How to: Programmatically Loop Through Found Items in Documents

The Find class has a Found property, which returns true whenever a searched-for item is found. You can loop through all instances found in a Range using the Execute method.

Applies to: The information in this topic applies to document-level projects and application-level projects for Word 2013 and Word 2010. For more information, see Features Available by Office Application and Project Type.

To loop through found items

  1. Declare a Range object.

    The following code example can be used in a document-level customization.

    Dim rng As Word.Range = Me.Content
    
    Word.Range rng = this.Content; 
    

    The following code example can be used in an application-level add-in. This example uses the active document.

    Dim rng As Word.Range = Me.Application.ActiveDocument.Content
    
    Word.Document document = this.Application.ActiveDocument;
    Word.Range rng = document.Content;
    
  2. Use the Found property in a loop to search for all occurrences of the string in the document, and increment an integer variable by 1 each time the string is found.

    rng.Find.ClearFormatting()
    rng.Find.Forward = True
    rng.Find.Text = "find me"
    
    rng.Find.Execute()
    
    Do While rng.Find.Found = True
        intFound += 1
        rng.Find.Execute()
    Loop
    
    rng.Find.ClearFormatting(); 
    rng.Find.Forward = true; 
    rng.Find.Text = "find me"; 
    
    rng.Find.Execute(
        ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, 
        ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
        ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing);
    
    while (rng.Find.Found) 
    { 
        intFound++;
        rng.Find.Execute(
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, 
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing);
    } 
    
  3. Display the number of times the string was found in a message box.

    MessageBox.Show("Strings found: " & intFound.ToString())
    
    MessageBox.Show("Strings found: " + intFound.ToString()); 
    

The following examples show the complete method.

Document-Level Customization Example

To loop through items in a document-level customization

  • The following example shows the complete code for a document-level customization. To use this code, run it from the ThisDocument class in your project.

    Private Sub FindLoop()
        Dim intFound As Integer = 0
        Dim rng As Word.Range = Me.Content
    
        rng.Find.ClearFormatting()
        rng.Find.Forward = True
        rng.Find.Text = "find me"
    
        rng.Find.Execute()
    
        Do While rng.Find.Found = True
            intFound += 1
            rng.Find.Execute()
        Loop
    
        MessageBox.Show("Strings found: " & intFound.ToString())
    End Sub
    
    private void FindLoop() 
    { 
        int intFound = 0; 
        Word.Range rng = this.Content; 
    
        rng.Find.ClearFormatting(); 
        rng.Find.Forward = true; 
        rng.Find.Text = "find me"; 
    
        rng.Find.Execute(
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, 
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing);
    
        while (rng.Find.Found) 
        { 
            intFound++;
            rng.Find.Execute(
                ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, 
                ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
                ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing);
        } 
    
        MessageBox.Show("Strings found: " + intFound.ToString()); 
    }
    

Application-Level Add-in Example

To loop through items in an application-level add-in

  • The following example shows the complete code for an application-level add-in. To use this code, run it from the ThisAddIn class in your project.

    Private Sub FindLoop()
        Dim intFound As Integer = 0
        Dim rng As Word.Range = Me.Application.ActiveDocument.Content
    
        rng.Find.ClearFormatting()
        rng.Find.Forward = True
        rng.Find.Text = "find me"
    
        rng.Find.Execute()
    
        Do While rng.Find.Found = True
            intFound += 1
            rng.Find.Execute()
        Loop
    
        MessageBox.Show("Strings found: " & intFound.ToString())
    End Sub
    
    private void FindLoop()
    {
        int intFound = 0;
        Word.Document document = this.Application.ActiveDocument;
        Word.Range rng = document.Content;
    
        rng.Find.ClearFormatting();
        rng.Find.Forward = true;
        rng.Find.Text = "find me";
    
        rng.Find.Execute(
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
            ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing);
    
        while (rng.Find.Found)
        {
            intFound++;
            rng.Find.Execute(
                ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
                ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing,
                ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing, ref missing);
        }
    
        MessageBox.Show("Strings found: " + intFound.ToString());
    }
    

See Also

Tasks

How to: Programmatically Search for and Replace Text in Documents

How to: Programmatically Set Search Options in Word

How to: Programmatically Define and Select Ranges in Documents

How to: Programmatically Restore Selections After Searches

Concepts

Optional Parameters in Office Solutions