Batch search-and-replace

[Andrew Brown]

My BBEdit scripts went down with some earlier computer and I am looking for a search-and-replace for grep and non-grep on multiple folders or files.

I also need to convert HTML to text in batch mode, with the options that BBEdit offers for single file conversions.

Any help much appreciated.

AB

[Rich Siegel]

On 9/8/18 at 2:02 AM, li...@c18.org (Andrew Brown) wrote:

> My BBEdit scripts went down with some earlier computer and I am looking for
> a search-and-replace for grep and non-grep on multiple folders or files.
>
> I also need to convert HTML to text in batch mode, with the options that
> BBEdit offers for single file conversions.

File => New => Text Factory should get you started.

R.
--
Rich Siegel Bare Bones Software, Inc.
<sie...@barebones.com> <http://www.barebones.com/>

Someday I'll look back on all this and laugh... until they sedate me.

[Christopher Stone]

On 09/09/2018, at 01:02, Andrew Brown <li...@c18.org> wrote:

My BBEdit scripts went down with some earlier computer and I am looking for a search-and-replace for grep and non-grep on multiple folders or files.

---

Hey Andrew,

That covers a lot of ground.

Disparate files and folders?

Files and folders in the same tree?

Here's one example:

----------------------------------------------------------------

# Auth: Christopher Stone

# dCre: 2014/10/29 07:10

# dMod: 2018/09/09 14:04

# Appl: BBEdit

# Task: Find and Replace in Files On-Disk.

# Libs: None

# Osax: None

# Tags: @Applescript, @Script, @BBEdit, @Find, @Replace, @Files, @Disk

----------------------------------------------------------------

use AppleScript version "2.4"

use framework "Foundation"

use scripting additions

----------------------------------------------------------------

# The Search Folder reference can be either an alias or a posix path or a posix file.

set searchFolderPath to "~/test_directory/Find_and_Replace_It_Test/"

if searchFolderPath starts with "~" then

    set searchFolderPath to ((current application's NSString's stringWithString:searchFolderPath)'s stringByExpandingTildeInPath) as text

end if

----------------------------------------------------------------

set findStr to "good men"

set replStr to "I want my MTV!"

----------------------------------------------------------------

tell application "BBEdit"

    replace findStr using replStr searching in searchFolderPath ¬

        options {search mode:grep, case sensitive:false, showing results:false} ¬

        saving true ¬

        recursion true ¬

        with text files only

end tell

----------------------------------------------------------------

I also need to convert HTML to text in batch mode, with the options that BBEdit offers for single file conversions.

If you want to do this in batch mode then a Text Factory is probably the way to go.

--

Best Regards,

Chris

[Andrew Brown]

Thanks, Rich and Christopher. It has now come back to me that the process I used most was in two parts, 1) a short script invoking 2) separate lists of the numerous changes involved, each list easily generated from a database and each change occupying one line. TextFactory needs around fifteen XML lines per change, anathema to my old bones.

I have found one ancient script where the list is actually in the script :

tell application "BBEdit 4.0"

activate

copy (choose file) to sourceFileName

open sourceFileName

--  ••• Replace characters

replace Every Occurrence searching for "Ü" using "<" case sensitive yes start at top yes

replace Every Occurrence searching for "†" using ">" case sensitive yes start at top yes

replace Every Occurrence searching for "Ì" using "<cm>" case sensitive yes start at top yes

replace Every Occurrence searching for "≈" using "â" case sensitive yes start at top yes

replace Every Occurrence searching for "Å" using " " case sensitive yes start at top yes

replace Every Occurrence searching for "" using "ï" case sensitive yes start at top yes

Will this sort of thing still work ? Saving this script caused Script Editor to hang, so I cannot test it. 

AB

[Rich Siegel]

On 9/10/18 at 2:00 AM, li...@c18.org (Andrew Brown) wrote:

>Thanks, Rich and Christopher. It has now come back to me that the
>process I used most was in two parts, 1) a short script invoking 2)
>separate lists of the numerous changes involved, each list easily
>generated from a database and each change occupying one line.

This would be a perfect application of the Canonize tool.

Write the canon file using your script, and then apply it to
whatever folder you need, using a text factory with a single
Canonize action. (The text factory never needs to change.)

[Andrew Brown]

> On 10 Sep 2018, at 15:19, Rich Siegel <sie...@barebones.com> wrote:
>
> This would be a perfect application of the Canonize tool.
>
> Write the canon file using your script, and then apply it to whatever folder you need, using a text factory with a single Canonize action. (The text factory never needs to change.)

I see now that we went through this not so long ago, it has been a heavy year…

Have I understood correctly that Canonize will not handle grep ?

Cordially,

A.

[Christopher Stone]

On 09/11/2018, at 10:01, Andrew Brown <li...@c18.org> wrote:

Have I understood correctly that Canonize will not handle grep ?

---

Hey Andrew,

What version of BBEdit are you using?

--

Best Regards,

Chris

[Andrew Brown]

Hi Chris. version 12.1.5 (410102, 64-bit). Best — A.

[Christopher Stone]

On 09/11/2018, at 12:21, Andrew Brown <li...@c18.org> wrote:

Hi Chris. version 12.1.5 (410102, 64-bit). Best — A.

---

Hey Andrew,

Then you are quite correct.

Canonize does not support grep.

You might consider making a formal feature request (see the message footer).

--

Best Regards,

Chris