How can I convert a list of names into a dictionary-tiddler representing a group? Using a regex-filter?

,
#1

I have a list of names in the form of

   Albert Archman
   Bert Bowman
   Charles Cunningham
   ...

… in a textarea field
With various leading spaces and spaces in between

How can I convert it to a dictionary tiddler with

Albert Archman:
Bert Bowman:
Charles Cunningham:

It would be nice to also have the option to abreviate

Albert A:
Bert B:
Charles C:

This shall be part of the group widgets of my classroom suite and used for a groupmaker and a speakerlist which can be seen there

#2

Are regular expressions the way to do this?
I tried
{{{ [{$:/temp/classroom/group!!prepare}search-replace:g:regexp[\n],[:\n]search-replace::regexp[$],[:]]}}}

But the result is \n in the text insead of a new line

#3

For the first part, you can try this:

<$list filter="[[aaa]get[text]split[
]trim[]]">

</$list>

(yes, that weird linebreak should be there. There is some escaped character alternative that I always forget… something along the lines of \n but that ain’t it)

For the abbreviation of the family names, I think a relevant question is if the full name always follow that format, i.e TWO names? I’m not sure how to achieve the abbreviation but I still would think this is an important question to know.

1 Like
#4

Its splitregexp[\n]

#5

I would be tempted to create contact tiddlers with first and last names, rather than using a dictionary tiddler because you can extend it further.

#6

Thank you @twMat

\function newline() [[:]] [charcode[10]] [charcode[13]] +[join[]]

<$button class="tc-btn-invisible">test 2
<$action-setfield $tiddler="$:/temp/group" text={{{ [{$:/temp/classroom/group!!prepare}search-replace:g:regexp[\n],<newline>search-replace::regexp[$],[:
]]}}} />
</$button>

yeah; the charcod operator does it!
Now for the trimming:
Filters for removing

  • leading zeros in each line
  • Middlenames
  • Abreviating the surname

Wanted.

   Albert Anton Archman
   Bert Bowman
   Charles Cunningham
   Doris D. Day
   ...
#7

For privacy reasons here in schools even the surname should be abreviated… Otherwise our DSGVO General Data Protection Regulation - Wikipedia can get you into big trouble.

#8

I now have a button (group widgets) that produces a usable dictionary-tiddler further, it seems to be easier to apply further formatting to the produced indexes in a second step: