Find and replace text

If you are an administrator or have permissions, you can search for and replace text in one or more components without opening them. You can choose Replace All to change a term only when it appears between element tags. Changes are then saved to the Inspire database. For more details on how a text-only search works, read Finding text to replace or report on.

Tips and tricks

Search in the best place

  • To select individual non-binary, unlocked files, in the Components browser, go to the Components pane and select the specific components you want. Then you can use the Selected Components panel option for Find/Replace components.
  • To search in all content contained in a folder without having to select components one at a time, in the Components browser, go to the Folders pane and use the right-click menu on a folder to access a Find/Replace components option.

    If the folder you select contains sub-folders, those are not included in the search by default. If you want to include them, on the Find/Replace components screen, select the Include Subfolders option.

Use supported components

  • If you choose a component that's locked ( by you, by another user, it's approved, approved and signed, or by the system) Inspire skips it and adds a warning to your notification.
  • If you choose a binary component, Inspire skips it and adds a warning to your notification.

If you want to use other find and replace options, follow the steps in:

To update text in components using find and replace:

  1. Click Components_TopMenuOpt Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, navigate to the folder where you've saved the components.
  3. In the Components pane, locate the components you want to search in and replace text.
    To find components, you can:
    • Look in the Content details pane at the preview.
    • Set the number of components listed on a page. At the bottom of the list, in Items per page select a quantity.
    • Sort by clicking on a column name.
    • Search, use filters, and use queries.
  4. To select components, do one of the following:
    • To select individual non-binary, unlocked files, go to the Components pane. Select the checkboxes before the name of the components you want to search in. On the Selected Components panel, click Find/Replace components.

      You can also select all components on the page.

      a. At the top of the component list, in the header row, click the arrow next to the Select All SelectAll checkbox.

      b. Click the Select all items from this page option from the list

    • To select all content contained in a folder, go to the Folders pane. Use the right-click menu on a folder and select the Find/Replace components option.
  5. On the Find/Replace components screen, in Find, enter part or all of the text you are searching for.
    Tips:
    • You can also select text used in a previous search.
    • Using parenthesis. Inspire recognizes a parenthesis character ( ) as something that indicates a grouping of search items. If you want to search for a text value that actually contains a parenthesis character ( ), you must tell Inspire to interpret it literally. To do that, use a slash \ before any parenthesis character ( ). For example, if you want to search for the following value: Chapter1_Intro(with_endnotes), in the Find box you would enter Chapter1_Intro\(with_endnotes\).
  6. In Replace, enter the new text exactly as you want it to appear.
    You can also select text used in a previous search.
  7. In Scope, select Text.
  8. Optionally, you can select the option to make your search Case Sensitive.
  9. Optionally, if you selected a folder that has subfolders, those are not included in the search by default. If you want to search in them, select the Include Subfolders option.
  10. Click Replace All.
    Result: You are asked to confirm that you want to replace text in the number of components you selected.

  11. Click Yes.
    Results:
    • You see a notification that a Replace All process has started.
    • After the process is complete, you see another notification.

    • The report tells you a number of times your search string appears in each components you selected.

    Tips and tricks

    After using Find and Replace to update content, Inspire updates the following information in the Components Browser and in the Component Details History tab:

    • Updated By
    • Updated Date
    • Last Updated By