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Search Documents Interactively

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Using the Find and Replace dialog box, you can search one or more open files or windows and move through the search matches one by one. This technique allows you to review each individual search match in the context of the text around the match. You also have the option of performing bulk find operations and reviewing search matches in report format using the Find and Replace dialog box.

To search all open documents

  1. Open the items you wish to search.

  2. On the Edit menu, point to Find and Replace, and then click QuickFind.

  3. In the Find and Replace text box, enter the text to search for.

  4. In the Look in list, select All Open Documents.

    Note

    Certain open files might not be searched when All Open Documents is selected. Only files currently open in a textual view, such as Code view, are included in searches. Files in Designer view are not included in searches.

  5. Select additional search options to increase the accuracy of the search.

  6. Click Find Next to start the search, and continue clicking Find Next until the last file has been searched.

When the search passes the beginning or end of the document, a message is displayed in the status bar. A message box appears when the search reaches the starting point of the search.

To replace in all active files interactively

  1. On the Edit menu, point to Find and Replace, and then click QuickReplace.

  2. In the Find what box, enter the text to search for.

  3. In the Replace with box, enter the text to replace the search text.

  4. In the Look in list, select All Open Documents.

  5. Click Replace, and continue clicking Replace until the last match in the last file has been replaced. Click Find Next to skip a match you do not want to replace.

    -or-

    Choose Replace All to replace all matches. A message box appears, listing the total number of replacements.

The Replace All command replaces all search matches, including those you have skipped with the Find Next button. To cancel Replace All, click Undo from the Edit menu before closing any of the files.

See Also

Search an Active Document Incrementally
Search and Replace
Search Documents Using Results Lists
Search Text with Wildcards
Search Text with Regular Expressions