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• • December 7, 2018 at 8:16 am #112579
    Pat Malone

    Member

    Hi,

    I have lots of names (20k…) I’m placing inside shape areas. The names will be separated by bullet characters(space+bullet+space) and I need to keep them from breaking. I’m guessing adding a GREP style to a paragraph style could target the text between bullets and keep them form breaking? I’m a newb when it comes to GREP and this is probably a simple formula but I’m still a bit confused as to what the formula would look like.

    Also, because I know this might be an ask from the client before all is said and done – can the names alternate between 2 colors? Not between first and last names but full names, so the text between the bullets. Is this something a GREP style could handle as well?

    Thanks so much for any help or advice!

    pm

  • December 7, 2018 at 8:36 am #112580
    Pat Malone

    Member

    Just bought the book GREP in InDesign so I might be able to figure it out.

  • December 7, 2018 at 3:38 pm #112607
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    It might be easier to apply No Break to the whole thing, and then use a GREP Style to apply a character style that turns OFF no break for the space-bullet-space.

    To do that, make a character style that has the No Break checkbox blank. If there’s a checkmark in it, it means “on”; if there’s a dash in it, it means “leave it alone.” But if the checkbox is blank, it means “turn it off.”

    The grep style could be ~8 (that means space followed by a bullet followed by a space)

    The alternating colors is trickier. Hm…

  • December 7, 2018 at 3:39 pm #112608
    Pat Malone

    Member

    I’m starting to wrap my mind around GREP a bit but not very confidently.

    While trying to figure out the solution to my original question I did find how I could change colors of alternating words, but it also includes the bullets. ~8(.+?)~8

    I realize this is lacking and not useful for me at the moment. But, it’s cool to see how it can work and that I can select a character style with the color I need and the change is made to half of the 20k names – me likes the potential.

    Still not sure what formula combo to use that would select between bullet characters – text, the space between but not the space before or after the bullets. And after I do, how to make ~S work between the words (names) only? Some are company names so dealing with more than two words here and there.

    I don’t mind having some lines end with a bullet and some begin with a bullet. I’d actually rather that be the case from a visual standpoint. That’s why I don’t want the non-break applied to the space before or after the bullet, or at least I think that would be the result?

    Again thanks for any advice or help – I’m learning!

  • December 7, 2018 at 3:40 pm #112609
    Pat Malone

    Member

    Just saw your post David I’ll give that a try. Thanks!

  • December 8, 2018 at 8:35 am #112651
    Pat Malone

    Member

    David – your idea worked great.

    I created a paragraph style that had all the formatting I needed for all the text, including No Break. But before I applied it I did a find change for the space bullet space using the GREP you suggested ~8 and assigned the character style I created that had No Break checkbox blank. I did this first since all my text would disappear or become overset when applying the paragraph style first. Wanted to explain the order in case someone else runs into that issue.

    As far as the colors go, I’m trying a few ideas that I think will give me the desired result. Not sure the alternating colors works visually. But overall I’m in a great spot now, so thanks again for taking time to respond – much appreciated!

  • December 8, 2018 at 2:55 pm #112667
    Michel Allio for FRIdNGE

    Participant

    It can be done with 2 Grep styles! …
    Paras beginning and finishing by a bullet (or not), all the bullets in black, odd names in red, even in green!

  • December 10, 2018 at 8:59 am #112754
    Pat Malone

    Member

    Michel Allio,

    Thanks for weighing in – I do have a question about your idea since I’m still learning GREP. What would the formula look like if I just wanted to select the odd or even text(names) between bullets so I could apply a graphic style I could use to change the text color?

    I have a Character style already on the space bullet space area to handle the break for the names and it works great – and I have applied colors to that to audition looks. But I would be interested in trying a graphic style I could apply to the odd or even names between bullets so I could change colors. I’m just not sure what the actual formula would look like to target those. I’ve tried to input what I think might target but no luck – still learning GREP.

    Thanks for your help!

  • December 11, 2018 at 1:02 pm #112804
    Michel Allio for FRIdNGE

    Participant

    You’re welcome! …

  • December 12, 2018 at 1:04 pm #112864
    Michel Allio for FRIdNGE

    Participant

    Pat,

    Your question has been solved in another forum! …

    Best,
    Michel, for FRIdNGE
    michel.allio.fridnge@gmail.com

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