Search and Replace for CNC Help Needed

Paul Adamczyk

Fellow Notepad++ Users,

Could you please help me the the following search-and-replace problem I am having?

I am writing CNC programs. I modify the output from my CAM system to use a variable feedrate. The characters can be different depending on which system I’m writing for. Typically there are only a few lines that I change manually, but for certain cycles there are thousands of lines.

Basically, I need to change F300. to F[#23*300.], but the F word can have 1-3 digits to the left of the decimal, and 0-2 digits to the right.
With simple Find/Replace I can get everything I need F[#23*300. to F[#23*1.15 for example, but I can’t get the closing bracket.

Note, I only need to modify the F word, it only occurs at the end of a line.

Before data:

G1 Z-.51 Q66.
X1.4004Y.8297Z-.5129F300.
G3X1.4193Y.7497Z-.52I.052J-.03F150.
X1.6025Y.6946I.1832J.277F85.58
X1.6582Y.6993J.3321
X1.7857Y.7497I-.0557J.3274F171.16
X1.8046Y.8295Z-.513I-.0331J.05F300.
G1X1.7857Y.8625Z-.51
X1.3014Q500.

After Data:

G1 Z-.51 Q66.
X1.4004Y.8297Z-.5129F[#23*300.]
G3X1.4193Y.7497Z-.52I.052J-.03F[#23*150.]
X1.6025Y.6946I.1832J.277F[#23*85.58]
X1.6582Y.6993J.3321
X1.7857Y.7497I-.0557J.3274F[#23*171.16]
X1.8046Y.8295Z-.513I-.0331J.05F[#23*300.]
G1X1.7857Y.8625Z-.51
X1.3014Q500.

I did this with the simple Find/Replace and then adding the closing bracket manually.
*Find = F
*Replace With = F[#23*
*Search Mode = NORMAL
*Dot Matches Newline = NOT CHECKED

I did uses Regex with the following search term to Find all of the words I need to modify.

*Find = F\d+[.]\d*
*Replace With =
*Search Mode = REGULAR EXPRESSION
*Dot Matches Newline = NOT CHECKED

Unfortunatley I have exhausted my mental ablities with that and cannot figure out how to do the Replacement

Thanks in advance for your help.

–
moderator added code markdown around text; please don’t forget to use the </> button to mark example text as “code” and ` around inline text like regex, so that characters don’t get changed by the forum

PeterJones

@Paul-Adamczyk said:

Your second was on the right track:

FIND = F(\d+[.]\d*)
REPLACE = F[#23*$1]
SEARCH MODE = Regular Expression
DOT MATCHES = not checked

The parentheses in the FIND put the number into capture group #1
The $1 in the replacement says “use the contents of capture group #1”

(Personally, I would use \. instead of [.] to match a literal dot character, but your notation works, so I left it the way you understand it)

Paul Adamczyk

@PeterJones

That worked great!
Seems there is a whole level I was not aware of.
Still much to learn.

Thanks for your help!

PeterJones

@Paul-Adamczyk said:

Still much to learn.

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