You can swap out a piece of text within a single file or set of files with this special process. Simply choose the file(s) to process, what text string to search for and what to replace with.
In order to specify multiple files to be searched, place the folder name in the Input File location, followed by a wildcard and the file type. For example, C:\TestFolder\*.doc will cause every .doc file within the TestFolder to be searched for the specified string. If a single file is to be searched, simply specify the individual file name, e.g., C:\TestFolder\OneFile.doc.
You may specify the input to be the same as the output file(s). Doing so will modify the input files themselves. Not doing so will create new files or overwrite existing ones.
Special Control Characters
Below the search and replace text boxes are ASCII char specification list boxes. You can use ASCII characters to indicate symbols and control characters that otherwise can't be shown in your search and/or replacement strings.
For example, if you want to search for a string that includes the RETURN key (aka "ENTER"), you could select the ASCII character [10]LF from the ASCII char list box. It will display in your string as ©10©.
Note: Although you will search for a RETURN key with a single character only, if you want to include an RETURN key into the replacement string you must combine two ASCII characters [13]CR and [10]LF. This combination of characters, CR+LF tell the computer to create a new line and then start at the very left of the screen.
For example, if you wanted to add RETURN after each word in the string 'this is an apple', it would look like:
this ©13©©10©is ©13©©10©an ©13©©10©apple
where the ASCII characters have been selected from the ASCII char listbox.
To specify a string that reads:
A. First item.
where the A. is immediately followed by an invisible tab character, place your cursor immediately after the period and select [9]TAB in the drop down list box to place ©9© into your string. The entire string will appear as:
A.©9©First item.
Case Sensitivity
You can specify whether or not you want the search to be case sensitive. When not case sensitive, all instances of the search string will be replaced when the corresponding letters are found, whether uppercase or lowercase.
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR ALL FILE TYPES
Use Regular Expressions
For text files (UNICODE OR ANSI) you can also specify whether or not you want to use regular expressions. Regular expressions allow you to use generalizations when describing what to search for. For example, you could specify to search and replace all words that begin with the letter "h". "hello", "happy" etc. would both replaced in this case. NOTE: you can also do a search and replace on RTF files provided you specify the input file type as text, not RTF. See the link below for additional reference information on the regular expression engine used:
www.softinterface.com/FAQ/FAQ-Regular-Expressions.htm
Whole Word Only
If the search item has blank or invisible text before and after it, then it will be marked as a match. This is also true if punctuation characters are found before and after the search item.
Do not match if found at BEGINNING of line
A match will occur only if the text found is not at the very beginning of a line of text.
Do not match if found at END of line
A match will occur only if the text found is not at the very end of a line of text.
Mulit-Line Expression
Search across multiple lines of text.
Generate A Report When Done
If you want a summary of those items that matched during the search, enable this option and specify a report file.