I have several hundred text files in which I need to copy a 3-digit serial number from a representation in Arabic numerals ([0-9]) to a representation in English (['zero' - 'nine']).

Thus, article number "345" needs also the label "threefourfive"; article number "004" needs also the label "zerozerofour".

The serial number appears in a single instance in the text of each file with the label "No.", as in "No. 345".

The English representation is a LaTeX command, prefixed by "\" as in "\threefourfive". As a placeholder for the English representation, each file contains the string "\zerozerozero".

If it can be useful, it happens that the serial number appears also in the filename, as in "abstract-345.tex".

The English representation allows (using the LaTeX package "catchfile") a single article title to be maintained in a separate file, so that it may be used in several documents (catalogue, abstract, article).

I do not know how to approach this; perhaps using a substitution with "s///" ? In occurs to me that matching with the greedy modifier "/g" could also match against ordinary English words in the text files.

In reply to multiple-pass search? by propellerhat

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