check group status

user wrote:

FROM:
GROUP1{TAB}IT{TAB}EM1{TAB}SENT
GROUP1{TAB}I{TAB}TE M2{TAB}SENT
GROUP2{TAB}IT E M3{TAB}SENT
GROUP2{TAB}ITE{TAB}M4{TAB}NOT SENT
GROUP2{TAB}ITEM5{TAB}SENT

TO:
GROUP1{TAB}SENT
GROUP2{TAB}NOT SENT

Try (with an copy of your file!)
this RegEx search & replace:

FIND: (.+?t).+t(NOT SENT|SENT)
REPL: $1$2
[X] Use Regular Expressions

Explanation:
(.+?t) = match and store all non-greedy till the first TAB into group $1
.+ = match all, but only till:
t(NOT SENT|SENT) = an TAB followed by “not sent” OR “sent”, which ever is stored in $2

.

user wrote:
great thanks!

how do I count the instances of a match and store the amount in a variable?

Do the RegEx s&r with an macro.

For example i have found that this
JavaScript macro could be an base for your issue:

	

	//select your text, then execute the macro

	if (document.selection.IsEmpty){alert('Nothing selected?'); quit();}

	SelText = document.selection.text;

	alert(SelText); // <== only for testing

	

	

	//Settings:

	MatchREx = "(.+?t).+t(NOT SENT|SENT)"; //Match/Find this

	ReplWith = "$1$2"; 			//Replace with that

	REModify = "gi"; 	//(G)lobal, (i)gnor case, (M)ultiline

	

	

	//How many matches?

	Matches = SelText.match(RegExp(MatchREx,REModify)).length;

	

	//Do the RegEx search&replace itself:

	ReplacedStr = SelText.replace(RegExp(MatchREx,REModify),ReplWith);

	

	

	//The output:

	alert(Matches + ' matches found'); // <== only for testing

	alert(ReplacedStr); // <== only for testing

	

	//Overwrite the selected text:

	//document.selection.text = ReplacedStr;