Microsoft KB Archive/63806

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

File: How to Find and Change Text in Multiple Records
Last reviewed: October 27, 1994

Article ID: Q63806

Summary:

In Microsoft File, to find and change text in multiple records in the same field, do the following:


 * 1) From the Organize menu, choose the Find command.
 * 2) Type in the item to find (for example, Pennsylvania).
 * 3) Click the Find button; at this point, all records containing &quot;Pennsylvania&quot; are sequential.
 * 4) Change the first record (for example, change &quot;Pennsylvania&quot; to &quot;PA&quot;).
 * 5) Select the next record down in the same field and press COMMAND+'(APOSTROPHE). This fills the field with the same information as the previous record.
 * 6) Repeat step 5 for each of the remaining records.

Note: This may be too time-consuming if there are a lot of records to change. If you need to change a large number of records, you can use Microsoft Word, as follows:


 * 1) With the database open in Microsoft File, choose Save Records As from the File menu.
 * 2) Select the Text option [Text (Microsoft Print Merge) in File 1.x], give the file a name, and click Save.
 * 3) Start Microsoft Word.
 * 4) From the File menu, choose Open and open the File document.
 * 5) In Word version 3.00 or earlier, choose Change from the Search menu. In Word version 4.00, choose Change from the Utilities menu.
 * 6) Type &quot;Pennsylvania&quot; in the Find What box and &quot;PA&quot; in the Change To box.
 * 7) Click Change All, or click Start Search to make the changes one at a time.
 * 8) To return the information to Microsoft File, choose Save As from the File menu.
 * 9) Click File Format, select Text Only, click OK, give the file a name and click Save.
 * 10) Start Microsoft File.
 * 11) From the File menu, choose Open Datafile, and select the text file you saved in step 9.