I want to select a text object containing any string and replace all the text in the object

[a-nakagawaNZ69W]

I am new to Acad VBA.

I would like to find a text object containing any string and replace all the text in the object.

for example...

1) Searching for "abc" found objects containing "123 abc 456"

2) Select all the text inside the "123 abc 456" object.

3) Replace "123 abc 456" with "789 abc 999"

How should I handle this situation?

[ed57gmc]

Have you tried the FIND command? It does exactly that.

[a-nakagawaNZ69W]

I tried running the FIND command, but for '123 abc 456' it only replaces 'abc' and not '123' and '456'.

Execution result
1) Search with "*abc*"
2) Found "123 abc 456"  ("123" and "456" are not fixed numbers.)

3) After doing the replacement, I get "123789 abc 999456".

Am I using the FIND command wrong?

[ed57gmc]

What are you using for the replace string? It seems that "*abc*" found the text ok.

[a-nakagawaNZ69W]

sorry

Search string: "*abc*"
String after replacement: "789 abc 999"
Search results for: "123 abc 456"
Substitution result: "123 789 abc 999 456"

With the current method, only "abc" can be replaced, but I want to replace "123 abc 456" entirely.

[ed57gmc]

That seems fair. I don't know how new you are to VBA. There are lots of code on this forum. If you search for 'GetSS*' or "AddSelectionSet", I've posted several functions that filter for different entity types. Then its just a matter of iterating the selectionset with a for..each statement, editing the TextString property. If that's not enough, I can come up with something.

[a-nakagawaNZ69W]

Thank you for your reply.
I'll do some more research on tips.

[ed57gmc · Accepted solution]

Here's my solution. For the find to work, you have to use the wild cards like "*abc*".  As is, it searches the whole drawing. If you wanted to select the text to search, substitute the GetSS_TextFilter function with the GetSS_TextFilter_SOS function.

Public Sub ReplaceText()

    Dim ss As AcadSelectionSet
    Set ss = GetSS_TextFilter()
    
    Dim sFind As String
    Dim sReplace As String
    sFind = ThisDrawing.Utility.GetString(1, "Enter the string to search for:> ")
    sReplace = ThisDrawing.Utility.GetString(1, "Enter the replacement string:> ")
    Dim oEnt As AcadEntity
    Dim oTxt As AcadText
    Dim oMtxt As AcadMText
    For Each oEnt In ss
        Select Case oEnt.ObjectName
            Case Is = "AcDbText"
                Set oTxt = oEnt
                If oTxt.TextString Like sFind Then oTxt.TextString = sReplace
            Case Is = "AcDbMText"
                Set oMtxt = oEnt
                If oMtxt.TextString Like sFind Then oMtxt.TextString = sReplace
                
        End Select
    Next oEnt
End Sub


Public Function GetSS_TextFilter() As AcadSelectionSet
    'creates an ss of Text only
    Dim s1 As AcadSelectionSet      'for filtered ss
    
    
        'filter is needed if there's no pfss
        Dim intFtyp(0) As Integer                       ' setup for the filter
        Dim varFval(0) As Variant
        Dim varFilter1, varFilter2 As Variant
        intFtyp(0) = 0: varFval(0) = "TEXT,MTEXT"       ' get only text and mtext
        varFilter1 = intFtyp: varFilter2 = varFval
        Set s1 = AddSelectionSet("ssTextFilter")        ' create or get the set
        s1.Clear                                        ' clear the set
        s1.Select acSelectionSetAll, , , varFilter1, varFilter2      ' do it
    
    Set GetSS_TextFilter = s1

End Function

Public Function AddSelectionSet(SetName As String) As AcadSelectionSet
' This routine does the error trapping neccessary for when you want to create a
' selectin set. It takes the proposed name and either adds it to the selectionsets
' collection or sets it.
    On Error Resume Next
    Set AddSelectionSet = ThisDrawing.SelectionSets.Add(SetName)
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then
        Set AddSelectionSet = ThisDrawing.SelectionSets.Item(SetName)
        AddSelectionSet.Clear
    End If
End Function



Public Function GetSS_TextFilter_SOS() As AcadSelectionSet
    'creates an ss of Text only using SelectOnScreen
    Dim s1 As AcadSelectionSet      'for filtered ss
    
    
        'filter is needed if there's no pfss
        Dim intFtyp(0) As Integer                       ' setup for the filter
        Dim varFval(0) As Variant
        Dim varFilter1, varFilter2 As Variant
        intFtyp(0) = 0: varFval(0) = "TEXT,MTEXT"       ' get only text and mtext
        varFilter1 = intFtyp: varFilter2 = varFval
        Set s1 = AddSelectionSet("ssTextFilter")        ' create or get the set
        s1.Clear                                        ' clear the set
        s1.SelectOnScreen varFilter1, varFilter2        ' do it
    
    Set GetSS_TextFilter_SOS = s1

End Function

[a-nakagawaNZ69W]

thank you very much!

I got better results than I expected.

I used Excel VBA for many years, so I knew the settings, but I didn't know what to look for and what to get.

I will do my best to study AcadVBA based on the source I received!