Cannot Use Tab Leader as Edit Find or Edit Replace Criteria

ID: Q86856

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.1

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Word for Windows, you cannot use tab leaders as find (search in versions 1.x) or replace criteria. As a result, you cannot find or modify tab leaders using the Find (Search) or Replace commands from the Edit menu.

This article describes steps you can use to find and replace tab leaders (dotted, hyphen, and underline) by saving your Word for Windows document in rich-text file (RTF) format, opening the RTF file as Text Only, and modifying the RTF tab leader codes.

MORE INFORMATION

Do the following to find and replace tab leaders in your Word for Windows document. Be sure to create a backup copy of your file before using these steps.

Open the document that contains tab leaders. From the File menu, choose Save As. In the File Name box, type a new filename. In the Save File As Type box, select Rich Text Format (*.rtf) and choose the OK button.

From the File menu, choose Open. Select the file you saved in step 1 above and choose the OK button. In the Convert File dialog box, select Text Only and choose the OK button.

From the Edit menu, choose Replace. Use the following RTF tab leader codes in the Find and Replace boxes:


      RTF Code   Type
      --------   ----

      \tldot     Dotted leader tab
      \tlhyph    Hyphen leader tab
      \tlul      Underline leader tab
      NUL        No leader (default, no leader code)

From the File menu, choose Save. From the File menu, choose Close.

Reopen the file you closed in step 4 above. In the Convert File dialog box, select Rich Text Format (RTF) and choose the OK button. The new tab leaders should appear in the file.

When you close the file, you will be prompted to overwrite the RTF file format with Word for Windows 2.0 format. Choose the Yes button.

Example

The following example replaces all dotted leader tabs with hyphen leader tabs:


                 RTF Code     Type
                 --------     ----
   Find          \tldot       (Dotted leader tab)
   Replace with  \tlhyph      (Hyphen leader Tab)

How to Replace Tabs with No Leader with Another Leader Format

Tabs with No Leader is the default, so there is no RTF code you can use in the Find What box. Therefore, you must use these additional steps to replace No Leader tabs with another leader format.

Follow steps 1-2 in the previous procedure.

From the Edit menu, choose Replace. Do the following, in order (these steps maintain other leader formats):

Note: In all steps, do not type the quotation marks.
1. In the Find What box, type \tldot\tx. In the Replace With box, type DOT_TAB (skip this step if there are no dot leader tabs in your document).
2. In the Find What box, type \tlhyph\tx. In the Replace With box, type HYPH_TAB (skip this step if there are no hyphen leader tabs in your document).
3. In the Find What box, type \tlul\tx. In the Replace With box, type UNDERLN_TAB (skip this step if there are no underline leader tabs in your document).
4. In the Find What box, type \tx. In the Replace With box, type <Desired RTF tab leader code>\tx. Use the following RTF tab leader codes in the Replace box:
```
         RTF Code   Type
         --------   ----

         \tldot     Dotted leader tab
         \tlhyph    Hyphen leader tab
         \tlul      Underline leader tab 
```
  Example: If you type \tldot\tx in the Replace With box, you will replace all tabs with no leader with dotted leader tabs.
5. In the Find What box, type DOT_TAB. In the Replace With box, type \tldot\tx (skip this step if you skipped step 2a above).
6. In the Find What box, type HYPH_TAB. In the Replace With box, type \tlhyph\tx (skip this step if you skipped step 2b above).
7. In the Find What box, type UNDERLN_TAB. In the Replace With box, type \tlul\tx (skip this step if you skipped step 2c above).

Follow steps 4-6 in the previous procedure.

For more information on the RTF file format, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

RTF and specification and appnote and obtain and available

Additional query words: 6.0 1.0 1.10 1.10a 2.0 2.0a word6 winword winword2 editreplace editfind editsearch

Keywords : kbformat
Version : WINDOWS:1.0,1.1,1.1a,2.0,2.0a,2.0a-CD,2.0b,2.0c,3.0,3.1,6.0,6.0a,6.0c
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :