Find / Replace extended

In the FM community there was the request Can I create a libray of Regex Searches?. Barb Binder answered to this: This is a such a sensitive subject for me, and I've tried communicating to this to the FrameMaker team – both in person as well as through Tracker (case was closed but the issue was not addressed).

Since I also have this demand also quite often, I felt obliged to try an implementation of an enhanced version of the Find/Replace panel.
BTW Adobe calls it Find/Change, also in German Suchen/Ändern, but the French translation labels it Chercher/Remplacer. IMHO the found objects are not changed, but replaced.

Work started with a functioning UI in September 2020. At the time being [2021-03-18] I have version 0.8 with these functions:

• The main reason for the work is represented by the buttons Save, Save new, Retrieve and Delete.
• All Find types provide the expected results for find (Simple Seaarch, Wild Cards, RegEx).
• For finding objects which are in catalogues (¶ formats, Conditional Tags etc) the UI presents a list from the catalogue.
• For selected Cross-Reference formtas or Variable names their definition is displayed in the info area.
• Error messages are displayed in the info area an not in a separate dialogue.
• Regular expressions can be set up in a secondary panel by selecting elements from category lists.
• In the development phase (version < 1.0) the Help button presents both the User Guide and the Developer-log..
• I have not yet found methods to display found Object style override or found Object Stile tags. They are found but there is no indication.
• The UI adapts to the UI language of FrameMaker (de, en, fr).
• For all replacement operations the standard FM F/C panel is used. For this the script transferres all settings to this panel.

Not implemented yet [v0.8]

• Search in book

Features left out

The following features will not be implemented in the script. They are available in the FrameMaker Find/Change panel.

• DITA related Find Types (Publisher) are not handled by this script
• Search in selection
• Replacements

See the current documentation.
Download and installation

Installation

Note: All software from D+DD is Donationware - if you find it helpful for your work, think about supporting also my work.

1. Download the script file

FM version	Date	Version	Installation file(s)	Latest changes
10 and higher	2021-03-25	0.80	Inst-FMFindRepl.zip	First issue of FMfindReplace
	2021-05-31	0.90		Empty text lines can be deleted

2. UnZip the file to the desktop (you get a file and a directory).
3. Before installing a new (updated) version, uninstall the current version: start the installation program from the short cut in the Start-menu > D+DD. Then use the Un-Install button.
4. Execute the file PrepareInstallation.exe.
   The language of the installation dialogues adapts to the UI language of your current FM installation (de, en, fr).
   This program modifies some values in the file InstallThis\config.ini.
5. Use Continue Installation. This opens the installation program:
6. Select the appropriate option(s):
• Use the first option to start the script automatically at FM-start.
• Use the second option if you wish to start the script on demand from a trusted source. You can define the script in File > Scripts … > Catalog (Script Library) as Favourite: use the Add button and navigate to My Documents\Adobe Scripts\FMfindRepl\FMfindRepl.jsx.
7. With Install the script and associated files will be transferred into the relevant locations.
   In maker.ini a section D+DD is established.
8. A message indicates the end of the installation. The desktop icons will be removed.
9. You may use the test file (FM-12 MIF) to check function. This file comprises many types of objects, including colour misuse and overflow text.

Uninstall the script

To uninstall the script, start the installation program from the short cut in the Start-menu > D+DD; set the option(s) to define what to uninstall; then use the Un-Install button.

You can later use the installation program again.

To get completely rid of the script you need to remove the following in addition to the un-installation:

• The short cut in the start menu
• Directory %appdata%\D+DD\FMfindRepl

Caveat

Any software from D+DD is provided by the author and contributor "as is" and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed.