Regular Expressions Resource

Regular expressions from the checklists on scribenet.com are presented here with minimal context. These can be run on .sam and .scml files. For more details on how and when to use these searches, see the Regular Expressions Resource Supplement.

Quotation Marks, Parentheses, and Brackets

Find: ^[^“]*\”|\“[^”]*\“|\”[^“]*\”|\“[^”]*$

Find: “—|”—|—“|—”

Find: ^[^(]*\)|$[^)]*\(|$[^(]*\)|\([^)]*$

Find: ^[^[]*\]|\][^[]*\]|\[[^]]*$|\[[^]]*\[

Find: (^[^<{\n]*"|>[^<{\n]*"|}[^<{\n]*")

Find: ”([^ \)\<\]\:;\?\&\/—])|([^ \(\>\[—])“

Find: $(.*)$|“(.*)”|\[(.*)\]|$(.*)$|“(.*)”|\[(.*)\]

Punctuation

Find: ([\!:;,\.‘’“”\?\–])\1

Find: ([\!:;,\.\?\–…])([’”])([A-z0-9])

Find: ([\!:;,\.‘’“”\?\–])”

Find: ([ \x{a0}])\.([ \x{a0}])\.([ \x{a0}])\.([ \x{a0}])\.

Find: ([\[$“‘])( )|( )([\.,:;\?!$\]’”])([^\x{a0}])|([A-z0-9]+) \. \. ([A-z0-9]+)

Find: \.([\x{00A0} ])\.([\x{00A0} ])\.’([A-zÀ-ÿ]+)|([A-z0-9>]+)\.([\x{00A0} ])\.([\x{00A0} ])\.([\x{00A0} ])([\!:;,\?\–])

Find: ([^A-Z<][\.\?\!”])([A-Z])|([,:;\)])([A-Za-z“])|([”])([a-z])|([a-z\>])\(|,”,|Scribe, Inc|<crt(.*)(<url>www\.zondervan\.com</url>\. The)

Find: ([a-zÀ-ÿ0-9])</(p|pf|psec|paft|pcon|rf|rf1|rf2|rff)>\n|</([ib])></(rf|rf1|rf2|rff)>\n|([;,\–\-\—])</([a-z]+)h

Find: <([^>/]*)>[^A-Za-z0-9\n]?</\1>

Italic Commas and Periods

Find: ,

Find: ,

Find: \.

Find: \.

Find: Jr\.|Dr\.|St\.|Ms\.|Mr\.|Mrs\.|([Ee])t al\.|U\.S\.|U\.S\.A\.|C\.E\.|B\.C\.E\.|B\.C\.|A\.D\.|([Ii])bid\.|([Ii])\.e\.|([Ee])\.g\.|([Oo])p\. cit\.|([Ee])tc\.|Inc\.|Bros\.

Unexpected Character Patterns

Find: --|–-|—-|-–|-—|([a-z0-9]+)\||- -|'|“ | ”|\),[0-9]|([A-z0-9]+)−([A-z0-9]+)|“’

Find: [A-Za-z][A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z][A-Za-z]|\.([A-z])\.([A-z])</([a-z]+)>\.

Find: </(ct|ctfm|ctbm|cs|cn|pn|pt|ps|ut|un|us|ept|au|au1)>\n([ ]*)<ah[^a]|<structure>([^{])

Find: ([ \t])([0-9]{1,3})</toc([^e])|([ \t])([0-9ivxl]+)</tocfm|([ \t])([0-9]{1,3})</tocill|([ \t])([ivxl]+)</tocill

Find: <dropcap>([A-z])([A-z])|<dropcap>([\[\(“‘\¿\¡])([A-z])([A-z])

Find: ([ ])–([0-9A-z])|>–([0-9A-z])|([A-z0-9])—\. ([A-z0-9]+)

Find: : 

Find: ([\d][\d][\d][\d])-([^0-9])|([\d][\d][\d][\d])-([\d][\d][\d][\d])

Find: n´t|´s|s´

Find: </fnnum>([\t \.]+)([a-z])

Spaces

Find: ( )(\x{a0})|(\x{a0})( )|(\x{a0})<([\/a-z0-9\-]+)>( )|( )<([\/a-z0-9\-]+)>(\x{a0})

Find: ([ \x{a0}])(\t)|(\t)([ \x{a0}])|\x{00A0} | \x{00A0}|([\x{00A0}])([\x{00A0} ])|([\x{00A0} ])([\x{00A0}])

