Notepad++ find and replace using wild card

Question

I have this very long file with many lines like this:

MeshFile=brosm05028.gmt CollTarget=True HATTarget=True LODOut=(500.0)

What I am trying to do is to use notepad++ find and replace to set the CollTarget to False of every MeshFile named brosm[XXXXX].gmt. The line of text should end up looking like this:

MeshFile=brosm05028.gmt CollTarget=False HATTarget=True LODOut=(500.0)

I know how to use ".*" to find but I don't know how to keep the unique numbers when I replace. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

To keep part of the text you find in the replacement intact, you would use capture groups.

Find (with RegEx):

(MeshFile=brosm.*.gmt CollTarget=)(True)

And replace with:

\1False

Answer 2

A more specific regex here would be:

^(MeshFile=brosm\d{5}\.gmt CollTarget=)True

Explantation:

• ^ to ensure start of the line, if needed
• \d{5} to capture 5 digits, which you specified as required file format in your question. If instead you meant any number of digits, then \d+ can be used.
• \. escapes the dot just in case
• everything between () gets captured as \1 and thus you can replace with:

\1False

Answer 3

• Ctrl+H
• Find what: MeshFile=brosm.+?\.gmt CollTarget=\KTrue
• Replace with: False
• TICK Wrap around
• SELECT Regular expression
• UNTICK . matches newline
• Replace all

Explanation:

MeshFile=brosm          # literally
.+?                     # 1 or more any character but newline
\.gmt CollTarget=       # literally
\K                      # forget all we have seen until this position
True                    # literally

Screenshot (before):

Screenshot (after):