Studio 5000 Search Replace

[SophieA]

I'm trying to Search and Replace a bunch of different tags after mapping the I/O of a migrated project. The Search - Replace Limit is set to 'Text Only' and grayed out so I cannot change it. Help states to:

"Choose an option from this menu to configure what the Find What field represents.

Note: This option is not available if you are searching within the Tag Editor/Data Monitor."

I am not in the Tag Editor, so I am stumped here. I've tried to use the Search and Replace browsers (box with the 3 dots) to select the exact tags of interest, but it still just looks for matching text strings and goes to work, and in the process has created a bunch of undefined tags sprinkled all over various subroutines. Beautiful.

Thoughts from more experienced users of 5000 - pulling out my hair.

 

[Phrog30]

Are you trying to do this online? You can't, offline only.

 

[A_G]

I usually use Ctrl F, it brings up the Find and Replace Tool

 

[travispedley]

Have to be careful, i always save before a Search and Replace for just this reason. I don't know a workaround other than to pay close attention to what you're actually trying to replace.

 

[SophieA]

This is all Off-Line.

If I start with just 'Find' the 'Limit' is selectable, so I choose 'References to exact tag and its members', but as soon as I click on 'Replace' the 'Limit' defaults back to 'Text only'.

This seems like a serious shortcoming of the program. I've used Search - Replace on other PLC editors with no problem. It is such a fundamental task that I've got to believe I am missing something.

I've gone to doing a 'Find', and then individually editing the tag name on each rung. But with dozens of instances of some tags this is a burden.

 

[saultgeorge]

I don't know if you're doing what I think you are, but I did a complex project where I used Control "F" and the replace feature to change a lot of tags. I didn't do anything with the limit or reference to exact text. If I had a tag "AHU_9_HEAT_SP" and I wanted it to say "AHU_10_HEAT_SP" like I'm doing now, then I copied the first tag into the replace with box and made my edit. If I remember, it won't carry over descriptors. I had to use a CSV for the descriptors. I brought them in first and then the tag would populate it's descriptor when I created it.
Be careful to only select "This Routine". I accidentally did a whole program and had to delete it and import it in and start over. If you already knew all this, then sorry for wasting your time. Good luck.

 

[SophieA]

saultgeorge - little different as all my 'new' tags are all defined in the I/O mapping routine. Now I just need to replace the I/O alias tags throughout all the other routines with the mapped I/O tags. But as I said before, it is not replacing tags, but replacing text strings.

 

[JaxGTO]

Are you setting up the items to search using the 'Find Within' button?

 

[ArtWalls]

Have you tried saving the project to an L5K file and doing the edit/replace in a text editor?

We do this on a regular basis with programs and routines, occasionally on full projects.

The text being replaced has to be fairly distinctive.