Find: ( )<([ef]nref)([^>]*>[^<]*</\2>)

Find: ^( *)(<[^>]*>)( )|( )$

Find: ([^ ]\||\|[^ ])

Find: ^( *)(<[^\n]*?)( ){2,}

Bible References

Find: ([0-9]+): ([0-9]+)

Incorrect Line Breaks

Find: ^[ ]*<[^>]*>[a-z]

URLs

Find: (<url( href[^>]*)?>[^<]*)([\x{2013}\x{2014} ])

Find: <url>([ \.$\[])|([ ,\.$\]])</url>

Find: ([A-Za-z0-9\.\-:/]+\.(?!jpg|tif|eps|png|svg|jpeg)[A-Za-z]{2,})([^ <"\n]*[^ ><"”'’\)\],;:\.–\n—\?])?

Find: ([^ \<\"\>])http|>([Aa])mazon\.com</url

Find: ([ ><"“'‘\(\[–\n—])(@[a-zA-Z0-9_]{1,15})

Does processing the file to ePub format and reviewing it in Kindle Previewer reveal any dead links?

Process the file to ePub 3 in the Digital Hub.

Open the e-book in Kindle Previewer.

Go to File > Run Quality Checks

Click Open Report.

ISBNs and Zip Codes

If necessary, the following expression can be used to replace en dashes or em dashes with hyphens: \1-\3-\5-\7-\9

Search:

([\d]+)([\x{2013}\x{2014}-])([\d])([\x{2013}\x{2014}-])([\d]+)([\x{2013}\x{2014}-])([\d]+)([\x{2013}\x{2014}-])([\d])

Zip codes should use hyphens; use the following expression to replace an en dash in a zip code with a hyphen: \1-\2

Search:

([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])\–([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])

Angle Brackets

Find: >|<|>|<|>|<|<<|>>

Typesetter Spaces

Find: |&#819[2-9];|&#820[0-4];| 

Find: |&#x200[0-9A-C];| 

Find: [\x{ad}\x{2000}-\x{2009}\x{200a}-\x{200c}\x{202f}]

Find: [^\.]( | |\x{a0})[^\.]|(‍|‍|\x{200d})

Hyphen Spacing

Find: - | -

Potentially Incorrect Hyphenation

Find: [A-zÀ-ÿ]+-[A-zÀ-ÿ]+

Missing Spaces around Tags and Commas

Find: (</[^>]+>)([A-Za-zÀ-ÿ]+)|([A-Za-zÀ-ÿ]+)<(?![eft]nref|page)([^/][^>]*)>|([A-z0-9>]+)\.([A-z0-9]+):

Find: ,([a-zÀ-ÿ0-9]+)([^ \n]*)

Find: (<in[12f]*>)(.*),[a-zÀ-ÿ0-9]

Scribing/Articulation

Does a search for certain style pairs reveal articulation errors? (Note: pf style should be used after a head if it is the first regular paragraph in a chapter.)

Search:

(</[a-e]h[^>]*>)\n(\W*)(<(p|[a-e]h)([^a]))|(</[fen][^>]*>)\n(\W*)(<([a-e]haft))|(</ct[^>]*>)\n(\W*)(<([a-e]h)([^a]))

Find: <b([fl1]+)>(\t){0,1}([A-z0-9]+|<symb>[A-z0-9]+</symb>)|<b([fl1]+)><page id="p([0-9A-z]+)"/>(\t){0,1}([A-z0-9]+|<symb>[A-z0-9]+</symb>)

Find: <u([fl1]+)>(\t){0,1}([0-9]+)([\.\)])|<u([fl1]+)><page id="p([0-9A-z]+)"/>(\t){0,1}([0-9\.]+)([\.\)])

Small Caps

Find: <[^>]*sm[^>]*>[^<]*</[^>]*sm[^>]*>

Tetragrammaton

Find: <[^>]*tetr[^>]*>[^<]*</[^>]*tetr[^>]*>

Alt Text

Find: <img([^<]*)/>

Find: alt="(Presentation|presentation)"

Italic Terms, Phrases, and Titles

Find: <(i|tnw|cite|em)>([^<]*)</\1>

Self-Closing Note Reference Tags

Find: <([fe])nref/>|<([fe])nnum/>

Self-Closing and Unnecessary Tags (.sam/.scml)

Find: <(?!cell|img|page)[^<]*/>|</([^>]*)>[^A-Za-z0-9\n]?<\1>|<([^>/]*)>[^A-Za-z0-9\n]?</\2>

Index Section (.scml files)

Does a search for a number preceded by a space within the index section reveal any errors?

