Add quotation at the start and end of each line in Notepad++

I have a list (in a .txt file) which I'd like to quickly convert to JavaScript Syntax, so I want to take the following:

AliceBlue
AntiqueWhite
Aqua
Aquamarine
Azure
Beige
Bisque
Black
BlanchedAlmond

and convert it to an array literal...

var myArray = ["AliceBlue", "AntiqueWhite", ... ]

I have the list in notepad++ and I need a reg expression to add the " at the start of the line and ", at the end and remove the line break... does anyone have a quick fix to do this? I'm terrible with RegEx.

I often have to perform such tasks so to know how to do this would be a great benefit to me. Many thanks

Solution 1:

You won't be able to do it in a single replacement; you'll have to perform a few steps. Here's how I'd do it:

1. Find (in regular expression mode):

   (.+)
   

   Replace with:

   "\1"
   

   This adds the quotes:

   "AliceBlue"
   "AntiqueWhite"
   "Aqua"
   "Aquamarine"
   "Azure"
   "Beige"
   "Bisque"
   "Black"
   "BlanchedAlmond"
   

2. Find (in extended mode):

   \r\n
   

   Replace with (with a space after the comma, not shown):

   , 
   

   This converts the lines into a comma-separated list:

   "AliceBlue", "AntiqueWhite", "Aqua", "Aquamarine", "Azure", "Beige", "Bisque", "Black", "BlanchedAlmond"
   

3. Add the var myArray = assignment and braces manually:

   var myArray = ["AliceBlue", "AntiqueWhite", "Aqua", "Aquamarine", "Azure", "Beige", "Bisque", "Black", "BlanchedAlmond"];
   

Solution 2:

• One simple way is replace \n(newline) with ","(double-quote comma double-quote) after this append double-quote in the start and end of file.

example:

      AliceBlue
      AntiqueWhite
      Aqua
      Aquamarine
      Beige

• Replcae \n with ","

    AliceBlue","AntiqueWhite","Aqua","Aquamarine","Beige
  

• Now append "(double-quote) at the start and end

   "AliceBlue","AntiqueWhite","Aqua","Aquamarine","Beige"
  

If your text contains blank lines in between you can use regular expression \n+ instead of \n

example:

      AliceBlue

      AntiqueWhite
      Aqua


      Aquamarine
      Beige

• Replcae \n+ with "," (in regex mode)

    AliceBlue","AntiqueWhite","Aqua","Aquamarine","Beige
  

• Now append "(double-quote) at the start and end

   "AliceBlue","AntiqueWhite","Aqua","Aquamarine","Beige"
  

Solution 3:

• Place your cursor at the end of the text.
• Press SHIFT and ->. The cursor will move to the next line.
• Press CTRL-F and type , in "Replace with:" and press ENTER.

You will need to put a quote at the beginning of your first text and the end of your last.

Solution 4:

1. Put your cursor at the begining of line 1.
2. click Edit>ColumnEditor. Put " in the text and hit enter.
3. Repeat 2 but put the cursor at the end of line1 and put ", and hit enter.