Find and replace - unwanted "return" inserted

[Eoin]

I tried a "Find and Replace" trying to replace two spaces with a single space. Unfortunately Mellel replaced the two spaces with a space and a return (or line feed).

Is there a solution?

Eòin

[nicka]

It certainly is possible. You can even write a Find and Replace that will find any instance of two or more spaces and replace it with one.

I think the problem has to be what is in the replace box. Are you sure that you only put a space in there?

[Eoin]

Yes - just a single space in the "replace" box - but it adds a "return" in the text. The "replace" box still just has one space in it. Strange

Eòin

[Mart°n]

Is there a solution?

This worked on my Mac several times without any problem. I’ve typed two spaces into the “find” field and a single space into the “replace” field and hit the find, replace, replace all or replace & find button.
Make sure that there isn’t anyting else in your find or replace filed and that you haven’t asigned some formatting to those items (click the “remove formatting” button to be sure).

[Eoin]

Thanks Mart°n - you wrote - click the “remove formatting” button to be sure.

I don't quite understand - I can't find that button. I'm using Mellel version 1.9.1 with OSX 10.4.9

I'm not sure how to "assign formatting" - everything is running in default mode.

Eòin

[Mart°n]

Hi Eòin,

the “remove formatting” button is new as of Mellel 2.1 (i think) and that’s the version I’ve tried the find & replace. Depending on the date you’ve bought Mellel, maybe you could download a newer version from the Redler’s site. You could download updated up to 2 years after the initial purchase without a additional fee (this was 3 years, if you’ve bought Mellel about 3 years ago).

If you couldn’t upgrade for free and don’t want to pay for additional 2 years of free upgrades, I have to look for your older version to do the test, but this could take a while. I think that this should work in 1.9.x too but I’m not sure if there is a option that leads to your problem.

[Eoin]

Thanks Mart°n, it must be a problem with the older version. I am working on a part of long document - the section I have has about 120 000 words (300 plus pages) and I am removing the double spaces by hand!

This is only about 15% of the complete project. I am not able to upgrade at the moment. If you are able - can you confirm it is a problem with the old version.

Eòin

[Mart°n]

Hi Eòin,

I’ve tried this find & replace action with Mellel 1.9.1 b3, 1.9.1 b4 and even the older 1.9 version and it worked with each of the versions without any problem. I’ve tested several instances in a 200+ pages document and haven’t seen the bug you’ve described.

(The Redler’s released 4 different sub-versions of 1.9.1 with very minor bug-fixes. You could see your version if you choose Mellel > About… from the menu. Inside the about window, in the upper right area, you could read the version (Mellel 1.9.1) and the build (Build 2)).

Maybe you have an older 1.9.1 version where this problem occurs or there is something else wrong with your setup. Have you tried the find & replace action with a new file (only type some words with multiple spaces into a new, blank file)?

[Eoin]

Thanks Mart°n - the problem is solved! I'm not sure how. I tried "find and replace" with a new file and it worked perfectly. I then went back to the original file and it worked there too.

I don't know why - but it seems to have put itself right. Many thanks for your help. I dreaded copying and pasting everything to another app.

By the way - the build number is 6.

Thanks once again for looking into this for me - Eòin