MultiReplace is a Notepad plugin that allows users to create, store, and manage search and replace strings within a list, perfect for use across different sessions or projects. It increases efficiency by enabling multiple replacements at once, supports sorting and applying operations to specific columns in CSV files, and offers flexible options for replacing text in various ways.

• Key Features
• Match and Replace Options
• Scope Functions
• CSV Processing Functions
  • Sorting, Deleting, and Copying
  • Header Line Sorting Control
  • Numeric Sorting in CSV
• Option 'Use Variables'
  • Variables Overview
  • Command Overview
    • set
    • cond
    • init
    • fmtN
  • Operators
  • If-Then Logic
  • DEBUG option
  • Examples
• User Interaction and List Management
  • Context Menu and Keyboard Shortcuts
  • List Columns
  • List Toggling
  • Statistical Columns Button
• Data Handling
  • Import/Export
  • Bash Script Export
• Window and Display Options
  • Transparency Configuration
  • Multilingual UI Support

• Multiple Replacements: Perform multiple replacements in a single operation, in one document or across all open documents
• Save and Load Lists: Store and load search/replace lists for reuse across different sessions or projects, including all relevant settings.
• Selection Support: Supports rectangular and multiple selections for targeted replacements.
• CSV Column Operations: Search, replace, sort, or highlight specific columns in CSV or other delimited files by selecting column numbers.
• Conditional Replacements: Use variables, conditions, and mathematical operations for complex replacements, fully integrated into the replacement list like regular entries.
• Highlight Matches: Mark multiple search terms in the text, each with a distinct color for easy differentiation.
• Bash Script Export: Export replacement operations as a bash script for use outside of Notepad .

Match Whole Word Only: When this option is enabled, the search term is matched only if it appears as a whole word. This is particularly useful for avoiding partial matches within larger words, ensuring more precise and targeted search results.

Match Case: Selecting this option makes the search case-sensitive, meaning 'Hello' and 'hello' will be treated as distinct terms. It's useful for scenarios where the case of the letters is crucial to the search.

Use Variables: This feature allows the use of variables within the replacement string for dynamic and conditional replacements. For more detailed information, refer to the Option 'Use Variables' chapter.

Replace First Match Only: For Replace-All operations, this option replaces only the first occurrence of a match for each entry in a Search and Replace list, instead of all matches in the text. This is useful when using different replace strings with the same find pattern. The same effect can be achieved with the 'Use Variables' option using cond(CNT == 1, 'Replace String') for conditional replacements.

Wrap Around: When this option is active, the search will continue from the beginning of the document after reaching the end, ensuring that no potential matches are missed in the document.

Scope functions define the range for searching and replacing strings:

• Selection Option: Supports Rectangular and Multiselect to focus on specific areas for search or replace.
• CSV Option: Enables targeted search or replacement within specified columns of a delimited file.
  • Cols: Specify the columns for focused operations.
  • Delim: Define the delimiter character.
  • Quote: Delineate areas where characters are not recognized as delimiters.

• Sorting Lines in CSV by Columns:Ascend or descend, combining columns in any prioritized order.
• Toggle Sort: Allows users to return columns to their initial unsorted state with just an extra click on the sorting button. This feature is effective even after rows are modified, deleted, or added.
• Deleting Multiple Columns: Remove multiple columns at once, cleaning obsolete delimiters.
• Clipboard Column Copying: Copy columns with original delimiters to clipboard.

• Exclude Header Lines from Sorting: Set HeaderLines=<number> in You can set the transparency levels for the MultiReplace plugin window in the INI file located at C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\Notepad \plugins\Config\MultiReplace.ini. to specify the number of top lines to exclude from sorting as headers.

• For accurate numeric sorting in CSV files, the following settings and regex patterns can be used:

Activate the 'Use Variables' checkbox to employ variables associated with specified strings, allowing for conditional and computational operations within the replacement string. This Dynamic Substitution is compatible with all search settings of Search Mode, Scope, and the other options. This functionality relies on the Lua engine.

Note: Utilize either the set() or cond() command in 'Replace with:' to channel the output as the replacement string. Only one of these commands should be used at a time.

Decimal Separator
When MATCH and CAP variables are used to read numerical values for further calculations, both dot (.) and comma (,) can serve as decimal separators. However, these variables do not support the use of thousands separators.

.. is employed for concatenation.
E.g., "Detected "..CNT.." times."

Directly outputs strings or numbers, replacing the matched text in the Replace String with the specified or calculated value.

Implements if-then-else logic, or if-then if falseVal is omitted. Evates the condition and pushes the corresponding value (trueVal or falseVal) to the Replace String.

Initializes custom variables for use in various commands, extending beyond standard variables like CNT, MATCH, CAP1. These variables can carry the status of previous find-and-replace operations to subsequent ones.