Search:

( [\d]+)|( [ivx–\-]+)([,:\.<])

Does reviewing unlinked “see” references reveal any errors?

Search:

([^A-Za-z])([Ss])ee([^a-z])(.*)

Does a search for closing xref tags followed by dashes reveal any issues with page ranges?

Search:

</xref>([\–\-\—])|</xref>,([0-9]+)

Are any letters appearing where there should be numbers (e.g., l instead of 1)?

Search:

([A-moq-z])([0-9]+)|([0-9]+)([A-moq-z])|</xref>([A-z])

Are any portions of an index entry being linked as a page number, followed by an unlinked page number?

Search:

([^,”])( <xref idref="p)

Are there any instances of number ranges with one number in italics?

Search:

([0-9]+)–([0-9]+)|([0-9]+)–([0-9]+)

Are there any instances of the same page number or range appearing twice in the same entry?

Search:

<xref idref="p([0-9ivx]+)">\1–?([0-9ivx]+)?</xref>([^;\n]*)<xref idref="p\1">\1–?\2?</xref>

Are any pages indexed that do not exist in the book or occur within the range of indexable pages?

Search:

<xref idref="p([0-9A-z\-]+)">([0-9A-z\-]+)</xref>

Position of Tags and Spaces (.sam/.scml)

Find: ^( *)(<[^\n]*?)( )(</[^>]*>)|(<[^/|^>]*>)( )

Page IDs (.sam/.scml)

Find: (<xref.*?>.*?)(<page id=".*?"/>)(.*?</xref>)|(</url>)(<page id=".*?"/>)(<url>)

Find: <([^/>]*)>(<page[^>]*>)</\1>

Find: [a-z]+<page id="([^<]*)"/>[a-z]+

Find: <url>([^<]*)</url><page id="p([0-9A-z]+)"/><url>([^<]*)</url>
Replace with: <url href="\1\3">\1</url><page id="p\2"/><url href="\1\3">\3</url>

Page references (.scml)

Find: [^</][Pp]age

Single-Chapter Bible Books (.scml)

If necessary, the following replace expression can be used: \1\2\31:\4

Search:

(<xbr t=")(Ob|Phm|2Jn|3Jn|Jud|Pr Az|Bel|Sus|Pr Man|LJe)( )([0-9-]+")

Find: (<xbr t=")(Ob|Phm|2Jn|3Jn|Jud|Pr Az|Bel|Sus|Pr Man|LJe)( )([2-9]|[0-9]{2,})(:)([0-9-]+")

If blind notes use <ccust1> as a hidden placeholder, the following expression can be used. Cut and paste the results into a new file. Search the original file for the individual <enref> tag, which should only find instances of poetry lines where the corresponding <ccust1> is in a different paragraph. Other instances may be errors.

Search:

<enref>([0-9]+)</enref>(.*)<ccust1>\1</ccust1>

DTD Validation Troubleshooting (.sam/.scml)

Find content within character style tags at the beginning or end of a paragraph:

Search:

