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

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

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

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

Find: $[^\n$]*\)|“[^\n”]*[\!:;,\.‘’“”\?\–]?”|\[[^\n\]]*\]|$[^\n$]*\)|“[^\n”]*”|\[[^\n\]]*\]

Find: <(i|b|bi|sm|sm-i|sm-b|sm-bi)>$(.*)</\1>$

Find: $<(i|b|bi|sm|sm-i|sm-b|sm-bi)>(.*)$</\1>

Find: ’s

Find: ‘([tT]is|\d\d)\b

Punctuation

Find: ([\!:;,\.‘’“”\?\–])\1

Find: [\!:;,\?\–…][’”][A-Za-z0-9]|\.[”][A-Za-z0-9]|\.[’][A-Za-rt-z0-9]

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

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

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

Find: ([^A-Z<][\.\?\!”])([A-Z])|[,:\)][A-Za-z“]|(?<!&amp);[A-Za-z“]|([”])([a-z])|,”,|(,\.)

Find: ([a-z])$(?!s$)

Find: <crt(.*)(<url>www\.zondervan\.com</url>\. The)|Scribe, Inc

Find: [a-zÀ-ÿ0-9]</(p|pf|psec|paft|pcon|rf|rf1|rf2|rff)>\n(?!\s+<bq)|</[ib]></rf[12f]?>\n|[;,\–\-\—]</[a-z]+h

Find: (January|February|March|April|May|June|July|August|September|October|November|December)(\x{a0}| )([\d]+)(\x{a0}| )([\d]+)

Find: (January|February|March|April|May|June|July|August|September|October|November|December)(\x{a0}| )([\d]+),([\d]+)

Find: ([A-Z]\.)+[A-Z][:?!, ]

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

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\.|Id\.|fl\.|f\.|c\.|fig\.

Unexpected Character Patterns

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

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

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

Find: : 

Find: <(p|pf|psec|paft|pcon|psep)>(?:<page[^>]*>)*\t

Find: \b[\d]{4}[\-\—][\d]{4}\b|<(crt|cip)[^\n]+\b97[89][\d\-]*[\–\—]

Find: ([\d]){4}([\–\-\—])(author|editor|translator)

Find: n´t|´s|s´

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

Find: </fighn>(?:<[^>/]+>)?[^\s<]

Find: <(sup|sup-i)>TM</\1>

Find: ([\d]+)\s+x\s+([\d]+)

Find: \$([\d]+)(\x{a0}| )dollar

Find: >(Edited|Translated) [A-Z]

Find: [^p]p\.(\x{a0}| )([\d]+)–

Find: </ah[^>]*>\s*<en>[\x{a0} \t]*<ennum[^>]*>(?:[234567890]|1\d)

Structure Tags and Chapter Divisions

Find: <sam>\n[ ]*<structure>\{~\?~ST: end

Find: <chapter[^>]*/>|id=""

Spaces and Tabs

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: ^( *)(<[^>]*>)([ \x{a0}]+)| $|[^\s][ \t\x{a0}]+(</[^>]*>) *$|^( *)(<[^\n]*?)( ){2,}

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

Find: ([A-Za-z])“|([\!:;,\.‘’“”\?\–])“

Find: [\x{a0} ]<[^<]*>[\x{a0} ]|[\x{a0} ]</[^<]*>[\x{a0} ]

Find: <(tch|tch1|tch2|trhd|th|th1|th2|tatr|td|td1|td1p|td2|td2p|td3|td3p|tdf|tdl|tdnl|tdp|tdul|tn|nttd)>\t

Find: ^\s*<(?!eq|toc|[^>]*[bun]l|[fe]n)[^>]*>[^\n]*\t

Find: [\t]{2,}

Write-in Lines

Find: [_]{2,}

Incorrect Line Breaks

Find: ^[ ]*<(?!([^> ]*[sn]l|in|[^> ]*bq[fs]|rf))[^>]*>(?:<page[^>]*>)*[a-z]

Find: <rf[^>]*>(?:<page[^>]*>)*(?!(d[eiu]|della|v[oa]n)\b)[a-z]

Find: ;</(?:rf|[fe]n>)

URLs

Find: (<url( href[^>]*)?>[^<]*)[\x{2013}\x{2014} \x{a0}]

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

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

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

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

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 ebook 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])

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}]

Hyphen Spacing

Find: (- )(?!(and|or|to|und)\b)

Find: (?<!\band)(?<!\bor)(?<!\bto)(?<!\bund) -

Find: %-[\d]+%

Missing Spaces around Tags and Commas

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

Find: ,([a-zÀ-ÿ]+)([^ \n]*)

Find: ,(\d\d?[^\d]|\d{4})

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[^>]*>\s*<[a-e]h[^a]|</(?:[fe]n|nt|footnote)[^>]*>\s*<[a-e]haft|</ct[^>]*>\s*<[a-e]h[^a]|</ahaft>\s*<p[^f]|</(ah|[b-e]h[^>]*)>\s*<p[^a]

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

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

Find: <n[fl12345]+>(?:<page[^>]*>)*\s*[$\[]?([^\d \($\[\]\.<>]{2})

Find: </([^>/]*[nu]l[0-9p]*|(?:sb)?bl[0-9p]*)>\s+(</list>\s+)?<(p|pcon|paft)>

Find: </([^>/]*)(pcon)([^>]*)>\n([ \t]*)<([^>/]*)(pcon)

Find: </tocpt>(.*\n)+?\s*<toc[^f][^\n]*Conclusion

Small Caps

Find: <(sm|sm-i|sm-b|sm-bi|tetr|tetr-i|tetr-b|tetr-bi)>([^<a-z]+)</\1>

Alt Text

Find: alt="(Presentation|presentation)"

Find: alt="[^">]*"[^">=]*"

Find: Description automatically generated

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>|<((?!td|symb)[^>/]*)>[^A-Za-z0-9\n]?</\2>

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-Za-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))[^>]*(/>)$

Find a table tag in a footnote or endnote:

Search:

</([^>/]*)(en|fn)([^>]*)>\n([ \t]*)<([^>/]*)(table)

Documentation

Quotation Marks, Parentheses, and Brackets

Punctuation

Italic Commas and Periods

Unexpected Character Patterns

Structure Tags and Chapter Divisions

Spaces and Tabs

Write-in Lines

Incorrect Line Breaks

URLs

ISBNs and Zip Codes

Typesetter Spaces

Hyphen Spacing

Missing Spaces around Tags and Commas

Scribing/Articulation

Small Caps

Alt Text

Self-Closing Note Reference Tags

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

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)