I was already typing a long answer, but let me check this first …

Inside InDesign when using GREP, you have to escape each special character with a backslash to make it non-special. But the backslash is also a special character for Javascript! So to get a single backslash inside a GREP expression (to make the next character special), you have to insert two of them in a Javascript string (because JS itself will replace it with one 'regular' backspace).

In your script, as seen above, it would seem that you only used single backspaces, which is a common pitfall when copying a working GREP expression into a non-working script. But (there is always a “but”) … this forum software eats backslashes for breakfast, and to see a single one you need to insert two in your post!

So … is there one backslash per backslash, or did you have two (and the forum ate one), or …?

A good way to check is to remove the two commands at the very end of your script, which reset the Find/Change box to its default state. When removed, the Find/Change dialog will show the exact settings it used; and you can even press the “Find Next” button to check the Find What is still valid.

.. there is a slight glitch. If I apply a soft return to the paragraph ..

Yep — noticed this before. It seems a soft return is also picked up by “^” as a new line. Well … technically it is a forced new line, of course. The odd thing is that GREP sees it as a new paragraph, whereas InDesign treats all as a single paragraph, and always has done so. Perhaps it's a mere oversight by the programmers when they added GREP.

If I apply a soft return to the paragraph, ie. in order to force a word to the next line ..

Avoid that. Use non-breaking spaces (there is a default shortcut for that) or No Break (no shortcut by default, but since it's so useful I added one to my own KB set).

(?<!.)d+(?!.)

There is a caveat emptor with this; it assumes the spaces between your “aardvarks” and “234” are also italics; if not, this GREP will find the number, because it's a number in italics without anything before or after (in italics).

Try this, for the main text:

app.activeDocument.stories.everyItem().paragraphs.everyItem().clearOverrides(OverrideType.ALL);

I think it doesn't work for text in tables and/or footnotes, because these are part of some other internal model.

Well, it works:

— but with some minor caveats. It seems the default top offset, 0 (in your preferred units of measure), aligns with the baseline of the first line. So you have to adjust for the line height yourself — by eye, because InDesign's line height does not start on the baseline but a little below. It's similar to the “Top Paragraph Rule” in that aspect.

Another one is that the added definitions don't appear in Tagged Text Export, INX, or IDML.

And another one is that you can only apply it per paragraph style, trying to access it with the Paragraph panel pops up a friendly alert saying “In Next Version” :)

But– it does What It Promises! Edit the text inside the box/border to make it more or less lines long, and the box automatically adjusts!

I intend to d/l the demo and try it out. The demo doesn't print, but that's o-kay by me — I'm pretty sure DTPUtils know their Page Adornments inside-out. :)

I'll try this at home, probably somewhere in the week-end; not at work, 'cause no matter what, I'm not going to install any demo on my work machine! (What if my colleagues get a “You need this plug-in” message on every file I've made?)

What an odd way to work :) Is that to move objects around very precisely? If I need that, I type the value right into the Control Panel position fields.

The default Nudges include these ones:

Nudge right — Default: Right Arrow
Nudge right 1/10 — Default: Shift+Ctrl+Right Arrow
Nudge right 1/10 duplicate — Default: Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow
Nudge right duplicate — Default: Alt+Right Arrow
Nudge right x10 — Default: Shift+Right Arrow
Nudge right x10 duplicate — Default: Shift+Alt+Right Arrow

so by default you can use your standard increment, as well as 1/10th and x10 of its value — if you enter “10mm” as the default nudge, you can move around in 1 mm steps as well as 10 cm (that last one might be a bit too much).

Here is a small script to change the values to some preset, but you need a different script for each of your values and (probably) assign a shortcut key to each of the scripts as well (since you're obviously a Keyboard Jockey, as I am!).

This simple one-line Javascript sets the increment to whatever you fancy:

I recall from a similar post on the InDesign User's forum that the secret lies in the line endings.

Try https://forums.adobe.com/message/1304548 (it's not the one I was expecting to find, but there you go. Seems the Search Post functionality on Adobe forums is broken. Again.)

(After remembering the Magic Keyword to Google For:) This one was it: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/746804

In another related post I found a tip of myself ( :) ):

“I did find out something new, tho' (for me). If you select “Show Options”, you can see right away if ID recognizes any text file as Tagged text — even though you selected it with the “All files” type. ID shows an ASCII options dialog for plain, and Tagged Text options for recognized stuff.”