Suggested AutoCAD improvement - allow free zoom and pan in "Find and Replace"

[Anonymous]

Use case:

Use the AutoCAD “Find and Replace” function to selectively change text in a drawing with a large number of possible matched result, but need to review each result entry one by one to decide if each one should be replaced.

Select “List results option, AutoCAD will show all found text as a list.

Sometimes, it is not possible to use more specific search arguments to reduce the number of matched entries.

Double click on one result entry, AutoCAD will automatically zoom in to the found text.

Issue:

The display zoom level is way too close to the found text.

I can only see a very little area surrounding the found text. This makes it very difficult to decide if the found text should be changed.

The Find and Replace dialog is a modal window, so zooming and panning with the mouse does not work at all while the result window is still active.

Current workaround:

I have to dismiss the result window. Then zoom out to review the context surrounding the found text. Then repeat the find command. Select the entry result just reviewed to replace the text and/or review the next result entry. This is a big loss in productivity when changing a small number of text in a big drawing.

Suggested improvement:
After zooming in to a found result, while the result window is still active, allow using the mouse to zoom and pan freely. The user should still be able to use the replace button to replace text of one result entry or zoom in to any other result entry.

[Kent1Cooper]

I endorse your idea, but this is a User Forum, where we're all just other Users like you, and the few Autodesk employees who watch what's going on here are not the ones you want to reach.  The better place for such a request is at the >Product Feedback Page<.

[ssshiroor]

Zoom and Pan during find and replace is there.  In "find where " choose selected object from drop down menu and click in square beside that.  You can pan and zoom

[nrz13]

Agree 100%. This problem has irritated me for years.  But @Kent1Cooper is right, no one from Autodesk will pick it up here.  And even if you got it directly to an Autodesk engineer today, it probably wouldn't be implemented for at least three versions from now (AutoCAD 2027).

I think the Find and Replace window should be resizeable as well so you don't have to scroll through a long list when you have plenty of screen area to expand the window.

And the "Find where" drop-down should remember its setting each time the command is run.