Find/Replace Abbreviation Formatting

Tagged: find/replace, GREP

This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by Masood Ahmad.

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- March 29, 2017 at 8:10 am #93171
  
  Audra Allen
  Member
  
  Hi, I’m trying to write a GREP style for the Find/Replace function to ensure consistent formatting of abbreviations in my document. For example, in some places, the abbreviation “PE” appears “P.E.” I was able to fix these with the following GREP expression:
  
  Find: ([\l\u])[.]([\l\u])[.]
  Replace: $1$2
  
  However, for other abbreviations, such as “C.F.M.” or “C.P.S.M.”, this code doesn’t work. Is there a way to modify the expression so it finds any length abbreviation, or do I need to conduct a separate search for each with an expression that looks for each specific length?
  
  Thanks!
- March 30, 2017 at 8:28 am #93202
  
  Chad Beery
  Participant
  
  Use this code “\b([\l\u](\.)){2,}” to find and apply a character style, then look for any periods that have the character style applied to them and replace with nothing to delete them.
- April 1, 2017 at 12:08 pm #93335
  
  Audra Allen
  Member
  
  Thank you, Chad!
- April 4, 2017 at 4:54 am #93425
  
  Masood Ahmad
  Participant
  
  Either way you can try this as well:
  
  GREP Find/Change:
  Find What: (\u)(\.)+?
  Change to: $1
  
  I see that the acronyms in your text are all uppercase. If yes, then give it a try…
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