Jump to main content

# Finding and Replacing Text

You can easily find and replace any text on your form page. You can locate a word or phrase and either edit the text in the text box or replace some or all occurrences of that word or phrase with specified replacement text. Unlike standard word-processing programs, your searches (and optional replacements) are limited to the current page. You must search each page in your form separately.

Note:

To use Find Text and Replace Text, text objects must be activated.

## Finding text

You search for text on the Find tab in the Find and Replace Text dialog. Use the Find tab when you want to locate text for editing. You do not have to close the Find and Replace Text dialog box while you are editing your text, so you can easily switch back and forth between searching and editing.

To search for text

1. If you do not want to search the entire page, do one of the following to limit the area that is searched:

- To limit your search to specific text boxes, select the text boxes you want to include.

- To start the search with a specific text box, select the text box.

- To start the search from a specific location on the page, position your Insertion point at the location in the text where you want to start the search.

2. Do one of the following to open the Find tab in the Find and Replace Text dialog:

- Right-click to open the context menu and click on Find Text:

- Select Find Text from the Edit menu.

- Select from the Command tool bar:

- Press + .

Hint:

To search a single text box, simply right-click in the text box to select the text and display the context menu with one click.

3. Type in the text you want to search for in the Find what field:

4. Check the following options to limit the scope of your search:

Option | Description
--- | ---
Match whole word only | Limits the search to whole words only.
Match case | Limits the search to only those words that also match the case of your selection.
Direction | Determines the direction of the search:
Up | Searches up from the currently selected text box, the insertion point position, or the last text box in a selected group. If no text boxes are selected, it starts at the bottom of the page.
Down | Searches down from the currently selected text box, the insertion point position, or the first text box in a selected group. If no text boxes are selected, it starts at the top of the page.
Find in | Determines the scope of the search:
Selected boxes | Searches only the text boxes you selected.
All boxes | Searches all text boxes on the page.

5. Click to move to the first occurrence of the selected text on your page:

- To edit the text or insert text, click in the text box and make your edits.

- To search for the next occurrence, click .

- To change your search text, enter the new text and click.

6. When all occurrences on the page have been found, a message will be displayed. Click to clear the message. The dialog box will remain open so you can perform another search.

7. When you are finished, click to close the dialog box.

Note:

If you choose to search all text boxes and start your search from a designated location, you will see a message asking if you want to search the rest of the page.

## Replacing text

You can replace your search text automatically with a specific word or phrase on the Replace tab in the Find and Replace Text dialog. You can apply the change globally or you can confirm each replacement.

To replace text

1. If you do not want to search the entire page, do one of the following to limit the area that is searched:

- To limit your search to specific text boxes, select the text boxes you want to include.

- To start the search with a specific text box, select the text box.

- To start the search from a specific location on the page, position your insertion point at the location in the text where you want to start the search.

2. Do one of the following to display the Replace tab in the Find and Replace Text dialog:

- Right-click and select Replace Text from the context menu.

- Select Replace Text from the Edit menu.

- Press + .

If the Find and Replace Text dialog is already open, just click on the Replace tab.

3. Type the text you want to replace in the Find what field.

4. Type the text you want to use as a replacement for the search text in the Replace with field:

5. Check the following options to limit the scope of your search:

Option | Description
--- | ---
Match whole word only | Limits the search to whole words only.
Match case | Limits the search to only those words that also match the case of your selection.
Direction | Determines the direction of the search:
Up | Searches up from the currently selected text box, the insertion point position, or the last text box in a selected group. If no text boxes are selected, it starts at the bottom of the page.
Down | Searches down from the currently selected text box, the insertion point position, or the first text box in a selected group. If no text boxes are selected, it starts at the top of the page.
Replace in | Determines the scope of the search:
Selected boxes | Searches only the text boxes you selected.
All boxes | Searches all the text boxes on the page.

6. To find the first occurrence of the search text, click either or. Then use the following buttons to find and replace your search text:

Button | Action
| Replaces only the currently selected search text and finds the next occurrence.
| Replaces all occurrences of the search text.
| Moves to the next occurrence of the search text on the page without making the change.
| Stops the search and closes the dialog box.

7. When all occurrences have been found, a message will appear. After you clear the message, the dialog box will remain open so you can perform another search operation. To close the dialog box, click .