How To Search for Specific Text in a Memo Field

WINDOWS                    | MS-DOS                     | MACINTOSH

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 5.0
• Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.0, 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6
• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6
• Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, versions 2.5b, 2.5c

SUMMARY

This article demonstrates the two methods you can use to search for specific text in a memo field. The first method uses the Query Designer. The second method programmatically searches a memo field of a database and highlights a specific word or phrase. The program continues searching and highlighting all occurrences within a memo field until all the matches are located.

MORE INFORMATION

Method 1

This example uses the CLIENTS database in the SAMPLE\ORGANIZE\DBFS subdirectory interactively using the Query Designer. Open the Query Designer (File, New, Query), and select the drop-down box under fField Name in the Selection Criteria dialog. Scroll to the bottom of the list of fields, and select <EXPRESSION...>. In the Expression window, enter the following: "ATC("msrchstr", Notes)."

In the Criteria drop-down box, select "More Than." In the Example textbox, type "0" (zero). When the query is performed, the cursor returns the set of records where the searched-for string occurs in the specified field at any location.

Method 2

This code example uses the CLIENTS database in the SAMPLE\ORGANIZE\DBFS subdirectory. Before executing the code, open the memo field of the first record and type the following text:

   "This is a test of memo field text search program.
   If the test is successful, two occurrences will be found.."

   SET TALK OFF
   msrchstr=SPACE(5)   && This variable can be any size. &&
   USE clients
   GO TOP
   @ 1,10 GET msrchstr
   READ
      msrchstr=ALLTRIM(msrchstr)
      m.occurrence=1
      DO WHILE .t.
      mfound=AT(msrchstr,Notes,m.occurrence)
         IF mfound > 0
            m.occurrence=m.occurrence+1
            MODI MEMO notes NOWAIT RANGE mfound,mfound+LEN(msrchstr)
            WAIT WINDOW 'Press any key to find next occurrence'
         ELSE
            WAIT WINDOW 'No more'
            EXIT
            ENDIF
      ENDDO
   SET TALK ON