Searching an Active Document Incrementally

You can search a single document or window by entering text, character by character, to locate matching text as the characters accumulate. The search operation highlights the first set of characters that matches the characters entered during the incremental search in the document or window. Incremental search automatically searches all of the text within a document or window with the exception of text that has been collapsed or concealed. Regular expressions and wildcards are not available for use in incremental search text.

For the Match case option, which is located in the Find, Replace, Find in Files, and Replace in Files dialog boxes, incremental search uses the criteria from your previous search. For example, if you search across multiple files using the Find in Files dialog box and select Match Case, the next time you search incrementally, the characters you type will be case sensitive.

To search incrementally

1. Select the file or window to you want to search.

2. From the Edit menu, choose Advanced, and then select Incremental Search.

   The cursor icon changes to a binocular with an arrow, indicating the search direction, and the status bar displays the text Incremental Search.

3. Begin typing the text string.

The status bar displays the text you are entering while the editor highlights the first occurrence that matches the text. As you continue typing, the editor moves to the next match and highlights it. If no matches are available, the status bar displays the following.

Incremental Search: <text> (not found)

Incremental searches are performed from the current location in the document downwards from left to right. To perform a reverse incremental search press CTRL+SHIFT+I.

Use the following key combinations when you search incrementally.

See Also

Searching and Replacing | Searching Interactively | Searching Using Results Lists | Editing Code, HTML, and Text