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Put Index mark before a word in Find/Change

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    • #94179
      Gábor Fodor
      Member

      Hi there!

      I would like to put an index mark (^I) before a certain “word” in my text with using Find/Change box. But when I put the “word” in the Find section and “^Iword” in the change, InDesign always change it with characters and not the invisible Index mark. How can I put this mark in an invisible way?

      Thanks for the answers in advance!

      Gab

    • #94185
      David Blatner
      Keymaster

      I know you can remove index markers with Find/Change, but I don’t think you can insert them…? I’m not sure.

      https://creativepro.com/how-to-remove-all-the-index-entries.php

    • #94207

      Hi Guys,

      the short answer:
      this isn’t possible.

      The long answer:
      If you deal with grep expressions, you must distinguish between literals (abc) and metacharacters (e.g. or ~|). As you see, there seems to be a difference in those kind of metacharacters. While everything with a “\” in front is a real regex-metacharacter, everything with a “~” is InDesign-stuff.

      If you search for text or for grep, you search within a string. If there is already an indexed word, you will find an anchor for that word. This anchor is displayed within a string with a InDesign-metacharacter. But from a technical point of view, there is also an index entry generated internally.

      So, if you search for strings, you can only change a string to a string but you cannot generate and index entry! To make things complicated: While you can insert in the change-field e.g. \r you will get a return, but if you insert \u (character-class shortcut for any uppercase letter), you end up with “\u” as literal. Same if you enter “~|”

      We talked in another topic about Peter Kahrels index-script. This is based on a character style, but can also be rewritten to deal with find-results. I dreamed, that we have also scripts, that deal with imported lists.

      Kai

    • #94208
      Masood Ahmad
      Participant

      I like the long answer :), interesting and knowledgeable.

    • #94228

      Hi!

      Grep-index!? … Cool! [ Sorry Masood, no video this time! ;-) ]

      E.g., Index all the 7-letters words beginning by a letter between “a” and “h”!!

      (^/)

      Add-Substract Percentage On Selection! …  (^/)  ;-)

    • #94230

      … Of course, if you want index all “Masood Ahmad” [or Kai Rübsamen or David Blatner …], just type them into the UI as:

      Masood Ahmad|Kai Rübsamen|David Blatner

      (^/) ;-)

    • #94234
      Gábor Fodor
      Member

      The news are sad and unacceptable :)
      Anyway, I have to put the marks manually.

      Thanks for everybody!

    • #94237

      … Not necessarily! … But it’s just a comment: when ID doesn’t do it basically, other ways could exist!! ;-)

      (^/)

      • #94261
        David Blatner
        Keymaster

        What Obi-wan means is that you could hire a scripter to write a script to do this. If it saves you 2 or 3 hours of time, then it may be worth it!

    • #94265

      David,

      All below is not about the present thread! More globally:

      Since the beginning of the present year, I’ve written 96 scripts covering lots of ID features!

      What I’ve systematically noted is that people prefer to jump on forums [until they visit all] and wait desperately for a free solution! … and more often loose their time for nothing!

      What I’ve also noted is that simply showing the use of a script and not giving its code is a “real shame” for many people!!

      … Alas, you’re totally wrong: pay some $ for a time-saver is a real non-sense for them!

      In the past, Scripters have given so much for free to explain the real power of automatisms than now many don’t imagine they could pay something!

      When I gave something, I was a great Jedi! Now, many people see me as a disreputable Sith!

      No more comment!

      (^/)

      • #94266
        David Blatner
        Keymaster

        Michel, no, you misunderstood my comment! I agree with you. I want scripters to get paid! :-)

        Of course, if it were a script that takes you only 5 or 10 minutes, then maybe it would be nice to share with the community for free. Or, if it something that brings you other work or donations, then perhaps it would be something you can put on a web page.

        But I want all InDesign users to think:
        1.” I will look to see if there is some free or inexpensive solution already available.”
        2.” If I cannot find anything, I will ask for a solution, and if I think it will save me 2 or more hours, I will offer to pay a reasonable fee!”

        However, do not be angry at people who spend many hours looking for free solutions. There will always be more people who have more time than money. But there will always be some people who have more money than time, and they are often willing to give you money to save themselves time.

    • #94284

      David

      I perfectly understood you! ;-)

      However …

      • We are dealing with real “marathoners”, endurance enthusiasts who, as long as the “for-free” victorious arrival line remains far away, will continue to run such Forrest Gump!

      • If this ultimate line seems to shirk under their feet, they’ll surely prefer to feign a cramp and get out of the race with the honors of a compassionate crowd and the deeply rooted feeling of having tried everything!

      Many, with a serious coach, a balanced diet and adapted shoes, could have climbed the podium! … But that means a true investment!
      If people praise the Champion, speak a little about the 2nd and 3rd, laugh at the 4th and recognize the amazing courage of the last, the rest of the pack will be lost forever in the depths of the collective memory! For us, it’s just a fatality matter!

      Should I then be angry? Not at all ! Rather amused when I look at the World (yet antagonistic of Jedi status!)

      (^/) ;-)

    • #116872
      Civi Bernath
      Participant

      As a relatively new discoverer of scripts, I’m blown away by how it has changed my life.
      The best ones so far have been
      David Morgan’s insta-export
      Peter Kahrel’s index by character
      Multi-Find/Change (I forget the author)

      My approach is to try something for free (that’s a must) and if I love it, I offer payment whether or not it’s requested. I even ask the writer what it’s worth to him/her. I just can’t see myself benefitting so greatly and not paying for it.

      And for those freebie searchers out there, any app that I pay for, even a nominal fee, ends up incomparably more functional.

    • #116886

      Multi-Find/Change is by Martinho DeGloria, at automatication.com … he’s wonderful.

      AM

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