regex searching for optional strings

Don't miss that with a question mark you can make a search for a string optional in a regular expression search. So, in this example the string in parentheses followed by a question mark:

dog(wood)?

. . . will find instances of the string 'dog' which are followed by 'wood' or when they occur without this following string.

regex search to increment each number by one

You can run a regular expression search in NotePad++ to increment a series of numbers by one each. Follow these steps:

1. Starting with a series of numbers like this run a find & replace search:

FIND: $

REPLACE: ~0123456789

2. Then make this replacement:

FIND: (?=\d)(?:([0-8])(?=.*\1(\d)\d*$)|(?=.*(1)))(?:(9+)(?=.*(~))|)(?!\d)

REPLACE: $2$3$4$5

This will increase each number that ends with a digit from 1 to 8 by one, and then add a tag with tilde, '~' in front of digits which end with a 9 and for which the preceding digit will have to also be increased by one.

3. Then run this:

FIND: 9(?=9*~~)

REPLACE: 0

4. Take out the 0123456799 string and the tildes and you'll be left with the updated set of numbers:

Thanks to slackwing for the idea posted here. As always this tip was tested and confirmed to work tonight by Litigation Support Tip of the Night.

Regex search for 1 or more spaces

If you want to search for one or more spaces using a regular expression search use a forward slash, s, followed by X number of spaces and a comma in curly bracket:

CONFIDENTIAL\s{3,}