DFTeitel

Q: Global replace of various invisible characters.

How can you do a global replace of two paragraph returns for one, and a global replace of a period followed by two spaces to a period followed by one space. It's easy in Word but I can't find how to present those invisible characters in the Replace window.

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Aug 31, 2016 12:23 PM

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Q: Global replace of various invisible characters.

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  • by VikingOSX,Helpful

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Aug 31, 2016 12:50 PM in response to DFTeitel
    Level 7 (20,591 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 31, 2016 12:50 PM in response to DFTeitel

    Since you didn't mention the specific version of Pages that you are using, I will give you an example using Pages v5.6.2.

     

    Replace two paragraph returns with one:

    1. View menu : Show invisibles
    2. Enter two paragraph returns
      1. Select both, and press command+e to make these the Find search parameter
      2. Select one, and the Edit menu : Find : Use Selection for Replace
      3. Remove the “template” two paragraph returns that you entered to build a and b above.
    3. Press command+f to initiate the Find.
      1. You may have to click the gear icon to choose Find & Replace.
      2. All successive double paragraph marks will give you a found quantity
      3. Replace all.

     

    Replace a period followed by a double-space with a period and single space:

    1. Enter a period trailed by two spaces.
      1. Select all three characters and press command+e to make this the Find search parameter.
      2. Select the period and one trailing space, and then Edit menu : Find : Use Selection for Replace
      3. Remove the period and two spaces that you used to complete a and b here.
    2. Press command+f to initiate the Find
      1. If you have a found quantity, then click Replace All.

     

    In Pages '09, the command+e part works the same to make a selection the Find target, but there is no Edit menu : Find : Use Selection for Replace. Instead, select the character(s) that you want to use for the replacement, and then drag/drop them into the Find dialog's Replace field.

  • by DFTeitel,

    DFTeitel DFTeitel Aug 31, 2016 12:56 PM in response to DFTeitel
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iWork
    Aug 31, 2016 12:56 PM in response to DFTeitel

    Thanks so much. It does much but not all of what I need. I didn't explain all of what I need so here it is:

     

    There is a section of a medical transcription that I dictate in which there are two paragraph returns between paragraphs and a single paragraph return at the end of each line. I really want to get rid of that paragraph return at the end of the line. In Word I select only that section of the document that I want to change, then replace the two paragraph returns (^p^p) with anything else not normally seen (I use **), then delete the paragraph returns at the end of the line by replacing ^p with nothing, and then replace the ** with the ^p^p so I have the paragraphs separated again.

     

    I tried what you suggested and can get rid of the two paragraph returns, and I can get rid of the single paragraph returns, but it does the whole document even if I've selected only part of it, which messes up the rest of the document, and I can't seem to back replace the ** with two paragraph returns.

     

    I really appreciate your help.

    David

  • by VikingOSX,Solvedanswer

    VikingOSX VikingOSX Aug 31, 2016 1:17 PM in response to DFTeitel
    Level 7 (20,591 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 31, 2016 1:17 PM in response to DFTeitel

    The Find/Replace facility in Pages v5 (and even Pages '09) will not operate on a range of selected text, and in either case, is no replacement for the power in the Word Find/Replace tool. Use the latter to be more productive in your transcription tweaking.

  • by DFTeitel,

    DFTeitel DFTeitel Aug 31, 2016 1:20 PM in response to VikingOSX
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iWork
    Aug 31, 2016 1:20 PM in response to VikingOSX

    thanks again. I appreciate your quick and expert help. Back to Word...