Find-Replace
What is the ‘Find-Replace’ task?
The ‘Find-Replace’ task can be used to find content in a data table, based on a full or a partial match. The content can then be replaced with new custom content.
The ‘Find-Replace’ task is useful tool to quickly revise a data table.
How to use the ‘Find-Replace’ task?
The important fields in the ‘Find-Replace’ task are
- Select Table
Use this dropdown menu to select the table which has the data entries you would like to find and replace.
- Select Columns to Find
Use this dropdown menu to select the columns which have the data entries you would like to find and replace. You may select all columns if you would like to select the entire data table.
- Incoming Value
Use this dropdown menu to define the nature of the match with the incoming value. You can select if the incoming value is equal to, or begins with, or ends with a particular value or text string. You can even use this field to select empty cells or a Regular Expression.
Note: RegEx Match (also called Regular Expression Match) can be used to search for very complex strings. For example, a RegEx search for ‘[A-Z]\w+’ will search for all words that start with capital letters A to Z. ‘Andreas’ and ‘Ralf’ would meet this criterion. You can develop and test such expressions using sites like https://regex101.com/
- Incoming Value to Replace
Use this field to type in the value or the text string you want to find.
- Partial Match
Use this dropdown menu to indicate if you want to find a full or a partial match.
- Replace With
Use this dropdown menu to define the nature of the replacement value. You can select a custom value or even a numerical calculation like column sum or column average.
- Replace with Value
Use this field to type in the replacement value. This field shows up only if ‘Custom Value’ is selected in ‘Replace With’.
How to use the ‘Filter Options’ section in the ‘Find-Replace’ task?
The ‘Filter Options’ section in the ‘Find-Replace’ task can be used to modify features of the output table.
More information about this section is available here.
How to use the ‘Define Output Table’ and the ‘Output Options’ sections in the ‘Find-Replace’ task?
The ‘Output Options’ section in the ‘Find-Replace’ task can be used to modify features of the output table. The fields related to this section become visible on selecting the ‘Output Options’ checkbox.
More information about this section is available here.
