The Find and Replace tool allows you to locate text in your content and replace it with alternative text, if desired.
Text in the following areas is included in this operation:
Module, section, and topic names
Text and object names in the Frame Properties toolpane
Implicit text for string inputs
Decision frame headings and path names
Text in Author Notes, Instructor Notes, and Expected Test Results panes in the Topic Editor
Jump-in point text
Text in web pages
HTML elements such as text in tables, lists or image alt tags
Tooltips
Glossary terms and definitions
Keywords
Roles
Document output fields in the Properties toolpane
Custom properties
Note: The names of the following document types are not included in this operation: web pages, packages, glossaries, role lists, and publishing styles.
Note: The search does not include search JavaScript, cascading style sheets (css) or html markup (only content text including Alt tags).
You can start this tool from the Library or the Outline Editor only. From the Library, you must have at least one document selected or the tool is disabled. If nothing is selected in the Outline Editor, the entire outline is searched; this is equivalent to selecting the root of the outline.
In the Find and Replace dialog box, you can type the search and replacement text or select from a list of previous entries. The Developer maintains a history of the search and replace text entries in both the Find What and Replace With lists. You can search for an entire sentence, a specific word, or a portion of a word. If the word or phrase for which you are searching has capitalization or formatting, the word or phrase with which it is replaced has the same formatting or capitalization. You can also replace text with an empty string (to delete the text) or with one or more spaces, except for document names.
By default, the selection and its related documents are searched. Clicking the View Related Documents link displays any related documents and their locations. For this process, related documents are defined as all searchable documents that are directly or indirectly linked as children of the selection. For example, if you select a section that has topics and each of the topics has a web page linked as its concept, choosing to search related documents searches the section, the topics, and the web pages linked to the topics. Templates and package contents are not included in this operation.
If you want to search only the selected item(s), you can deselect the Include Related Documents option in the Find and Replace dialog box. You can also select this option after starting the search to include related documents for the rest of the selection.
To further define a search, you can choose options that allow you to ignore occurrences of the search text that appear as part of another word (Match Whole Word Only) and/or to find text that exactly matches the capitalization of the search text (Match Case). Special characters in a search string, such as * and ?, are treated as normal text during a search; they do not act as wildcards.
Note: The Match Whole Word Only and Match Case options do not apply to Japanese or Chinese content. That is, these find options are ignored during searches of documents whose Language property is set to Japanese or Chinese.
When the Developer finds the first instance of the text, it indicates the path in the Library to the document, plus information about where the word appears, such as a document name or web page text. You can choose to replace the text, keep searching the remainder of the content, or close the Find and Replace dialog box.
You can precisely control text replacement by confirming each instance, or you can automatically replace all occurrences of the search text if you do not want to review each replacement.
Warning! Use the Replace and Replace All options with caution. You cannot undo any text replaced using this tool.
Multi-user Considerations
For changes to be made to a document using this tool, the document must be checked out. If you plan to use this tool offline, you should check out all affected documents before going offline.
When you execute this process, the Developer searches through all of the documents in the selection, regardless of their check in/out state. If a change is necessary and the document is not checked out and if you are working online, the Developer automatically checks the document out to you and makes the change. If the document cannot be checked out, for example, if it is open in another editor or checked out to another user or you are working offline, it is skipped. At the end of the process, a summary message appears with a link to an activity log. Clicking the View Activity Log link in the message displays a list of the documents that were checked out to you during the process and those that could not be checked out. After you save any changes, you should check in the documents to make them available to other authors and add the changes to the Developer's version control system.
To find text:
From the Library or Outline Editor, select one or more documents or folders containing the documents in which you want to find text.
You can select multiple documents using the standard Windows selection keys (CTRL+click and SHIFT+click).
On the Edit menu, choose Find and Replace.
Type the text you want to find in the Find what field. You can also select a previous entry from the Find what history list.
Select the desired Find Options.
Click Find Next.
The first occurrence of the search text is displayed in the Location section, along with information describing the location of the text within the document and the location of the document within the Library. If the text cannot be found, a message box displays informing you that the text was not found in the selected content. Click OK to close the message box.
Click Find Next as needed to search for additional occurrences of the text.
Each subsequent occurrence of the search text is displayed in the Location section of the Find and Replace dialog box.
Click OK when notified that the search is completed.
When you are done finding text, click Close.
To find and replace text:
From the Library or Outline Editor, select one or more documents or folders containing the documents in which you want to replace text.
On the Edit menu, choose Find and Replace.
Type the text you want to find in the Find what field. You can also select a previous entry from the Find what history list.
Type the replacement text in the Replace with field. You can also select a previous entry from the Replace with history list.
Select the desired Find Options.
Click Find Next.
The first occurrence of the search text is displayed in the Location section, along with information describing the location of the text within the document and the location of the document within the Library. If the text cannot be found, a message box displays informing you that the text was not found in the selected content. Click OK to close the message box.
For each occurrence of the search text, you can do one of the following:
Click Replace to replace the current occurrence with the replacement text and advance to the next occurrence. If you are working in the Outline Editor, the first time you replace text, a Replace Confirmation message appears indicating that you cannot undo changes made during find and replace. Click Yes to replace the text and continue the search or No to cancel the find and replace process.
Click Replace All to replace all remaining occurrences with the replacement text. If you are working in the Outline Editor, a Replace Confirmation message appears indicating that you cannot undo changes made during find and replace. Click Yes to replace all occurrences of the text or No to cancel the find and replace process.
Click Find Next to skip the current occurrence without replacing the text and advance to the next occurrence.
When the find and replace process has completed, click OK to close the confirmation message box.
If you made one or more replacements, you can also click the View activity log link to see a list of documents in which replacements were made and the number of replacements in each document.
Multi-user Considerations
To find text:
Find and Replace.