Search/replace in block selection in Notepad++

Question

Is there a way to limit search/replace only to a columnar block selection in Notepad++?

Here is what I am trying to do:

• I am bulk-editing metadata extracted from large numbers of photos.

• The metadata comes to me as a csv file with no quotes around fields in header line and no quotes around first field in each succeeding line.

• I edit this file in Open Office calc which exports with quotes around all fields.

• I can easily edit header row but the problem comes in stripping quotes from only first field in successive lines.

• I can use notepad in columnar mode but, after selecting the first column, the 'search only in selection' option box is greyed out.

• I can do this by hand but it means lots of hand-work and increased chance of error.

Answer 1

I might be late to answer this query but it could be helpful for anyone stumbling upon this question in future.

As per this - i was able to select data in column mode. Place your cursor to the start of the text. Then press Shift+Alt and continue to drag your mouse till your last selection.

Answer 2

My search on internet, to to see weather notepad++ suports this; brought me here. I have used TextPad and confirm that it supports find-and-replace within column selected block. Also TextPad is free for personal use.

Answer 3

You may not be able to Search/Replace within a columnar selection, but you can easily carry out your task within Notepad++. Use Find and Replace feature, with the Regular Expressions box checked.

If you want to remove quotes only from a target column, use the following regular expression in the Find field:

 (^([^,]*,){i})"([^,\n\r]*)"(.*$)

Replace i with the position of the target column minus 1.

(i.e.- Us 2 if you want quotes around the third column, 0 for the first column, etc)

In the Replace field use:

 \1\3\4

Clicking "Replace All" will strip quotes from the target column.

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If you want to blow away all quotes surrounding each element in your csv without prejudice, use the following regular expression in the Find field:

 ((?<=,)|(?<=^))"(.*?)"((?=$|,))

In the Replace field use:

 \1\2\3

Clicking Replace All will strip quotes form the columns.

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Example

Since you didn't provide an example csv file, I'll walk through my own working example. Below is my csv:

 "0","1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9"
 "10","11","12","13","14","15","16","17","18","19"
 "20","21","22","23","24","25","26","27","28","29"
 "30","31","32","33","34","35","36","37","38","39"
 "40","41","42","43","44","45","46","47","48","49"
 "50","51","52","53","54","55","56","57","58","59"
 "60","61","62","63","64","65","66","67","68","69"
 "70","71","72","73","74","75","76","77","78","79"
 "80","81","82","83","84","85","86","87","88","89"
 "90","91","92","93","94","95","96","97","98","99"
 "100","101","102","103","104","105","106","107","108","109"
 "110","111","112","113","114","115","116","117","118","119"
 "120","121","122","123","124","125","126","127","128","129"
 "130","131","132","133","134","135","136","137","138","139"
 "140","141","142","143","144","145","146","147","148","149"
 "150","151","152","153","154","155","156","157","158","159"
 "160","161","162","163","164","165","166","167","168","169"
 "170","171","172","173","174","175","176","177","178","179"
 "180","181","182","183","184","185","186","187","188","189"
 "190","191","192","193","194","195","196","197","198","199"

If I wanted to remove quotes from the second column, I would use the below Find and Replace fields

 (^([^,]*,){1})"([^,\n\r]*)"(.*$)

 \1"\3"\4

Clicking Replace All yields the below result:

 "0",1,"2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9"
 "10",11,"12","13","14","15","16","17","18","19"
 "20",21,"22","23","24","25","26","27","28","29"
 "30",31,"32","33","34","35","36","37","38","39"
 "40",41,"42","43","44","45","46","47","48","49"
 "50",51,"52","53","54","55","56","57","58","59"
 "60",61,"62","63","64","65","66","67","68","69"
 "70",71,"72","73","74","75","76","77","78","79"
 "80",81,"82","83","84","85","86","87","88","89"
 "90",91,"92","93","94","95","96","97","98","99"
 "100",101,"102","103","104","105","106","107","108","109"
 "110",111,"112","113","114","115","116","117","118","119"
 "120",121,"122","123","124","125","126","127","128","129"
 "130",131,"132","133","134","135","136","137","138","139"
 "140",141,"142","143","144","145","146","147","148","149"
 "150",151,"152","153","154","155","156","157","158","159"
 "160",161,"162","163","164","165","166","167","168","169"
 "170",171,"172","173","174","175","176","177","178","179"
 "180",181,"182","183","184","185","186","187","188","189"
 "190",191,"192","193","194","195","196","197","198","199"

Answer 4

sort of a late reply but... I had the same problem when I moved to a new machine with Notepad++ installed. Previously, I was using a text editor called Boxer that had this feature, which I found invaluable. Its not free-ware however.

Answer 5

I know, this probably won't help you any more, but I just had the same problem and stumbled across this question.

I found moving the block in question to a new file and performing the find/replace there works quite decently. When moving the block back, be sure to select it in block mode (see this question).

Answer 6

No. Another editor may have this feature.