How can i concatenate every 7th line (5 groups of 7 long) to 1 line? Please help.

John Goewie · May 11, 2024, 4:29 PM

Example :
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
result concat:
mklink /D “E:\Drum LIB\CLAP\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap” “H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap”

en repeat this for every 7 combinations. Tried with REGEX.

Coises · May 11, 2024, 4:29 PM

@John-Goewie

The best answer to this depends on a couple things:

Is this a “one shot” problem, or do you have to do this repeatedly (on many occasions, for many files, or both)?
Is your actual data consistent about having seven lines in every group, or do you have cases, as in your example, where some groups are short?

If it’s a “one shot” problem, I’d use column selection. The handy “trick” is that if you select a column that includes line endings which are uneven and you paste or drag it before other data, the data to the right of the paste location will “snuggle up” to the end of the pasted data. So, in this example, first make a rectangular selection (click on the top left corner, then Alt+click on the last line far enough to the right to include all the data) enclosing the H:\SAMPLEBASE lines; then, drag that to left of the first of the " lines at the end.

Now, enclose the " " lines and drag them before the lines you just created. Enclose and drag the SAMPLECD1 lines before those, add the missing \ characters (make a zero-width rectangular selection by clicking at the left of the first line, then Alt-clicking at the left of the last line; then just type the \ character), and finally, enclose and drag the mklink lines before those.

That has the advantage of being able to see what you’re doing as you go, so you can make up for any oddities (like the uneven numbers of lines). However, it won’t help much if you have to do this for hundreds of files.

If the data is actually regular (no missing lines, as in your example) and you have a lot of it to change, I’d start by joining sets of seven lines with tab characters; e.g.:

Find what: ^(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)$
Replace with: ${1}\t${8}\r\n${2}\t${9}\r\n${3}\t${10}\r\n${4}\t${11}\r\n${5}\t${12}\r\n${6}\t${13}\r\n${7}\t${14}

You’ll need to Replace All repeatedly, until no more replacements are made; you’ll then have seven lines with tabs separating the lines that went together to make them. (You can do that for multiple files at once using the Find in Files tab.)

Now you can use regular expressions to join the pieces together; for example,
Find what: ^([^\r\n\t]*)\t
Replace with: $1\\
to join the first two parts with a \ between them.

guy038 · May 12, 2024, 9:14 AM

Hello, @john-goewie, @coises and All,

Well, here is my first attempt, which mixes the regex capabilities, the column editor and the sort feature !

First, I needed to add two lines in order to get a coherent set of lines. Hence, this text :

mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
"
"
"
"
"
"
"

The added lines are SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab and H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab

So, first, recopy the text above in a new tab
Put your caret ( cursor ) at the very beginning of the first line mklink ..... of your text
Then, with the following regex S/R, We add the letters A, B, C, D, E ,F ,G in front of each group of 7 lines :
SEARCH (?-s)^(.+\R)(.+\R)(.+\R)(.+\R)(.+\R)(.+\R)(.+\R)
REPLACE A$1B$2C$3D$4E$5F$6G$7

=> Your text becomes:

Amklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP
Bmklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT
Cmklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK
Dmklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION
Emklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH
Fmklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE
Gmklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB
ASAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
BSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
CSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
DSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
ESAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
FSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
GSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
A" "
B" "
C" "
D" "
E" "
F" "
G" "
AH:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
BH:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
CH:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
DH:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
EH:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
FH:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
GH:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
A"
B"
C"
D"
E"
F"
G"

Put the caret between the letter A and the text mklink of your first line
Open the column editor ( ALT + C )
Choose the Number to Insert option
Enter, successively, the numbers 1, 1 an 7, in the 3 zones
Check the Leading zeros option
Click on the OK button

=> You should get this text :

A1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP
B1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT
C1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK
D1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION
E1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH
F1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE
G1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB
A2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
B2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
C2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
D2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
E2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
F2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
G2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
A3" "
B3" "
C3" "
D3" "
E3" "
F3" "
G3" "
A4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
B4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
C4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
D4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
E4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
F4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
G4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
A5"
B5"
C5"
D5"
E5"
F5"
G5"

Now, still within the new tab, run the Edit > Line Operations > Sort Lines Lexicographically Ascending option

=> The text should be changed as below :

A1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP
A2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
A3" "
A4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
A5"
B1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT
B2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
B3" "
B4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
B5"
C1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK
C2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
C3" "
C4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
C5"
D1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION
D2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
D3" "
D4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
D5"
E1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH
E2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
E3" "
E4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
E5"
F1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE
F2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
F3" "
F4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
F5"
G1mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB
G2SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
G3" "
G4H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
G5"

Now, it quite obvious :

Use the following regex S/R
SEARCH (?-s)^.1(.+)\R..(.+)\R..(.+)\R..(.+)\R..(.+\R?)
REPLACE $1\\$2$3$4$5

Here you are : you get your expected text !

mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab"

Note :

In replacement, I added an antislash character which must be inserted between the first group and the second group !

Best Regards,

guy038

guy038 · May 12, 2024, 9:51 AM

Hi, @john-goewie, @coises and All,

@coises, I’ve analyzed your method and, really, your method is quicker and more efficient than mine ! However, for more than, let’s say, a dozen of lines to concatenate, I suppose that building the associate regexes would be tedious !

BTW, I tried a variant of your method which works fine, too :

In this variant, I prefered to not use the \t separator and included the EOL of groups 8 to 13 within the groups themselves !

Thus, from this INPUT text :

mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
" "
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare
H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab
"
"
"
"
"
"
"

The regex S/R is a bit simplified and becomes :

SEARCH (?-s)^(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*)\R(.*\R)(.*\R)(.*\R)(.*\R)(.*\R)(.*\R)(.*)
REPLACE $1$8$2$9$3$10$4$11$5$12$6$13$7$14

and, after 3 clicks on the Replace All button, we get :

mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAPSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHATSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICKSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSIONSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASHSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARESAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STABSAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab"

Then, the simple S/R, below, adds the missing \ character, right before the first SAMPLECD1 string

SEARCH (?-i)[^\\](?=SAMPLECD1)
REPLACE $0\\

Giving the expected OUTPUT text :

mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CLAP\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Clap"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\HIHAT\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Hihat"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\KICK\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Kick"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\PERCUSSION\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Perc"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\CRASH\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Ride"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\SNARE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Snare"
mklink /D "E:\Drum LIB\STAB\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab" "H:\SAMPLEBASE\SAMPLECD1 - Techno\SAMPLECD1 - Techno - Stab"

BR

guy038