I have a document with a long list of variables. I deleted all whitespace to push the characters together, and now I am trying to use wildcards to delete the characters I don't need.

For instance, I have:

Q5.14.begetablessuchaspumpkincarrotsyellow/orangesweetpotatoripemangoesorpapayaspassionfruiti lemabogakarotiviazivitamumaembemapapaiaumapesheni
Here, only Q5.14.b should stay. Things similar to this happen. So, I thought of using a wildcard in the Find and Replace dialogue. The wildcard is:



.b*
and is replaced with:
.b

I try this, but it doesn't delete the extra letter in the example above. What would the proper syntax be for 'delete all characters after a period and the letter b?'

If your list of variables is concluded with a paragraph mark, try using:
.b*^13
.b^p

See Finding and Replacing Characters Using Wildcards

Assumin each line begins with Q and is followed by a number, period, 1-2 digit number, period, then a letter, you could use a wildcard Find/Replace, where:
Find = (Q[0-9].[0-9]{1,3}.?)*^13
Replace = \1^p

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]