Question

I have a big xml file (>300 mb), I am using notepad++ to find and replace using regular expression. I need to select (and remove) xml node which has multiple children across multiple lines.

<contact attrib="foo">
    <child 1></child1 1>
    <child 2></child1 2>
    ...
    <child n></child n>
</contact>

I tried searching with

<contact.*?</contact>

this only works if its all on the same line. Having trouble selecting multiple lines. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

The problem you’re having lies with the engine Notepad++ uses for regular expressions. Refer to the answer posted here for solutions. I’ve had success with this particular one in advanced search mode:

Ctrl+M will insert something that matches newlines. They will be replaced by the replace string.
I recommend this method as the most reliable, unless you really need to use regex.

Also, if you need to edit large XML files, I’d recommend an editor like Foxe for a more intuitive workflow.