delete empty paragraphs without picking up formats of following para/section?

[simon]

Folks,

How can I use find/replace to delete extra empty paragraphs in my doc
without messing up headings and other formats of following para/sections?

tx, Simon

 

[Jezebel]

Find ^p^p, replace with ^p

 

[simon]

I was thinking more along the lines of find [^13]{2,100} replace with ^13^13
but either method still seems to encounter the
formatting-of-following-section issue. The other technique I've used is to
hide text (by modifying the style font proerties) that may interfere with
the find/replace but it seems you have to turn off Show All formatting.

s

 

[Jezebel]

Replacing paragraphs with ^13 is your problem: in the replace string, ^13
and ^p are not the same. This is a classic Word gotcha. ^13 in the replace
string inserts a pilcrow character and a line break, which looks exactly as
if you had inserted a paragraph break; but it's not. These are characters
*within* the paragraph. If you select the entire paragraph, you'll see it
spans all the pilcrow characters you inserted in this fashion. So the
replacement you are using is turning your document into one big paragraph --
and it thus inherits all the formatting of the final paragraph.

I was thinking more along the lines of find [^13]{2,100} replace with
^13^13 but either method still seems to encounter the
formatting-of-following-section issue. The other technique I've used is to
hide text (by modifying the style font proerties) that may interfere with
the find/replace but it seems you have to turn off Show All formatting.

s

Find ^p^p, replace with ^p

 

[Jay Freedman]

Turn on "Use wildcards". Find (^13)^13{1,} and replace with \1 .
That will preserve any style or formatting that's applied to the first
paragraph mark. Also note that you don't need to supply a maximum
number of repetitions in the braces.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

I was thinking more along the lines of find [^13]{2,100} replace with ^13^13
but either method still seems to encounter the
formatting-of-following-section issue. The other technique I've used is to
hide text (by modifying the style font proerties) that may interfere with
the find/replace but it seems you have to turn off Show All formatting.

s

Find ^p^p, replace with ^p

 

[simon]

Awesome trick Jay. I used (^13{2})^13{1,} because I wanted to preserve one
line between paragraphs. Thanks for heads up about not needing a max in the
braces.

Turn on "Use wildcards". Find (^13)^13{1,} and replace with \1 .
That will preserve any style or formatting that's applied to the first
paragraph mark. Also note that you don't need to supply a maximum
number of repetitions in the braces.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

I was thinking more along the lines of find [^13]{2,100} replace with
^13^13
but either method still seems to encounter the
formatting-of-following-section issue. The other technique I've used is
to
hide text (by modifying the style font proerties) that may interfere with
the find/replace but it seems you have to turn off Show All formatting.

s

Find ^p^p, replace with ^p



Folks,

How can I use find/replace to delete extra empty paragraphs in my doc
without messing up headings and other formats of following
para/sections?

tx, Simon

 

[Graham Mayor]

See http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

Awesome trick Jay. I used (^13{2})^13{1,} because I wanted to
preserve one line between paragraphs. Thanks for heads up about not
needing a max in the braces.

Turn on "Use wildcards". Find (^13)^13{1,} and replace with \1 .
That will preserve any style or formatting that's applied to the
first paragraph mark. Also note that you don't need to supply a
maximum number of repetitions in the braces.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

I was thinking more along the lines of find [^13]{2,100} replace
with ^13^13
but either method still seems to encounter the
formatting-of-following-section issue. The other technique I've
used is to
hide text (by modifying the style font proerties) that may
interfere with the find/replace but it seems you have to turn off
Show All formatting. s

Find ^p^p, replace with ^p



Folks,

How can I use find/replace to delete extra empty paragraphs in my
doc without messing up headings and other formats of following
para/sections?

tx, Simon

 

[simon]

Graham - tx for the ref to the updated tutorial

See http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

Awesome trick Jay. I used (^13{2})^13{1,} because I wanted to
preserve one line between paragraphs. Thanks for heads up about not
needing a max in the braces.

Turn on "Use wildcards". Find (^13)^13{1,} and replace with \1 .
That will preserve any style or formatting that's applied to the
first paragraph mark. Also note that you don't need to supply a
maximum number of repetitions in the braces.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.


I was thinking more along the lines of find [^13]{2,100} replace
with ^13^13
but either method still seems to encounter the
formatting-of-following-section issue. The other technique I've
used is to
hide text (by modifying the style font proerties) that may
interfere with the find/replace but it seems you have to turn off
Show All formatting. s

Find ^p^p, replace with ^p



Folks,

How can I use find/replace to delete extra empty paragraphs in my
doc without messing up headings and other formats of following
para/sections?

tx, Simon