Execute Method (Find Object)

Applies To

Find object.

Description

Runs the specified find operation. Returns True if the find operation is successful.

Syntax

expression.Execute(FindText, MatchCase, MatchWholeWord, MatchWildcards,
MatchSoundsLike, MatchAllWordForms, Forward, Wrap, Format, ReplaceWith,
Replace)

expression Required. An expression that returns a Find object.

FindText Optional Variant. The text to be searched for. Use an empty string (" ") to search for formatting only. You can search for special characters by specifying appropriate character codes. For example, "^p" corresponds to a paragraph mark and "^t" corresponds to a tab character.

If MatchWildcards is True, you can specify wildcard characters and other advanced search criteria. For example, "*(ing)" finds any word that ends in "ing."

To search for a symbol character, type a caret (^),a zero (0), and then the symbol's character code. In Windows, for example, "^0151" corresponds to an em dash ( — ).

MatchCase Optional Variant. True to specify that the find text be case sensitive. Corresponds to the Match case check box in the Find and Replace dialog box (Edit menu).

MatchWholeWord Optional Variant. True to have the find operation locate only entire words, not text that's part of a larger word. Corresponds to the Find whole words only check box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

MatchWildcards Optional Variant. True to have the find text be a special search operator. Corresponds to the Use wildcards check box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

MatchSoundsLike Optional Variant. True to have the find operation locate words that sound similar to the find text be. Corresponds to the Sounds like check box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

MatchAllWordForms Optional Variant. True to have the find operation locate all forms of the find text (for example, "sit" locates "sitting" and "sat"). Corresponds to the Find all word forms check box in the Find and Replace dialog box.

Forward Optional Variant. True to search forward (toward the end of the document).

Wrap Optional Variant. Controls what happens if the search begins at a point other than the beginning of the document and the end of the document is reached (or vice versa if Forward is set to False). This argument also controls what happens if there's a selection or range and the search text isn't found in the selection or range. Can be one of the following WdFindWrap constants.

Constant

Description

wdFindAsk

After searching the selection or range, Word displays a message asking whether to search the remainder of the document.

wdFindContinue

The find operation continues if the beginning or end of the search range is reached.

wdFindStop

The find operation ends if the beginning or end of the search range is reached.


Format Optional Variant. True to have the find operation locate formatting in addition to or instead of the find text.

ReplaceWith Optional Variant. The replacement text. To delete the text specified by the Find argument, use an empty string (" "). You specify special characters and advanced search criteria just as you do for the Find argument. To specify a graphic object or other nontext item as the replacement, put the item on the Clipboard and specify "^c" for ReplaceWith.

Replace Optional Variant. Specifies how many replacements are to be made: one, all, or none. Can be one of the following WdReplace constants: wdReplaceAll, wdReplaceNone, or wdReplaceOne.

See Also

Format property, Forward property, Replacement property, Text property, Wrap property.

Example

This example finds and selects the next occurrence of the word "library."

With Selection.Find
    .ClearFormatting
    .MatchWholeWord = True
    .MatchCase = False
    .Execute FindText:="library"
End With
This example finds all occurrences of the word "hi" in the active document and replaces each occurrence with "hello."

Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Content
myRange.Find.Execute FindText:="hi", ReplaceWith:="hello", _
    Replace:=wdReplaceAll