* [Wish List entry 600] Add search and replace to notes.

[rcpettit]

I do a lot of drag and drop from websites in my notes and source text. Right now I have to use an external text editor to search and replace parts of the pasted text to clean it up and then paste into the notes. I know there is a search and replace plugin but that looks like it does the whole program. Just would like to see it added as an option on the text editor in the program.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Have you tried Edit > Find and Replace?

Screenshot 2022-12-24 082217.jpg (47.9 KiB) Viewed 1656 times

The Search and Replace plugin has a lot more options, but can also be restricted to operate on just Notes.

[Mark1834]

I read the original post as wanting an Edit > Search/Replace facility in the Rich Text editor so applies just to the active note (similar to most general text editors). Plugins are not very good at working with single fields, so it feels like a new requirement to me.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Mark,

what about the build in edit facility, if you don't like plugins? although I'm not sure why you say they're not very good at working with single fields...

edited to add: a find and replace facility in the editor would be new, and isn't already on the wish list. - apparently nobody has wanted this in the last 16 years! Moved back to New Wish List requests.

[Mark1834]

Perhaps I’m missing something, but if you have say ten examples of “old text” in one note, how do you easily change them to “new text” without having to step through the (potentially numerous) examples of “old text” in other notes?

[ColeValleyGirl]

Mark, if that's the requirement, then you're right. I was thinking of another meaning of 'single field'. You're talking about a single instance of a field, I'm talking about all instances of a single field.

[Mark1834]

apparently nobody has wanted this in the last 16 years!

Doesn’t that apply to all new requests? Let’s see what clarification the OP adds...

[Mark1834]

I'm not sure why you say they're not very good at working with single fields...

It's slightly off topic, but worth expanding my original comment. Plugins can work on individual records by identifying which record is selected in the Records Window, but they have no way of identifying which field is the active field within that record.

An example is Jane's useful Convert text from source to rich text plugin. It only works on split sources, and my diy extension to lumped sources has to use a rather crude workaround using the Windows clipboard to identify the required text to process.

That's less of an issue for FH diehards who prefer splitting, but lumpers generally have much more detail within individual records, so can need more granularity than plugins provide.

[ColeValleyGirl]

apparently nobody has wanted this in the last 16 years!

Doesn’t that apply to all new requests?

I was genuinely surprised it hadn't been requested.

[tatewise]

The rich text Note editor already has cog Menu > Find in this Note... Ctrl+F to find multiple instances of the same text within one Note, so maybe OP is asking for a Find & Replace in this Note extension to that.

BTW: The Search and Replace plugin scope can be limited to specified records and filters set to focus on specific fields, but not down to a single instance of a particular Note say.

[AdrianBruce]

The rich text Note editor already has cog Menu > Find in this Note... Ctrl+F to find multiple instances of the same text within one Note, ...

IIRC I have suggested somewhere that the cog menu is misused. To me (and maybe others will disagreed), cog menus are for options, and similar, not standard workflow processing. Hiding "Find In This Note" under the cog menu is counter intuitive - did I even know it was there until I just read Mike's response above?

In fact it's so counter intuitive that I wonder if Calico Pie can't get at the toolbar of the Rich Text Editor but do have a limited ability to add stuff to its cog menu?

[tatewise]

Cog menus throughout FH do offer (and always have offered) more than option settings.
See the Property Box cog Menu, the Media tab cog Menu, the Query Window cog Menu, and the Map Window cog Menu.

[Mark1834]

I think Adrian has a valid point, though. I wasn’t aware of that option either. User interfaces should be intuitive, and IMO it’s a misuse of an icon that generally means “settings”. Doing it wrong for a long time doesn’t make it right or easier for a newcomer to find!

[tatewise]

Has anybody reported that to CP?

[ColeValleyGirl]

Has anybody reported that to CP?

Inconsistent use of cog-wheel (21072)

[rcpettit]

I could use the global Find and Replace and have it convert my notes but I'm in the process of cleaning up my sources and verifiying them. I was looking at having a F&R in the individual notes so I clean them up and format them. I found that I don't like the tables and much perfer columns and been redoing a lot of notes. Much easier for me because of my stroke. It's an extra step for me to copy to the external editor, do the clean up then paste it back in but it is a work around for now.

[tatewise]

It is still not clear whether you want F&R to work just within one rich text Note window, or with a wider scope across several instances of rich text Note windows. If the latter, then how are the desired Notes selected?

The Search and Replace plugin lets you perform the latter on filtered records and fields.
Each matching Note that is found can have its Replacement Value text edited to whatever you wish and it can be different for each instance.
e.g. To search only Source records set the Scope to Source Records (SOUR).
Select only Note & Description fields.
Enable LUA Pattern Mode and set Search to say <table=.-</table> to find all rich text tables.

[AdrianBruce]

21072|Inconsistent use of cog-wheel

My own proposal - good job someone remembered roughly where it was.

[jimlad68]

Has anybody reported that to CP?

I have reported a few CLAF (Common Look And Feel) and inconsistency issues in the past, I do not remember any being fixed, but I think it is worth reminding CP. I do not think CLAF or EOU (Ease Of Use) are high on CP agenda.

[rcpettit]

I'm talking about in the individual note windows not globally. The best editor I've seen is in Heredis genealogy software. It's a full text editor with tab settings and such like using MS Word. But it stores this in a database so something like that won't work for FH7.

[tatewise]

So you want a new F&R feature that works within just the one rich text Note window that is currently open.

i.e. You do NOT want the same F&R operation to be applied to a selected subset of Note instances.

I've just reviewed the Heredis 2022 Note editor and it seems to offer much the same features as the FH rich text Note editor.
It does not even have a Find text option, which FH does have. I could not see a Find & Replace option.
IMO it falls a long way short of being like MS Word.

The only significant difference is that the top-level record Notes are on tabs in the editor, but that is roughly equivalent to the FH Notes tab that lists all the Notes including Fact Notes.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Does this cover the requirement?

Proposal:

Provide a Find and Replace capability within the Rich Text Editor,

[ColeValleyGirl]

Wish List entry 600 has been created for this.