Copy or extract only part of text

Tanja Corell

I have multiple files with a set-up like this:

My Friend, My Brother, My Son

by Ael L. Bolt

Category: Back to the Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-02-08
Updated: 2005-02-20
Packaged: 2013-08-25 09:57:35
Rating: K+
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,835
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Story URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/**2255042**/1/
Author URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/45054/Ael-L-Bolt
Summary: George thinks on the mystery that is Marty Klein. [No slash, implied or otherwise.] [Was going to have eight installments, but I lost my notes, and it can stand as it is.]

I need to copy the id-numbers in bold in all the files and only those, can anyone help me with a regex?

Thanks so much

guy038

Hello @tanja-correl,

Hum…, You don’t speak about the number of your files and about their average size

Moreover, do you mean that, in all your files, you’re looking for the id-numbers, in the exact line, as below ? ( dots refer to any text )

Story URL:......................./id-number/.../

If so ( I mean, only one zone /…/ after the id-number till the end of line ), here is my first attempt :

Firstly, recopy all your files in a new directory ( IMPORTANT )
Start N++ and open the Find in Files dialog ( Ctrl + Shift + F )
In the Find what: zone, type the regex (?s-i).+\RStory URL:(?-s).+/(.+)/.+/$(?s).+
In the Replace with: zone type \1
In the Filters zone choose *.txt or your own extension
In the Directory zone, indicate your new directory, containing a copy of all your files
Check the Regular expression search mode
Now, click on the Replace in Files button and valid the Are you sure dialog

=> Each file should only contain, from now on, the id-number of its Story URL line

Now, :

In the Find what: zone, type the simple regex .+
In the Replace with: zone, type, for security, the regex $0
Click on the Find All button

=> The Find result panel should appear, with all the id-numbers, in line 1, of all the files

Finally, to get all the id-numbers, in an unique file, two solutions are possible :

First solution :
- Right click, on any part of the Find result panel and select the Select All option
- Right click, again, on any part of the Find result panel and select the Copy option
- Open an N++ new tab ( Ctrl + N )
- Paste the previous selection, in that new tab ( Ctrl + V )

=> The id-numbers, exclusively, are recopied !

Second solution :
- Right click, on any part of the Find result panel and select the Select All option
- Hit the classical Ctrl + C shortcut
- Open an N++ new tab ( Ctrl + N )
- Paste the previous selection, in that new tab ( Ctrl + V )

=> This time, each id-number, and the name of their associated file, are written !

Notes on the initial regex :

From the very beginning of file, due to the modifiers (?s-i), the regex .+\RStory URL: grabs all characters ( included EOL ones ), till EOL character(s), followed by the string Story URL:, in that exact case
Then, due to the modifier (?-s), the regex .+/(.+)/.+/$ looks for the remainder of the Story URL line, catching, with the parentheses, the id-number (.+) in group 1
The final part (?s).+ matches all the lines, after the Story URL line, till the very end of the current file
So, in replacement, all the contents of each file are simply replaced by the unique id-number \1

Best Regards

guy038