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regexnotepad++

Notepad++ replace text with RegEx search result

I would like replace a standard string in a file, with another that is a result of a regular expression. The standard text looks like:

<xsl:variable name="ServiceCode" select="###"/>

I would like to replace ### with a servicecode, that I can find later in the same file, from this URL:

<a href="/Services/xyz" target="_self">

The regular expression (?<=\/Services\/)(.*)(?=\" ) returns the required service code "xyz".

So, I opened Notepad++, added "###" to the "Find what" and this RegEx to the "Replace with" section, and expected that the ### text will be replaced by xyz. But I got this result:

<xsl:variable name="ServiceCode" select="?<=/Services/.*?=" "/>

I am new to RegEx, do I need to use different syntax in the replace section than I use to find a string? Can someone give me a hint how to achieve the required result? The goal is to standardize tons of files with similar structure as now all servicecodes are hardcoded in several places in the file. Thanks.

Solution

  • You could use a lookahead for capturing the part ahead.

    Search for: (?s)###(?=.*/Services/([^"]+)") and replace with: $1

    • (?s) makes the dot also match newlines (there is also a checkbox available in np++)
    • [^"] matches a character that is not "

    The replacement $1 corresponds to capture of first parenthesized subpattern.