Find Method

Microsoft Access Visual Basic

expression.Find(Target, StartLine, StartColumn, EndLine, EndColumn, WholeWord, MatchCase, PatternSearch)

expression    Required. An expression that returns one of the objects in the Applies To list.

Target   Required String. A string expression that evaluates to the text that you want to find.

StartLine   Required Long. The line on which to begin searching. If a match is found, the value of the StartLine argument is set to the line on which the beginning character of the matching text is found.

StartColumn   Required Long. The column on which to begin searching. Each character in a line is in a separate column, beginning with zero on the left side of the module. If a match is found, the value of the StartColumn argument is set to the column on which the beginning character of the matching text is found.

EndLine   Required Long. The line on which to stop searching. If a match is found, the value of the EndLine argument is set to the line on which the ending character of the matching text is found.

EndColumn   Required Long. The column on which to stop searching. If a match is found, the value of the EndColumn argument is set to the column on which the beginning character of the matching text is found.

WholeWord   Optional Boolean. True results in a search for whole words only. The default is False.

MatchCase   Optional Boolean. True results in a search for words with case matching the Target argument. The default is False.

PatternSearch   Optional Boolean. True results in a search in which the Target argument may contain wildcard characters such as an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?). The default is False.

Remarks

The Find method searches for the specified text string in a Module object. If the string is found, the Find method returns True.

To determine the position in the module at which the search text was found, pass empty variables to the Find method for the StartLine, StartColumn, EndLine, and EndColumn arguments. If a match is found, these arguments will contain the line number and column position at which the search text begins (StartLine, StartColumn) and ends (EndLine, EndColumn).

For example, if the search text is found on line 5, begins at column 10, and ends at column 20, the values of these arguments will be: StartLine = 5, StartColumn = 10, EndLine = 5, EndColumn = 20.

Example

The following function finds a specified string in a module and replaces the line that contains that string with a new specified line.

Function FindAndReplace(strModuleName As String, _
    strSearchText As String, _
    strNewText As String) As Boolean
    Dim mdl As Module
    Dim lngSLine As Long, lngSCol As Long
    Dim lngELine As Long, lngECol As Long
    Dim strLine As String, strNewLine As String
    Dim intChr As Integer, intBefore As Integer, _
        intAfter As Integer
    Dim strLeft As String, strRight As String

    ' Open module.
    DoCmd.OpenModule strModuleName
    ' Return reference to Module object.
    Set mdl = Modules(strModuleName)

    ' Search for string.
    If mdl.Find(strSearchText, lngSLine, lngSCol, lngELine, _
        lngECol) Then
        ' Store text of line containing string.
        strLine = mdl.Lines(lngSLine, Abs(lngELine - lngSLine) + 1)
        ' Determine length of line.
        intChr = Len(strLine)
        ' Determine number of characters preceding search text.
        intBefore = lngSCol - 1
        ' Determine number of characters following search text.
        intAfter = intChr - CInt(lngECol - 1)
        ' Store characters to left of search text.
        strLeft = Left$(strLine, intBefore)
        ' Store characters to right of search text.
        strRight = Right$(strLine, intAfter)
        ' Construct string with replacement text.
        strNewLine = strLeft & strNewText & strRight
        ' Replace original line.
        mdl.ReplaceLine lngSLine, strNewLine
        FindAndReplace = True
    Else
        MsgBox "Text not found."
        FindAndReplace = False
    End If

Exit_FindAndReplace:
    Exit Function

Error_FindAndReplace:

MsgBox Err & ": " & Err.Description
    FindAndReplace = False
    Resume Exit_FindAndReplace
End Function