Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rphroy!caen!malgudi!sunc.osc.edu!spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu
From: spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu (Stephen N. Spencer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Word 4.0 'Replace' command.
Message-ID: <1566@gertie.osc.edu>
Date: 18 Apr 91 12:28:13 GMT
Sender: spencer@osc.edu
Distribution: usa
Organization: OSU Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design
Lines: 22

Ran across something interesting last night while using Microsoft Word 4.0a,
and thought I'd share it, and perhaps gain a little insight into the situation.

I had to replace all occurrences of the string "Todd's" to "Mark's" in a 
document.  (not the double quotes, just the person's name, the apostrophe,
and the 's' character)  

First try:  Put "Todd's" in the 'Find' box, and "Mark's" in the 'Replace' box.
Didn't find any of the occurrences of "Todd's" in the document. None of them.

Second try:  (after reading the reference manual)  Put "Todd?s" in the 'Find'
box, and "Mark's" in the 'Replace' box.  Worked fine, though took longer than
the searching did in the first try.

Now I understand why the second try worked:  the '?' is a wildcard, and of 
course it's going to take longer to search using that particular string.
But why didn't the first try work?  Anyone have a clue?

----
Stephen N. Spencer  ACCAD - The Ohio State University
1224 Kinnear Road   Columbus, OH  43212-1154
spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu