Search and Replace in Selected Drawings ( Drawing Editor )

Tool summary :

  • Finds, in drawings that you select, the " Search for " text that you enter, and replaces it with " Replace with " text that you enter.
  • Undo only works on your current drawing. Search and Replace in Selected Drawings should be used only for searches that are precisely tailored to give you exactly the results you want. Be especially cautious if you are searching for strings that are 7 or fewer characters in length.
  • Search and Replace ... operates on the drawings that you select, on all label " Label text ," primary dimension " Label text " and secondary dimension " Label text ," and on weld symbol " Supplementary tail text ."
  • Search and Replace ... marks for plotting any sheets that contain sheet items which are affected by the search. This also applies when items such as labels or dimensions on that sheet are changed directly.
  • The Search and Replace in Selected Drawings window gives you the option (" Change hidden layers ") to operate on drawing layers that are hidden (' Show ').
  • Search and Replace ... does not operate on a bevel symbol " Rise " or " Run " or a " Weld size " or any bill data in the Bill Editor or compiled into a physical bill of material . It cannot be used to change a piecemark or section size or other type of mark on an erection view. It does not affect sheet items on drawings.
  • Search and Replace ... does not make changes to drawings that are set to " Detail frozen " or to " Detail complete ."
  • Search and Replace ... can replace text on member details or job standard details or global standards or submaterials or erection views or detail sheets or gather sheets or erection sheets or sheet outlines . If you want to replace text in your current drawing, that drawing must be selected and of the same type as the other drawings that are selected.
  • Search and Replace ... is case sensitive. This means, for example, that three separate searches would be required for " BEAM " and " beam " and " Beam ".
  • Search and Replace ... can find and replace strings that are embedded in other strings. For example, if you replaced 2 with the Roman numeral II , the string 3-2 1/2 would become 3- II 1/ II.
  • Search and Replace ... can find and replace virtually any characters that you can enter as dimensions, labels or tail text, including letters and numbers, punctuation, symbols such as $ or @ and Latin 1 characters 0160 to 0255 .
  • Tip: You can copy ( Ctrl + c ) and paste ( Ctrl + v ) text into " Search for " and " Replace with ."
  • Tip: To erase a string of characters, enter those characters to " Search for . " Leave " Replace with " blank.
  • See the step-by-step instructions .

Also see :

VIDEO The date in a text string is changed by searching for a larger text string in which the to-be-changed date is embedded. (Recorded in SDS2 Detailing , v7.3.)
  • Drawing Editor (where Search and Replace in Selected Drawings is a tool)
  • Search and Replace (operates only on your current drawing)
  • Detail frozen (stops Search and Replace in Selected from acting on the drawing)
  • Detail complete (stops Search and Replace in Selected from acting on the drawing)
  • Undo (only works on your current drawing)
  • Ctrl +c and Ctrl +v (to copy and paste the text you want to search for)

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Step-by-step instructions :

1 . While in any drawing in the Drawing Editor , invoke Search and Replace in Selected Drawings using any one (1) of the following methods:

Method 1 : Click the Search and Replace in Selected Drawings icon. The icon can be taken from the group named ' Edit ' and placed on a toolbar (classic) or the ribbon (lightning).

Method 2 : If " Drawing Editor layout style " is ' Classic ', you can use the menu system to choose Edit > Search and Replace in Selected Drawings .

Method 3, 4 or 5 : Search and Replace in Selected Drawings can also be invoked using a keyboard shortcut , the context menu , or a mode . For the ' Lightning ' layout style, configuration of the interface is done using Customize Interface .

2 . A drawing selection dialog opens. Select the drawing type that you want to search for, such as   Details or   Job standard details or   Global standards , etc. Note that if you select ' Details ', you also have an option to show or not show " Sub-Members ." Also note that certain drawing types have " Hide " and " Show All " options.

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2a : Select the drawings that you want to Search and Replace in. Note that if your current drawing is the same type as the drawings on the dialog's selection list, you can select your current drawing. Press " OK " to continue.

3 . The Search and Replace in Selected Drawings window opens.

 Search for:
 XXX
 Replace with:
 YYY
  Change hidden layers
   

3a : To " Search for ," type in the characters that you want to change. To " Replace with ," enter the characters you want to replace the " Search for " characters with. Check ( ) the box for " Change hidden layers " if you want to also replace strings on drawing layers that are hidden . Press the " OK " button.

4 . Search and Replace in Selected Drawings replaces -- with the " Replace with " characters -- all instances of the " Search for " characters that occur in labels, dimensions and weld tail text that are in all of the editable drawings that you selected in step 2b. A window opens with a report of the number of " Changed items ." This is the total number of strings that have been changed in all of the drawings that you selected. If any drawings that you selected were uneditable because they were set to " Detail frozen " or to " Detail complete ," you will also be notified that those uneditable drawings were not changed.

4a : Press " OK " to dismiss the window that reports the number of items that have been changed.

Warning : If Search and Replace in Selected Drawings made undesired changes to certain drawings, you may be able to do the operation again, this time reversing the entry made to " Search for " with the entry made to " Replace with ." However, if the entries are short, reversing the entries may actually make additional, unintended changes. Undo only works on your current drawing.

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