Replace specific part of a string

Question

I'm currently encountering a pickle in modifications of a document. Lets say for example, I have this chunk of text:

                "id": "EFM",
                "type": "Casual",
                "hasBeenAssigned": false,
                "hasRandomAssigned": false
            },

I currently have roughly 73 - 80 occourances of:

 "id" : "somethingdifferent",

Using a regular expression in notepad++, How can I select the entire string:

 "id" : "",

but only change the contents between the second set of quotes?

Edit

An oversight made me leave this information out:

"equipedOutfit": {
                    "id": "MkIV",
                    "type": "Outfit",
                    "hasBeenAssigned": false,
                    "hasRandonAssigned": false
                },
                "equipedWeapon": {
                    "id": "EFM",
                    "type": "Casual",
                    "hasBeenAssigned": false,
                    "hasRandonAssigned": false
                },

The selected text, looking for is:

 "id" : "EFM",

Are you meaning from second set of quotes as only for the equipedWeapon.id and to leave equipedOutfit.id unchanged or just the value of any id? — Will B.
– Will B., Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 20:43

Federico Piazza · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-01 20:42:50Z

2

You can use a regex like this:

("id": ").*?"

With a replacement string:

$1whatever"
  ^^^^^^^^--- replace 'whatever' with whatever you want

Working demo

Update: as you updated your question, I'm updating the answer. If you want only to replace "id": "EFM" then you have just to look for that text only and put the replacement string you want.

edited Sep 1, 2015 at 20:42

answered Sep 1, 2015 at 20:17

Federico Piazza

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2 Comments

Daryl Gill Over a year ago

Whilst this works. I unfortunately left out some important information. Give me a second

Federico Piazza Over a year ago

@DarylGill I updated my answer. However, I don't see any regex you need to look for a simple string.

vks · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-01 20:27:32Z

1

"id":\s*"\K[^"]*

You can use \K here and replace by whatever you want.See demo.

https://regex101.com/r/sS2dM8/29

EDIT:

If you want only EFM then use

"id"\s*:\s*"\KEFM(?=")

edited Sep 1, 2015 at 20:27

answered Sep 1, 2015 at 20:21

vks

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6 Comments

gion_13 Over a year ago

what does \K stand for in that regex?

vks Over a year ago

@gion_13 \K will match and discard it from the final match.

gion_13 Over a year ago

Very informative... I come from a javascript background and it's the first time I've ever heard of this regex special character. Thanks!

vks Over a year ago

@gion_13 \K is not there in javascript.Only pcre

gion_13 Over a year ago

Yes, I've noticed that and there seems to be a very short list of regex implementation that do support it:stackoverflow.com/a/13543042/491075. However, that answer lists notepad++ in the not supporting \K list.

|

Will B. · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-01 20:51:52Z

1

Find what: ("id"\s?:\s?").*(")

Replace with: \1somethingdifferent\2

Options: Regular expression, Wrap around

answered Sep 1, 2015 at 20:51

Will B.

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