Replace in Files

Find What

These controls on the Replace in Files tab enable you to specify the string or expression that will be matched.

• Find what
  Type the text to search for. The dialog box attempts to fill in a probable search text, using text selected with the cursor before opening the dialog box, or nearby text, or previously searched-for text. You can reuse one of the last 20 search strings by selecting it from this drop-down list.

• [string with wildcards]
  If you want to use wildcards such as asterisks (*) and question marks (?) in your search string, select the Use check box under Find Options and then click Wildcards.

• [regular expression]
  To cause the search engine to interpret your search string as a regular expression, select the Use check box under Find Options and then click Regular expressions.

• Expression Builder
  This triangular button next to the Find what box becomes available when the Use check box is selected in Find Options. Click this button to display a list of wildcards or regular expressions, depending upon the Use option selected. Choosing any item from this list adds it to the string specified in the Find what box.

Replace With

These controls enable you to specify what will be inserted in the place of the matched string or expression.

• Replace with
  To replace instances of the string specified in Find what with another string, enter the replacement string in this field. To delete instances of the string specified in Find what, leave this box blank. Select the drop-down list to display the last 20 items entered. To include regular expressions in the string specified in the Replace with box, click the Use check box and then click the Regular Expressions option.

• Expression Builder
  This triangular button next to the Replace with box becomes available when the Use check box is selected in Find Options. Click this button to display a list of wildcards or regular expressions, depending upon the Use option selected. Clicking any item in this list adds it to the string specified in the Replace with box.

• Replace
  Click this button to replace the current instance of the string specified in Find what with the string specified in the Replace with box, and find the next instance within the scope specified in Look in.

• Replace all
  Click this button to replace all instances of the string specified in Find what with the string specified in the Replace with box, in all files within the scope specified in Look in.

  Warning

  Make sure that Look in is set to include only those files that you want to modify.

  A reminder is displayed that includes a Keep modified files open option. To retain the Undo option, you must select this option. Undo is only available in files that remain open for editing after they are modified.

• Skip File
  Becomes available when Look in includes multiple files. Click this button if you do not want to search or modify the current file. The search will continue in the next file on the list in Look in.

Look In

The option chosen from the Look in drop-down list determines whether Replace in Files searches only in currently active files or searches all files stored within certain folders. Select a search scope from the list, type a folder path, or click the Browse button to display the Custom Directory Set dialog box and choose a set of folders to search.

• Look in
  Select a predefined search scope from this list, or use the Custom Directory Set dialog box to enter your own set of directories.

• Current Document
  This option is available when a document is open in an editor. Searches only the active document for the string specified in Find what.

• All Open Documents
  Searches all files currently opened for editing.

• Current Project
  Searches all files in the active project.

• Entire Solution
  Searches all files in the active solution.

• Include subfolders
  Specifies that subfolders of the folder specified in Look in will be searched. It requires a custom directory set.

• Browse (...)
  Click this button to display the Choose Search Folders dialog box, where you can assemble, edit, save, and select named sets of directories to enter in the Look in box.

Find Options

You can expand or collapse the Find Options section. The following options can be selected or cleared.

• Match case
  When this check box is selected, the Find Results windows will only display instances of the string specified in Find what that are matched both by content and by case. For example, a search for MyObject with the Match case check box selected will return "MyObject" but not "myobject" or "MYOBJECT".

• Match whole word
  When this check box is selected, the Find Results windows will only display instances of the string specified in Find what that are matched in complete words. For example, a search for MyObject will return "MyObject" but not "CMyObject" or "MyObjectC."

• Use
  Indicates how to interpret special characters entered in the Find what or Replace with text boxes. The options include Wildcards and Regular Expressions.

• Regular Expressions
  Special notations define patterns of text to match. For a list, see How to: Search with Regular Expressions.

• Wildcards
  Special characters such as asterisks (*) and question marks (?) represent one or more characters. For a list, see How to: Search with Wildcards.

• Look at these file types
  This list indicates the types of files to search through in the directories specified in Look in. If this box is left blank, all of the files in the directories specified in Look in will be searched.

  *.[ext]; *.[ext] (manual)
  

  To find files of a particular type, enter an asterisk wildcard (*) for the file name, followed by a period (.) and the file extension. To find more than one file type, enter multiple search strings separated by a semicolon (;).

  *.[ext]; *.[ext] (from list)
  

  Select any item in the list to enter a preconfigured search string that will find files of particular types.

Result Options

You can expand or collapse the Result Options section. The following options can be selected or cleared.

• Find Results 1 window
  When this check box is selected, the results of the current search will be appended to the content of the Find Results 1 window. This window opens automatically to display your search results. To open this window manually, click Other Windows on the View menu and then click Find Results 1.

• Find Results 2 window
  When this check box is selected selected, the results of the current search will be appended to the content of the Find Results 2 window. This window opens automatically to display your search results. To open this window manually, click Other Windows on the View menu and then click Find Results 2.

• Display file names only
  Displays one entry per file containing a search match rather than one entry per search match in either the Find Results 1 or Find Results 2 window. This option is not available in SQL Server Management Studio.

• Keep modified files open after Replace All
  When selected, leaves open all files in which replacements have been made, so you can undo or save the changes. Memory constraints might limit the number of files that can remain open after a replace operation.

  Warning

  You can use Undo only on files that remain open for editing. If this option is not selected, files that were not already open for editing will remain closed, and no Undo option will be available in those files.

Find and Replace Views

The tabs at the top of the Findand Replace window include View menus. These menus enable you to choose a set of fields to display in the active pane. You can leave the Find and Replace window docked in a convenient location, and then change from tab to tab and view to view to perform any type of find or replace operation.

• Switch to Quick Find
  This toolbar tab changes the dialog box to a Quick Find dialog box.

• Switch to Find in Files
  This toolbar tab changes the dialog box to a Find in Files dialog box.

• Switch to Find Symbols
  This toolbar tab changes the dialog box to a Find in Symbols dialog box.

See Also

Reference