TIA Portal - Search in editors

Fundamentals of searching in open editors

Introduction

You can start a search limited to the editor currently open in the workspace. You can customise the search as follows to meet your requirements:

• You can optimise your search with additional options.
• You can specify the search area.
• You can specify the direction of the search.

Additional search options

You can narrow down your search with the following additional options:

• Only full words

Only whole words are taken into account during the search. Compound words containing the search key are ignored.

• The case for retrofitting

Uppercase and lowercase letters are taken into account during the search.

• Find in substructures

The search also takes into account texts contained in another object.

• Find in hidden texts

The search also includes texts assigned to another text that are currently hidden.

• Use wildcards

Enter an asterisk as a wildcard for any number of characters. Example: you want to search for all words starting with "Device". Enter "Device*" in the search key field.

However, if you only want to exclude a single character, enter the question mark as a wildcard.

The additional options available depend on the products installed and the open editor.

Search area and search direction

You have the following options for defining the search area:

• Entire document

The whole is searched regardless of the current selection and position.

• From the current position

The search starts from the current position. Depending on the search direction, the search does not include all texts above, to the left or below or to the right of the current position.

• Selection

The search term will only be searched for in the current selection.

You can define a search direction independent of the search area:

• Down

Searching is done in the editor from top to bottom or left to right.

• Up

Searches are carried out in the editor from bottom to top or from right to left.

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Overview of the 'Find and Replace' palette.

The 'Find and Replace' palette function.

The "Find and Replace" palette in the Tasks tab allows you to search in the open editor. It contains all the options needed for an effective search.

The layout of the 'Find and Replace' palette.

The figure below shows the elements of the 'Find and Replace' palette:

① Enter search terms

② Additional options

③ Direction of search

④ Start search

⑤ Enter alternate date

⑥ Change area

⑦ Name

Search and replace in the editor

You have the option of searching for text in the editor or replacing it.

Start looking for

Follow the steps below to start the "Find and Replace" function:

Select the "Find and Replace" command in the "Edit" menu or open the "Find and Replace" panel in the Tasks tab. The "Find and Replace" panel will open. Enter a term in the 'Find' drop-down list. Alternatively, you can select the most recent search key from the drop-down list. Select the desired search options. Use the option buttons to select the search starting point and search direction. Click "Find". The first hit is highlighted in the editor. Click "Find" again to display the next hit. The next hit is marked in the editor. Repeat this step as necessary until you reach the last hit.

Replacing the search key

You have the option of replacing hits one at a time or automatically replacing all found texts if the relevant editor supports this function. To replace terms, follow these steps:

Enter a term in the 'Find' drop-down list. Alternatively, you can select the most recent search key from the drop-down list. Select the desired search options. Click the "Find" button to start searching for a specific search key. The first hit is displayed in the editor. In the "Replace" drop-down list, enter the text with which you want to replace the search key. Alternatively, you can select one of the most recently entered texts from the drop-down list. Click the "Replace" button to replace the selected hit with the specified text. The found text is replaced and the next hit is highlighted in the editor. Repeat this procedure until you have replaced all the desired hits. To move on to the next hit without replacing the selected word, click the "Find" button instead of "Replace". Click "Replace all" to automatically replace all hits at once.