Using the Quick Find and Replace Widgets

Flare has two widgets that can be used for find and replace—Quick Find and Quick Replace. When opened, these widgets are integrated into the editor when looking for text in a file that is open. These widgets contain the same fields. The only difference between them has to do with which fields are initially shown when the widget is first opened. The Quick Find widget initially displays only the Find fields. The Quick Replace widget shows both the Find and the Replace fields.

How to Open the Quick Find Widget

  1. Open a file.
  2. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:

    • Ribbon Select Home > Quick Find.

    • Keyboard Shortcut Press CTRL+F.

How to Open the Quick Replace Widget

  1. Open a file.
  2. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:

    • Ribbon Select Home > Quick Replace.

    • Keyboard Shortcut Press CTRL+H.
    • Expand Click the Expand button when the Quick Find widget is open. The Quick Replace text box will display below the Quick Find text box.

How to Use the Quick Find and Replace Widgets

When you open the Quick Find widget, a field and some buttons appear in the upper-right corner of the editor. If the cursor was on a particular word, or if some content was already selected in the file, that text is automatically added to the field.

Image showing an example of a quick find search.

In the Find field, enter the word(s) you want to find in the file that is open. As you type, the first instance of the term is highlighted, and a counter in the text field shows how many matches were found in the file.

Image showing an example of the counter in a quick find search.

You can click the down arrow in the field to select text used in recent searches.

To locate the next match, click Find Next button. And keep clicking it to move through the file, finding each subsequent match.

Image showing an example of how to find the next match in a quick find search.

If you want to replace matches with other text, click Expand button. This shows another field just below the first one. Enter replacement text in that field. If you want to replace only the next instance found, click Replace Next button. If you want to replace all instances of the matching text in the file with the replacement text, click Replace All button.

Image showing an example of how to replace text in a quick find search.

Click to select any of the following filter options:

  • Whole word Flare finds only whole words (e.g., if you enter "stand" as the search term, it will find "stand," but not "standing").
  • Match case Flare finds only occurrences of the text that match the case (e.g., uppercase, lowercase) of the text entered in the "Find what" field.
  • Regular Expressions If you select this option, you can use regular expressions when you look for content. See Regular Expressions.
  • Wildcards If you select this option, you can use wildcards when you look for content. See Wildcards.
  • Find and Replace in Files This option opens the Find and Replace in Files window pane, which lets you perform more advanced searches, including global searches throughout the project. See Finding and Replacing Text.

To close the widget, click or press the Esc key on your keyboard.

The Quick Replace widget is identical to the Quick Find widget. The only difference is that the replace fields are displayed as soon as you select the option.