Using the Search tab

When you are working with a large project, it can be difficult to locate the objects that you need to complete a task. Use the Search tab to quickly find objects by applying different search criteria, such as the location, the class, a condition, or a property.

Before you begin

If your model contains multiple languages, ensure that you specify the Active language value in the Define Languages dialog box before searching for objects.

Procedure

  1. Click Tools, Search.

    Tips:

    • If the Tools pane is not visible, click View, Tools. You can drag the Tools pane to the bottom of the Framework Manager window and resize it to have a better view of the search results.
    • To reduce the set of search properties, filter the properties first. On the Properties tab, right-click the column header you want to filter on, and click Set Autofilter.
  2. In the Search String box, type the text that you want to find.

    You can use uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case strings. The search is not case sensitive. Valid wildcard characters are "*" and "?".

  3. Click the double down arrow button double down arrow icon to show the search criteria boxes.
  4. In the Condition list, select a condition to apply to the search string.

    The Condition box determines how the Search string value is matched with text in the model. It contains a list of possible search conditions. If you want to search using wildcard characters, use the equals condition.

    A regular expression is a complex and powerful method for matching text strings. To search using a regular expression, use the regular expression condition. A regular expression search is case sensitive. For example, to find all objects that contain the word "Car" search for the string "\Car", without the quotation marks.

    The value for the Condition box is saved from session to session.

  5. In the Search in list, select the part of the model hierarchy that you want to search.

    The value for the Search in box is saved from session to session.

  6. In the Class list, select the single class of objects that you want to search.
  7. In the Property list, select the type of property that you want to search.

    The (All Properties) property searches all properties. The Object Name property restricts the search to the name of each object. The Text Properties property searches the set of properties that contain text strings, such as Description or Screen Tip, but not including the object name.

    The value for the Property box is saved from session to session.

  8. Click Search.

    The results are listed at the bottom of the Search tab. Search results can contain multiple values, such as text properties, for a single object. When you click an object that has multiple values, all the values that belong to that object are selected. If your model contains multiple languages, the search results include properties for each language in the model.

    After you do one search, the Subset check box becomes available. If you select the Subset check box, the next search operates on the existing search results. The Subset check box is cleared after each search. You can do successive subset searches by selecting the Subset check box.

  9. To see an object in the Project Viewer, click an object in the Search tab.
  10. To see an object in the diagram, right-click an object in the Search tab and click Locate in Diagram.

Results

The Bulk Replace button on the Search tab allows you to do a search and replace operation on the set of objects in the search results. When you click the Bulk Replace button, the result set displays in the Properties tab and the Bulk Replace dialog displays. From there, you can select the property to apply the search and replace operation.

You can also initiate a bulk replace from the Properties pane. For more information, see Replacing multiple property values.