the) other tags are (just) untouched #(This is) the end (of the test) val (999) In this first example, of single-line tags , two solutions are possible : Use the complete generic regex (?-si:BSR|(?!\A)\G)(?s-i:(?!ESR).)*?\K(?-si:FR) where ESR = # which leads to the functional S/R : SEARCH (?-s)(?-i:|(?!\A)\G)((?!#).)*?\K(?:\x20\(.+?\)) REPLACE Leave EMPTY => This time, in addition to only replace in each .......... zone, NO replacement will occur after the # character of each tag ! Use the simplified solution and add a ESR condition at the end of the regex, giving this generic variant (?-s)(?-i:BSR|(?!\A)\G).*?\K(?-i:FR)(?=ESR) SEARCH (?-s)(?-i:|(?!\A)\G).*?\K(?:\x20\(.+?\))(?=.*#) REPLACE Leave EMPTY However, this other solution needs that all the tags contains a comment zone with a # char Now, paste this other text below in a new tab : 37--001 This-is -a--very---< # Dashes - - - OK/text> 4-1234 37--002 -small----#---example 9-0012 37--003 -of-a-text- which- 1-9999 37--004 need -to-be- modi fied # but - not - there 0-0000 This second example is a multi-lines replacement, in each ............. zone only and also limited to the part before a # char which can be present or not Of course, we’ll have to use the complete generic regex (?-si:BSR|(?!\A)\G)(?s-i:(?!ESR).)*?\K(?-si:FR) but, instead of a single (?!ESR), we’ll have to use this variant : (?-si:BSR|(?!\A)\G)(?s-i:(?!ESR_1)(?!ESR_2).)*?\K(?-si:FR) So, the functional regex S/R becomes : SEARCH (?-si:|(?!\A)\G)(?s-i:(?!)(?!#).)*?\K-+ REPLACE \x20 => ONLY IF a sequence of dashes is located in a .......... zone AND, moreover, before a possible # char, it will be replaced with a single space character As you can verify, the third multi-lines ............. zone does not contain any # char. Thus, all dash characters, of that tag, are replaced with a single space char ! Remainder : You must use, at least, the v7.9.1 N++ release, so that the \A assertion is correctly handled Move to the very beginning of file, before any Find Next sequence or Replace All operation Do not click on the step-by-step Replace button

Generic Regex: Replacing in a specific zone of text

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