Finding and Replacing

The Find and Replace Window allows you to search in one or more open files within various search scopes, to make text substitutions if you wish, and to review your search results in report format. You can also search without a dialog box by using incremental search or the Find/Command Box.

Consider the following information when searching or replacing text and code:

• The Look in, Find, and Result options set in the Find and Replace window are global. This means they persist from one search to the next. For example, once you select the Match case option on the Quick Replace tab of the Find and Replace window, it remains set to true for all searches until you reset it.

• After a Replace All operation, you can only use Undo on files that remain open for editing. To ensure that Undo will be available, select the Keep modified files open after Replace All option on the Replace in Files tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Find in Files and Replace in Files operations do not search documents open in graphical or design views, such as Design view in the HTML Designer. Switch to Source view before attempting these operations on the markup of documents open in such graphic designers.

In This Section

• How to: Search Interactively
  Using Quick Find and Quick Replace to match or replace search strings or expressions in documents open for editing, or in the current project. Jumps from match to match within each document.

• How to: Search Using Results Lists
  Using Find in Files and Replace in Files to match or replace search strings or expressions in any accessible files, or in the entire solution. Displays matches in the Find Results windows.

• How to: Search a Document Incrementally
  How to match text in the active document as you enter a search string character by character.

• How to: Navigate Code and Text
  Common ways to move through text and code in document windows.

• How to: Go To a Line of Code
  Tools and methods for finding and moving to particular lines of code.

Related Sections

• Customizing the Editor
  Options and settings that adjust the appearance and position of text and code.

• Editor Convenience Commands and Features
  Code Editor utilities and controls to make the development process easier

• Setting Bookmarks in Code
  Tools and procedures for marking code, and for creating comments that can be displayed in code comment Web reports

• Window Management
  Tools and options that help you position and move to windows in the integrated development environment (IDE).

• Find Results Windows
  Lists matches found by search and replace procedures run from the Find and Replace window.

• Find/Command Box
  Describes the Find/Command box, which allows you to search and replace text and to execute commands.

• Quick Find, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Quick pane the Find and Replace window, used to locate and to revise strings in documents currently open in code editors.

• Find Command
  Search files using options available on the Quick Find tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Find in Files, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Find in Files tab of the Find and Replace window, used to locate strings within files in specified folders.

• Find in Files Command
  Search files using options available on the Find in Files tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Quick Replace, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Quick Replace tab of the Find and Replace window, used to replace text in active documents.

• Replace Command
  Replace text in files using options available on the Quick Replace tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Replace in Files, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Replace in Files tab of the Find and Replace window, used to replace strings within files in specified folders.

• Replace In Files Command
  Replace text in files using options available on the Replace in Files tab of the Find and Replace window.

• Find Symbol, Find and Replace Window
  Describes the Find Symbol tab of the Fine and Replace window, used to search the names of objects within your code and within any code libraries that it references.

• How to: Search for Objects, Definitions, and References (Symbols)
  Procedures for locating the names of objects, their definitions, and references to named components in code.