parenthesis around quotes - start of line/before attribution

lobotomy · Feb 13, 2006#12006-02-13T00:23+00:00

I'm trying to accomplish something that may (perhaps) be impossible to do with a search/replace regexp....here goes...

I have a quote file which has this format:
this is a quote.--Quote Author

I would (ideally) like to end up with this format:

"this is a quote."--Quote Author

in other words;
at the beginning of the line insert parenthesis "
after the period, and before the attribution dashes, insert another parenthesis "

I've tried various approaches, and also read widely through this part of the forum, but haven't found any way to do this yet. Help would be greatly appreciated!!

Regards & TIA
Lobotomy
(because only one half works)

mrainey56 · Feb 13, 2006#22006-02-13T01:57+00:00

You said insert parentheses, but you wrote quotation marks.

Try thus Unix-style regex search/replace

Search: ^(.+)[.]--(.*)$

Replace: "\1."--\2

substitute parens for quotes in the replace string if you like.

read about tagged expressions in the regular expression section for more insight

Bego · Feb 13, 2006#32006-02-13T01:59+00:00

Hi guys

In UNIX-STYLE (see your search-settings) try this:

search
^([a-zA-Z].*)--
replace with
"\1"--

rds Bego