InDesign data merge—"remove blank lines" resulting in extra characters

[matthewjm]

I'm using data merge to import two variables per line, and have checked the "Remove blank lines for empty fields" box. The result is a wealth of extra characters that I can't remove using find-and-replace. Of the 24 lines of variables, typically only three contain text, so the other 21 should be empty lines and be deleted by the "Remove blank lines" option.

Attempting to paste these characters into the "find and replace" field, I see

^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|

Any suggestions? Thanks

[Colin Flashman · Accepted solution]

According to this chart: http://jetsetcom.net/images/downloads/InDesign-CC-2018-grep-codes.pdf the code that you've entered represents a hair space.

The remove blank lines for empty fields box isn't as good as Microsoft Word's. The remove blank lines option assumes that there is a variable field, then a line break. If there is anything else other than just this (i.e. two variable fields in a row, a variable field plus a space plus a variable field) InDesign considers the space as a legitimate character and leaves the space in the line without removing the line.