Find in Files Command

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

Edit.FindinFiles findwhat [/case] [/ext:extensions]
[/lookin:searchpath] [/names] [/options] [/reset] [/stop] [/sub]
[/text2] [/wild|/regex] [/word]

Arguments

  • findwhat
    Required. The text to match.

Switches

  • /case or /c
    Optional. Matches occur only if the uppercase and lowercase characters exactly match those specified in the findwhat argument.

  • /ext: extensions
    Optional. Specifies the file extensions for the files to be searched. If not specified, the previous extension is used if one was previously entered.

  • /lookin: searchpath
    Optional. Directory to search. If the path contains spaces, enclose the entire path in quotation marks.

  • /names or /n
    Optional. Displays a list of file names that contain matches.

  • /options or /t
    Optional. Displays a list of the current find option settings and does not perform a search.

  • /regex or /r
    Optional. Uses pre-defined special characters in the findwhat argument as notations that represent patterns of text rather than the literal characters. For a complete list of regular expression characters, see Regular Expressions.

  • /reset or /e
    Optional. Returns the find options to their default settings and does not perform a search.

  • /stop
    Optional. Halts the current search operation if one is in progress. Search ignores all other arguments when /stop has been specified. For example, to stop the current search you would enter the following:

    >Edit.FindinFiles /stop
    
  • /sub or /s
    Optional. Searches the subfolders within the directory specified in the /lookin:searchpath argument.

  • /text2 or /2
    Optional. Displays the results of the search in the Find Results 2 window.

  • /wild or /l
    Optional. Uses pre-defined special characters in the findwhat argument as notations to represent a character or sequence of characters. For a complete list of wildcard characters, see Wildcards.

  • /word or /w
    Optional. Searches only for whole words.

Example

This example searches for btnCancel in all .cls files located in the folder "My Visual Studio Projects" and displays the match information in the Find Results 2 Window.

>Edit.FindinFiles btnCancel /lookin:"c:/My Visual Studio Projects" /ext:*.cls /text2

See Also

Tasks

How to: Search Using Results Lists

Reference

Find in Files, Find and Replace Window

Find Results Windows

Command Window

Find/Command Box

Visual Studio Commands with Arguments

Predefined Visual Studio Command Aliases