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How to Use the Replace Feature

 

 

 

The Replace Feature allows you to quickly change the values in a single column of many records, much like the Replace feature in word processors, except that EasyEst Estimating's Replace Feature can also do arithmetic (such as adding to your costs) as well as change text.

 

Before using Replace, you should be familiar with the Find Feature. The Replace Feature uses the Find Feature to locate the records which qualify for replacement.

 

To use the Replace Feature, choose Replace… from the Edit menu off the menu bar. The Replace dialog box will appear. Fill in the Find Rule as you would for the Find dialog box, and then fill in the value you want to replace any matches by, and how you want Replace to change the value (multiplying, replacing the entire field, replacing only the matched characters, etc.) The specifics of the Replace Rules are described below.

 

Once you have filled in the dialog box fields with your Find Rule and Replace Rule, you may elect to Replace All records which match a Find Rule (such as those that have Costs greater than zero), or review the records one-by-one, and either make the replacement or skip that one and go on to the next one. Replace All may be un-done (from the Edit menu) right after the change if you change you mind. If you know you want to change all the tagged records, try the Change Tagged feature, instead.

 

To review matches one-by-one, press the Find First button instead of the Replace All button. This will bring you to the first record which matches the find rule. If you want to perform the replacement on that record, press the Replace Here and Find Next key, Ctrl+E. The replacement will be made, and you will be brought to the next matching record. If you don't want to replace the current match, just press the Find Next key, Ctrl+N. You can also perform a "custom replacement" by just typing a new entry into the field. If you press either the Replace Here and Find Next or the Find Next key and there a no more matching records, an appropriate message will be displayed. You may, however, stop making one-at-a-time replacements any time you like without performing any special actions.

 

 

Understanding the Replace Dialog Box:

 

If you have used the Find Feature, you will already know how to use most of the controls in the Replace dialog box, but there are a few more fields, too:

 

In Column message Let’s you know what column you were in before issued the Replace command and where the searching and replacement will take place. (Cannot be changed here.)

 

Find What field Enter characters or numbers you want to search for in this column.

 

Match If pop-up list box

 Choose one of several types of search operations. If you want to match all the records, choose "Any Value".

 

Replace With field Enter characters or numbers you want to replace each time it finds a match in this column. Also can be used as the number to add, subtract, multiply, etc., field by, if the Replace By mode is set appropriately.

 

Replace by pop-up list box

 Normally, you will just want to "Replace Entire Field." But you can also add, multiply, change text in the field, etc. See Replace By Choices.

 

Match case check box

 If checked, will match for EXACT upper- and lower-case characters in your Find What entry. For instance, "Plywood" would not match "PLYWOOD". But if un-checked (the default), looking for "Plywood" would find "PLYWOOD" and even "plYWooD".

 

Ignore Spaces check box

 Check this box if you do not want to consider spaces when matching characters. For instance, when looking for "2x4", you would probably want to find 2x4s shown as "2 x 4" (with spaces before and after the "x").

 

Tagged Lines check box

 If you want to limit the search to only the records you have tagged, check this box. (This check box will be disabled if there are no tagged records in the current list.)

 

Find First button Finds first occurrence of something by moving the highlight to the first line where there is a match. You may then decide to replace that occurrence by selecting Replace Here and Find Next from the Edit menu, or pressing Ctrl+R. Or, you may just leave that record as it is, and use Find Next Ctrl+N to move to the next match.

 

Replace All button Pressing this button will perform the replacement on all records which match the find rule without asking.

 

Show All Records button

 Move to a column where you want to search for something.

 

Cancel button Use this command if you want to leave the dialog box without performing any work.

 

Help button Press this command to get help on this dialog box.

 

 

Examples

 

To change all Bid Units from "HR" to "Hours":

 

1. Highlight any Bid Unit in the Bid Item List.

2. Bring up the Replace dialog box by selecting Replace… from the Edit menu.

3. Enter "HR" in the Find What field.

5. Enter "Hours" in the Then Replace With field.

4. Set by Changing Entire Field.

5. Make sure Tagged Lines Only is not checked.

6. Press the Replace All button.

 

To raise the labor costs of most electrical Items in the Price Book by 8%:

 

1. Go to the Price Book Item List by selecting PB Item List from the Price-Book menu.

2. Get to the electrical Subdivision(s) in your Price Book. If you know what Division or Subdivision the Items are located in, you can use Go To Code… (from the Edit menu) to quickly get to the right area. If you don't know the code, you can use List from the Tools menu to choose a Division and Subdivision. You could also use the Find or Cross Reference tools to help you to locate Items quickly.

2. Untag all the Items (just in case you had any tagged before) using Untag All Records choice from the Tag menu (or use the un-check button on the Toolbar).

3. Tag those Items which are to have their labor rates increased. If all the Items are located close together, and you have the extended Tag Work features of Level 3, you can use Begin Tagging at Cursor on the first Item, and then End Tagging at Cursor and the last Item, and then tag or un-tag any individual changes.

4. Click on the Labor column in the Price Book Item List, and bring up the Replace dialog box by choosing Replace… from the Edit menu.

5. In the Match if it field, choose Any Value.

6. In the Then Replace With: field, enter 1.08, the factor to multiply the field by to raise the costs by 8%. In the By: field, select Multiplying Field By.

7. Check the Tagged Lines Only check box.

8. Press the Replace All button to perform the cost increase.

 

 

See Also: Find, Change Column Values in Tagged Lines.


 

 

 

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