# Find and Replace Text and Style

**RadWordsProcessing** lets you search for a string in a [RadFlowDocument](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/libraries/radwordsprocessing/model/radflowdocument) instance and replace all matches. The library also allows you to replace the styling of the matches alone.

You can search and replace text or styling through [RadFlowDocumentEditor](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/libraries/radwordsprocessing/editing/radflowdocumenteditor). This article lists the available methods and describes how to use them. This feature is available starting with the **R2 2021** release.

## Find Text

`RadFlowDocumentEditor` exposes the `FindAll()` method to enable you to find all instances of a string. You can choose between the following overloads:

| Method                                                                 | Description                                                                                                  |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `FindAll(string text, bool matchCase=true, bool matchWholeWord=false)` | Finds all occurrences of the specified string. Default values: `matchCase = true`, `matchWholeWord = false`. |
| `FindAll(Regex regex)`                                                 | Finds all matches of the passed `Regex`.                                                                     |

Both methods return a collection of `FindResult` instances, which in turn expose the following properties:

| Property             | Description                                                                                                                                                              |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Runs`               | Gets a collection of [Runs](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/libraries/radwordsprocessing/model/run) that contains the searched text. |
| `RelativeStartIndex` | Gets the index of the first character in the searched text inside the first `Run`.                                                                                       |
| `RelativeEndIndex`   | Gets the index of the last character in the searched text inside the last `Run`.                                                                                         |
| `FullMatchText`      | Gets the matched text.                                                                                                                                                   |

**Example 1** shows how to create a `RadFlowDocumentEditor` instance and use it to find all matches of the word "code".

**Example 1: Find all whole-word, case-sensitive matches for the target text in an imported DOCX document**

```C#
RadFlowDocument flowDocument;
DocxFormatProvider docxFormatProvider = new DocxFormatProvider();

using (Stream input = File.OpenRead("input.docx"))
{
	flowDocument = docxFormatProvider.Import(input, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10));
}

RadFlowDocumentEditor radFlowDocumentEditor = new RadFlowDocumentEditor(flowDocument);
ReadOnlyCollection<Telerik.Documents.Flow.TextSearch.FindResult> findResults = radFlowDocumentEditor.FindAll("text to search", matchCase: true, matchWholeWord: true);
```

## Replace Text

To find all instances of a string and replace it with another one, you can use the `ReplaceText()` method of `RadFlowDocumentEditor`. The method features the following overloads:

| Method                                                                                        | Description                                                                                                             |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ReplaceText(string oldText, string newText, bool matchCase=true, bool matchWholeWord=false)` | Replaces all occurrences of a string with another string. Default values: `matchCase = true`, `matchWholeWord = false`. |
| `ReplaceText(Regex regex, string newText)`                                                    | Replaces all matches of the specified `Regex` with the new text.                                                        |

**Example 2** shows how to create a `RadFlowDocumentEditor` instance and use it to replace all matches of the word "code" with the phrase "source code".

**Example 2: Replace all whole-word, case-sensitive matches of old text with new text**

```C#
radFlowDocumentEditor.ReplaceText("old text", "new text", matchCase: true, matchWholeWord: true);
```

## Replace Styling

`RadFlowDocumentEditor` gives you the ability to format all occurrences of a string in a document. Use one of the overloads of the `ReplaceStyling()` method:

| Method                                                                                                                          | Description                                                                                                                     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `ReplaceStyling(string searchedText, Action<CharacterProperties> replacePropertiesAction)`                                      | Applies character property changes to all matches with the casing of the string.                                                |
| `ReplaceStyling(string searchedText, bool matchCase, bool matchWholeWord, Action<CharacterProperties> replacePropertiesAction)` | Applies character property changes to all matches. Accepts Boolean parameters to control case matching and whole-word matching. |
| `ReplaceStyling(Regex regex, Action<CharacterProperties> replacePropertiesAction)`                                              | Applies character property changes to all matches of the `Regex`.                                                               |

**Example 3** shows how to apply a red highlight color to all occurrences of the word "alert".

**Example 3: Highlight all matches of the word text with a red highlight color**

```C#
radFlowDocumentEditor.ReplaceStyling("text", new Action<CharacterProperties>((properties) =>
	{
		properties.HighlightColor.LocalValue = Colors.Red;
	}));
```

## See Also

* [RadFlowDocumentEditor](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/libraries/radwordsprocessing/editing/radflowdocumenteditor)
* [CharacterProperties](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/libraries/radwordsprocessing/concepts/style-properties)
* [RadFlowDocument](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/libraries/radwordsprocessing/model/radflowdocument)
* [Simulating Mail Merge with HTML content by Utilizing the Find and Replace Functionality](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/knowledge-base/simulating-mail-merge-with-html-content)
* [WordsProcessing Replacement Demo](https://demos.telerik.com/document-processing/wordsprocessing/replace)
* [Mail Merge with HTML Formatted Strings in RadWordsProcessing](https://www.telerik.com/document-processing-libraries/documentation/knowledge-base/mail-merge-html-formatted-strings-radwordsprocessing)