Custom variables maintain their values throughout a single Replace-All or within the list of multiple Replace operations. So they can transfer values from one list entry to the following ones. They reset at the start of each new document in 'Replace All in All Open Documents'.

Note: An empty Find string can be used to set variables for the entire Find and Replace list without linking it to a specific Find action. This string will not match any text but is triggered at the start of 'Replace' or 'Replace All' process when 'Use List' is enabled, allowing the Replace field to initialize commands like init() for the entire operation. The position of the entry in the list is irrelevant.

Formats numbers based on precision (maxDecimals) and whether the number of decimals is fixed (fixedDecimals being true or false).

Note: The fmtN command can exclusively be used within the set and cond commands.

If-then logic is integral for dynamic replacements, allowing users to set custom variables based on specific conditions. This enhances the versatility of find-and-replace operations.

Note: Do not embed cond(), set(), or init() within if statements; if statements are exclusively for adjusting custom variables.

• if condition then ... end
• if condition then ... else ... end
• if condition then ... elseif another_condition then ... end
• if condition then ... elseif another_condition then ... else ... end

This example shows how to use if statements with cond() to manage variables based on conditions:

init({MVAR=""}); if CAP2~=nil then MVAR=MVAR..CAP2 end; cond(string.sub(CAP1,1,1)~="#", MVAR); if CAP2~=nil then MVAR=string.sub(CAP1,4,-1) end

The DEBUG option lets you inspect global variables during replacements. When enabled, it opens a message box displaying the current values of all global variables for each replacement hit, requiring confirmation to proceed to the next match. Initialize the DEBUG option in your replacement string to enable it.

MultiReplace uses the Lua engine, allowing for Lua math operations and string methods. Refer to Lua String Manipulation and Lua Mathematical Functions for more information.

Manage search and replace strings within the list using the context menu, which provides comprehensive functionalities accessible by right-clicking on an entry, using direct keyboard shortcuts, or mouse interactions. Here are the detailed actions available:

Right-click on any entry in the list or use the corresponding keyboard shortcuts to access these options:

Note on the 'Edit Field' option: When you paste text into the edit field, any line breaks are automatically removed. This simplifies the process of inserting complex, structured 'Use Variables' statements without the need to convert them into a single line first. However, make sure to include the necessary final semicolons and spaces.

Additional Interactions:

• Space Key: Toggles the activation state of selected entries, similar to using Alt E to enable or Alt D to disable.
• Double-Click: Mirrors the 'Transfer to Input Fields' action by transferring the contents of a row with their options to the input fields, equivalent to pressing Alt Up.

• "Use List" checkbox toggles operation application between all list entries or the "Find what:" and "Replace with:" fields.

• Statistics Button: Located to the left of the list, this button when clicked, opens two new columns:
  • Find Count: Displays the number of times each 'Find what' string is detected.
  • Replace Count: Shows the number of replacements made for each 'Replace what' string.
• Note: The values in 'Find Count' and 'Replace Count' can differ, especially when 'Use Variables' is employed to conditionally modify text.

• Manage Entries: Manage search and replace strings in a list, and enable or disable entries for replacement, highlighting or searching within the list.
• Highlighting: Highlight multiple find words in unique colors for better visual distinction, with over 20 distinct colors available.
• Character Limit: Field limits of 4096 characters for "Find what:" and "Replace with:" fields.

• Supports import/export of search and replace strings with their options in CSV format, including selection states.
• Allows loading list files via drag and drop into the Search and Replace list.
• Adherence to RFC 4180 standards for CSV, enabling compatibility and easy interaction with other CSV handling tools.
• Enables reuse of search and replace operations across sessions and projects.

• Exports Find and Replace strings into a runnable script, aiming to encapsulate the full functionality of the plugin in the script. However, due to differences in tooling, complete compatibility cannot be guaranteed.
• This feature intentionally does not support the value \0 in the Extended Option to avoid escalating environment tooling requirements.

The MultiReplace plugin window and UI elements can be resized according to preference by setting a custom scaling factor between 0.5 and 2.0 (default: 1.0). This is configured by modifying the ScaleFactor variable in the file C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\plugins\config\MultiReplace.ini.

You can set the transparency levels for the MultiReplace plugin window in the INI file located at C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\Notepad \plugins\Config\MultiReplace.ini.

INI File Settings:

• ForegroundTransparency: Transparency level when in focus (0-255, default 255).
• BackgroundTransparency: Transparency level when not in focus (0-255, default 190).

The UI language settings for the MultiReplace plugin can be customized by adjusting the languages.ini file located in C:\Program Files\Notepad \plugins\MultiReplace\. These adjustments will ensure that the selected language in Notepad is applied within the plugin.

Contributions to the languages.ini file on GitHub are welcome for future versions. Find the file here.