Hi there, I was wondering if it is possible to check the "find whole words only" box when you are trying to find characters/emoticons (such as :/ or >:/) using ctrl+f?



This is my problem in a more detailed explanation. I am trying to pluck out and replace the characters that create an emoticon that looks like this: :/ . However, I want to leave all the emoticons that look like this: >:/ . I know that you can be specific when taking out a certain string of words (such as only replacing the words "cat" with the find whole words function while being able to keep "cats" since they do not match completely with "cat") but can this also be done for things that are not words or numbers?

I am using Word(ver 10.1 2001) on a Mac.

If there is any confusion with my problem, I'd be more than happy to clarify.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi pimpong,

You can use a wildcard Find/Replace, where:
Find = ([!>]):/
Replace = \1

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thank you so much macropod!

I tried that and it totally worked! Although I do not know exactly what it means. If you would not mind, could you clarify that a bit because would actually really like to know what it is telling the find box to do.

Also, another problem just popped up for me (I am not sure if I should just make a new thread or not) and I am trying to take out characters that look like this ^_^ but every time I do it, I get a "^_ is not a valid special character for the Find What Box". Is there a way around this so that I can replace the ^_^ with the word "smile"?

Thank you again for any and all the help!

Hi pimpong,

In a wildcard Find/Replace, the Find expression '([!>]):/' uses parentheses (ie '()') to delineate the first part of the search term, because we'll want to use it later. The first part of the search term is actually just '[!>]'. This tells Word to find a character that is not a '>'. The rest of the expression (ie ':/') says what the character in the first part of the search term has to be followed by. So, we're telling Word to find any ':/' string that is not preceded by '>'. The Replace expression simply says to retain whatever is in the first set of parentheses (ie the character that is not a '>' is).

As for the second part of your question, you and use an ordinary Find/Replace, where:
Find = ^^_^
Replace = smile

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

thanks again macropod!

Ok, so I think this is hopefully the last problem I have. I am now able to find the characters that look like ^_^ but now I need to take them out and replace them but I need to keep the emoticons that look like (^_^). This is similar to my first problem but I tried doing:

Find: ([!(])^^_^
Replace: happy

However, when I do this it tells me "^ is not a valid special character for the Find What Box or is not supported when the Use Wildcards checkbox is selected"

Is there anyway to keep (^_^) while taking out ^_^? Thanks so much for your help and any other help I can get is greatly appreciated.

Hi pimpong,

In a wildcard Find, ^ acts as a control code for passing ASCII codes. That's why you can't use it directly. The same restriction applies to a number of other characters (eg {}[]\?#*()<>). So, if you want to find them, you need to insert ^ followed by the corresponding ASCII code or, in some cases, \ followed by the character. See Word's Help file for details.

If there's always a space before the ^_^ when it's not part of a (^_^) string, simply insert a space at the start of the Find and Replace expressions. Otherwise, you could use a wildcard Find/Replace, where:
Find = ([!(])^94_^94
Replace = \1happy
In this case, the ^94 acts passes ASCII 94 (ie ^) to the Find expression as a string rather than as the literal ^, and the Find process decodes it.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thank you again macropod!!!!!

You are a lifesaver!

I think I can finally finish my project now. Thank you so much! I am extremely grateful for all your help.