(</?)(a|abbr|ac|b|bcv|bi|bu|bxhn|ccust1|ccust1-i|ccust2|ccust2-i|ccust3|ccust3-i|chemb|cite|code|code-b|code-bi|code-i|dcrit|dcrit-b|dcrit-bi|dcrit-i|dcrit-ob|dcrit-red|dispk|dispk-i|dropcap|dropcap-i|ennum|enref|em|eqn|exhn|fighn|first|first-i|fnnum|fnref|frac|frac-b|frac-bi|frac-i|fterm|grc|grc-b|grc-bi|grc-i|grc-u|gt|gt-i|gt-sm|gtref|gtref-i|gtref-sm|heb|heb-b|heb-bi|heb-i|heb-u|hemb|hl|hl-b|hl-bi|hl-i|hl-iu|hl-u|hn|i|idx|img|iu|lang|lang-b|lang-bi|lang-i|med|ob|osf|osf-b|osf-bi|osf-i|page|pnum|rc|red|red-b|red-bi|red-hl|red-hl-b|red-hl-bi|red-hl-i|red-hl-iu|red-hl-u|red-i|red-iu|red-ob|red-sm|red-sm-i|red-sm-ob|red-strk|red-strk-b|red-strk-bi|red-strk-i|red-strk-iu|red-strk-u|red-u|sbhn|sm|sm-b|sm-bi|sm-i|sm-ob|smver|speaker|speaker-i|strk|strk-b|strk-bi|strk-i|strong|sub|sub-b|sub-bi|sub-i|sub-u|sup|sup-b|sup-bi|sup-i|sup-u|symb|symb-b|symb-i|symb-sub|symb-sub-b|symb-sub-bi|symb-sub-i|symb-sup|symb-sup-b|symb-sup-bi|symb-sup-i|taxclass|taxfamily|taxgenus|taxkingdom|taxorder|taxphylum|taxspecies|tel|tetr|tetr-b|tetr-bi|tetr-i|tetr-ob|tetr-red|tetr-red-i|tetr-red-ob|tgrc|tgrc-b|tgrc-bi|tgrc-i|theb|theb-i|theb-ob|theb-red|thn|tnnum|tnref|tnw|trh|trh-i|u|url|url-b|url-bi|url-i|ver|ver-b|xbk|xbr|xref|xref-i)\>([^>]*>)$
^( *)(</?)(a|abbr|ac|b|bcv|bi|bu|bxhn|ccust1|ccust1-i|ccust2|ccust2-i|ccust3|ccust3-i|chemb|cite|code|code-b|code-bi|code-i|dcrit|dcrit-b|dcrit-bi|dcrit-i|dcrit-ob|dcrit-red|dispk|dispk-i|dropcap|dropcap-i|ennum|enref|em|eqn|exhn|fighn|first|first-i|fnnum|fnref|frac|frac-b|frac-bi|frac-i|fterm|grc|grc-b|grc-bi|grc-i|grc-u|gt|gt-i|gt-sm|gtref|gtref-i|gtref-sm|heb|heb-b|heb-bi|heb-i|heb-u|hemb|hl|hl-b|hl-bi|hl-i|hl-iu|hl-u|hn|i|idx|img|iu|lang|lang-b|lang-bi|lang-i|med|ob|osf|osf-b|osf-bi|osf-i|page|pnum|rc|red|red-b|red-bi|red-hl|red-hl-b|red-hl-bi|red-hl-i|red-hl-iu|red-hl-u|red-i|red-iu|red-ob|red-sm|red-sm-i|red-sm-ob|red-strk|red-strk-b|red-strk-bi|red-strk-i|red-strk-iu|red-strk-u|red-u|sbhn|sm|sm-b|sm-bi|sm-i|sm-ob|smver|speaker|speaker-i|strk|strk-b|strk-bi|strk-i|strong|sub|sub-b|sub-bi|sub-i|sub-u|sup|sup-b|sup-bi|sup-i|sup-u|symb|symb-b|symb-i|symb-sub|symb-sub-b|symb-sub-bi|symb-sub-i|symb-sup|symb-sup-b|symb-sup-bi|symb-sup-i|taxclass|taxfamily|taxgenus|taxkingdom|taxorder|taxphylum|taxspecies|tel|tetr|tetr-b|tetr-bi|tetr-i|tetr-ob|tetr-red|tetr-red-i|tetr-red-ob|tgrc|tgrc-b|tgrc-bi|tgrc-i|theb|theb-i|theb-ob|theb-red|thn|tnnum|tnref|tnw|trh|trh-i|u|url|url-b|url-bi|url-i|ver|ver-b|xbk|xbr|xref|xref-i)\>

Find a character outside of the paragraph tags:

Search:

^( *)([^ <])|([^>\n])$

Find a page ID outside of the paragraph tags:

Search:

^( *)(<page)|(<page[^>]*>)$

Find a self-closing tag outside of the paragraph tags:

Search:

<(?!(cell))[^>]*(/>)$

Documentation

Quotation Marks, Parentheses, and Brackets

Punctuation

Italic Commas and Periods

Unexpected Character Patterns

Spaces

Bible References

Incorrect Line Breaks

URLs

ISBNs and Zip Codes

Angle Brackets

Typesetter Spaces

Hyphen Spacing

Potentially Incorrect Hyphenation

Missing Spaces around Tags and Commas

Scribing/Articulation

Small Caps

Tetragrammaton

Alt Text

Italic Terms, Phrases, and Titles

Self-Closing Note Reference Tags

Self-Closing and Unnecessary Tags (.sam/.scml)

Index Section (.scml files)

Position of Tags and Spaces (.sam/.scml)

Page IDs (.sam/.scml)

Page references (.scml)

Single-Chapter Bible Books (.scml)

Blind Notes Pairs

DTD Validation Troubleshooting (.sam/.scml)