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I have a string of characters, like

"CDABOZPVRYXSWQEGNILUTHMKJF"

and want to convert it to a string in which the character at position p is bold.

After doing this I want to leave the result in a table that will be displayed in TableForm and then used for publications or export — e.g., copy as LaTeX — so the result needs to be (essentially) a formatted string with a single bold character.

Is there a way to accomplish this?

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  • $\begingroup$ Here you have more general solution: How to change the color of specified digits in a number?. You can use it like that: mark["CDABOZPVRYXSWQEGNILUTHMKJF", {{Red, ;; ;; 2}}] $\endgroup$
    – Kuba
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:02
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Kuba That is certainly related. I wonder if it is a duplicate? Your Accepted answer there does not produce String output however. $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:06
  • $\begingroup$ You could use something like "ABC\!\(\*StyleBox[\"D\",FontWeight->Bold]\)EFG". $\endgroup$
    – Szabolcs
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:07
  • $\begingroup$ @Mr.Wizard Probably not a duplicate. The problem with keeping it as a string is that next time it is quite tough to specify position. Row is not a the same head too ;P $\endgroup$
    – Kuba
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:08
  • $\begingroup$ @Szabolcs That also produces errors with "Copy as LaTeX" in Mathematica 10.0.2. Is this operation even possible? $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:55

3 Answers 3

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This question is related to at least:

Fortunately it is simpler than the first one and we can apply the methods provided in the second one.

stringBold[s_String, pos_] :=
 "" <> MapAt[Style[#, Bold] ~ToString~ StandardForm &, Characters@s, pos]

stringBold["CDABOZPVRYXSWQEGNILUTHMKJF", 7]

enter image description here

The output is a String with and embedded Box form:

% // InputForm

"CDABOZ\!\(\*StyleBox[\"\\\"P\\\"\", Bold, Rule[StripOnInput, \
False]]\)VRYXSWQEGNILUTHMKJF"

Any specification that MapAt accepts can be used for parameter pos:

stringBold["CDABOZPVRYXSWQEGNILUTHMKJF", 2 ;; -3 ;; 3]

enter image description here

However the function cannot be applied to more than once, or to an already styled string:

stringBold[%, 3]  (* failure *)
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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ This seems to break LaTeX copying. All I get is \text{ . $\endgroup$
    – orome
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:28
  • $\begingroup$ @rax working on it... $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:33
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks. It would also be great if this could be applied again to the result (to set additional characters to bold of to other styles). $\endgroup$
    – orome
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:39
  • $\begingroup$ @rax Are you expecting the Bold style to be preserved in LaTeX on copy? I do not see that working at all. If this is what you mean is Mathematica even capable of that? Or do you just mean that on copy you want a plain string in LaTeX? $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:44
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$\begingroup$ 
srF = StringReplacePart[#, ToString[Style[StringTake[#, {#2}], ##3], StandardForm], {#2, #2}] &;

str = "CDABOZPVRYXSWQEGNILUTHMKJF";
srF[str, #, Red, Bold, 16] & /@ {3,9}

enter image description here

Note: Copy as LateX does not work

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  • $\begingroup$ This generates non standard LaTeX, such as \unicode. $\endgroup$
    – orome
    Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 21:35
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str = "CDABOZ";

p = {{2}, {4}};

A variant of Mr.Wizards answer using ReplaceAt (new in 13.1)

StringJoin @ ReplaceAt[x_ :> ToString[Style[x, Bold], StandardForm], p] @ Characters[str]

enter image description here

ReplaceAt has the advantage that we can easily impose conditions:

str = "CDAbOZ";

StringJoin @
 ReplaceAt[x_?UpperCaseQ :> ToString[Style[x, Bold], StandardForm], p] @ 
   Characters[str]

enter image description here

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