Help Parsing Datafile and removing unwanted strings

Frederick Dalmeida

Hello,
I am tasked with parsing some very large datafiles that look like the examples below. I am new to RegEx and Notepad++ and will get there eventually but for now I just need help getting over this hurdle. The desired output is what I’m looking to accomplish. Help anyone?

Provided Data
þRecordIDþþFullPathþ
þREC00000001þþ\Network Share\Mike Ren Files\C\Users\Mike Ren\Documents\Outlook Files\MikeR.ost\Root - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inboxþ
þREC00000002þþ\Teams\Users\John Doe\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\JohnDoe.ost\Root - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inboxþ
þREC00000003þþ\Network Share\John Doe Old Laptop #1\D\Users\JohnDoe\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.ost\Root - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inbox\Finance\FW: FY12 Audit Reportþ
þREC00000004þþ\Network Share\Jane Smith Data\C\Users\JaneSmith\Documents\Outlook Files\archive.pst\Top of Outlook data file\Inboxþ
þREC00000005þþ\Backups\Mary Larson\HDD1234\E\Back-up (4.16.2018)\archive.pst\Top of Outlook data file\Inbox\Billing - West Regionþ

Desired Output
þRecordIDþþEmail ContainerþþEmail Folder Pathþ
þREC00000001þþMikeR.ostþþRoot - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inboxþ
þREC00000002þþJohnDoe.ostþþRoot - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inboxþ
þREC00000003þþoutlook.ostþþRoot - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inbox\Finance\FW: FY12 Audit Reportþ
þREC00000004þþarchive.pstþþTop of Outlook data file\Inboxþ
þREC00000005þþarchive.pstþþTop of Outlook data file\Inbox\Billing - West Regionþ

guy038

Hello, @frederick-dalmeida, and All,

As you did not provide lot of information, and in order to, exactly, match your text, I supposed some points :

Regarding the Header line :
- Begins with the string RecordID, surrounded by the þ character and followed by <DC4>þ, which should remain after replacement
- Ends with the word FullPath, followed with the þ character
Regarding the Record lines :
- Begins with the string þREC, followed by 8 digits and the string þ<DC4>þ, unchanged after replacement )
- The parts beginning with, either, the string Root - Mailbox or the string Top of Outlook data file, up to the end of line, must be, also, unchanged after replacement
- The range between two \, placed before the two strings just above, must be rewritten, followed with the string þ<DC4>þ

So :

First, backup the file(s), concerned by this S/R ! ( IMPORTANT )
Open the Replace dialog ( Ctrl + H )
Select the Regular expression search mode
Tick the Wrap around option

Fill the Search what: and Replace with: zones, with the regexes, below ( Copy/Paste ) :

SEARCH (?-is)^\x{FE}REC\d{8}\xFE\x14\xFE\K.+\\(.+?)\\(?=(?:Root - Mailbox|Top of Outlook data file))|^\x{FE}RecordID\xFE\x14\xFE\K(Full)(?=Path\xFE$)

REPLACE (?1\1\xFE\x14\xFE)(?2Email\x20Container\xFE\x14\x{FE}Email\x20Folder\x20)

Click on the Replace All button, exclusively ( Do not use the Replace one ! )

Best Regards,

guy038

Frederick Dalmeida

@guy038
Thanks for the reply. You captured the structure correctly. The Regex that you provided only replaces the values in the header row and does not perform the update (search/replace) on the body of the data. Thanks!

guy038

Hi, @frederick-dalmeida, and All,

Ah, OK ! Probably, the body part of your initial text is indented, as shown below :

þRecordIDþþFullPathþ
    þREC00000001þþ\Network Share\Mike Ren Files\C\Users\Mike Ren\Documents\Outlook Files\MikeR.ost\Root - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inboxþ
    þREC00000002þþ\Teams\Users\John Doe\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\JohnDoe.ost\Root - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inboxþ
    þREC00000003þþ\Network Share\John Doe Old Laptop #1\D\Users\JohnDoe\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.ost\Root - Mailbox\IPM_SUBTREE\Inbox\Finance\FW: FY12 Audit Reportþ
    þREC00000004þþ\Network Share\Jane Smith Data\C\Users\JaneSmith\Documents\Outlook Files\archive.pst\Top of Outlook data file\Inboxþ
    þREC00000005þþ\Backups\Mary Larson\HDD1234\E\Back-up (4.16.2018)\archive.pst\Top of Outlook data file\Inbox\Billing - West Regionþ

In that case, just add the regex \h*, after the ^ symbol, at the beginning of the search regex, which becomes :

SEARCH (?-is)^\h*\x{FE}REC\d{8}\xFE\x14\xFE\K.+\\(.+?)\\(?=(?:Root - Mailbox|Top of Outlook data file))|^\x{FE}RecordID\xFE\x14\xFE\K(Full)(?=Path\xFE$)

The indentation will be kept, after the replacement :-)

Cheers,

guy038

Frederick Dalmeida

@guy038
That did the trick. Thank you!!

ps.
I later found that there were variations in the RecordIDs and some other variations in the email container types and Top Folders so I made some adjustments to account for those variations:
SEARCH (?-is)^\x{FE}.*?\xFE\x14\xFE\K.+\(.+?)\(?=(?:Root - |Top of |EAD2EF20-))|^\x{FE}RecordID\xFE\x14\xFE\K(Full)(?=Path\xFE$)

Again, Thank you so much for the help! You are a life saver.

guy038

Hello, @frederick-dalmeida,

Probably, your regex should have that form !

(?-is)^\x{FE}.*?\xFE\x14\xFE\K.+\\(.+?)\\(?=(?:Root - |Top of |EAD2EF20-))|^\x{FE}RecordID\xFE\x14\xFE\K(Full)(?=Path\xFE$)

or may be, if we care about possible indentations :

(?-is)^\h*\x{FE}.*?\xFE\x14\xFE\K.+\\(.+?)\\(?=(?:Root - |Top of |EAD2EF20-))|^\x{FE}RecordID\xFE\x14\xFE\K(Full)(?=Path\xFE$)

For documentation about regular expressions, see here

As you managed to adapt my regex to your needs, I suppose that you correctly understood its syntax :-) But I don’t mind giving you additional information, if necessary !

Best Regards,

guy038