Visual Basic > Strings

Search for a specific string and replace it with another

Search for a specific string and replace it with another

' SearchLine is input, SearchFor is what to search for, ReplaceWith is the replacement

Function sReplace(SearchLine as String, SearchFor as String, ReplaceWith as String)
    Dim vSearchLine as String, found as Integer
    
    found = InStr(SearchLine, SearchFor): vSearchLine = SearchLine
    If found <> 0 Then
        vSearchLine = ""
        If found > 1 Then vSearchLine = Left(SearchLine, found - 1)
        vSearchLine = vSearchLine + ReplaceWith
        If found + Len(SearchFor) - 1 < Len(SearchLine) Then _
            vSearchLine = vSearchLine + Right$(SearchLine, Len(SearchLine) - found - Len(SearchFor) + 1)
    end If
    sReplace = vSearchLine
    
End Function

* another routine *


Only 17 lines of code for a super-fast find-and-replace function:

-- start code --

    '  Copy *both* functions to VBScript or VB application:
    '  FindReplace and ReplaceFirstInstance
    '
    Function FindReplace(SourceString, SearchString, ReplaceString)
        tmpString1 = SourceString
        do Until vFixed
            tmpString2 = tmpString1
            tmpString1 = ReplaceFirstInstance(tmpString1, SearchString,ReplaceString)
            If tmpString1 = tmpString2 Then vFixed = True
        Loop
        FindReplace = tmpString1
    end Function

    Function ReplaceFirstInstance(SourceString, SearchString, ReplaceString)
        FoundLoc = InStr(1, SourceString, SearchString)
        If FoundLoc <> 0 Then
        	ReplaceFirstInstance = Left(SourceString, FoundLoc - 1) & _
		ReplaceString & Right(SourceString, _
		Len(SourceString) - (FoundLoc - 1) - Len(SearchString))
        Else
            ReplaceFirstInstance = SourceString
        end If
    end Function

--- end code -

 Just to clarify, one function is used to go through the entire string and
replace all instances of the search string ("Replace All").  The other
function is used to only replace the first instance of the search string
("Replace").  The former loops the latter until there are no more instances
of the search string.
> 


Function FindReplace(SourceString, searchstring, replacestring) 
    tmpString1 = SourceString 
    do Until vFixed 
        tmpString2 = tmpString1 
        tmpString1 = ReplaceFirstInstance(tmpString1, searchstring,
replacestring) 
        If tmpString1 = tmpString2 Then vFixed = True 
    loop 
    FindReplace = tmpString1 
End Function 

Function ReplaceFirstInstance(SourceString, searchstring, replacestring)
    Static StartLoc '* 
    If StartLoc = 0 Then StartLoc = 1 '* 
    FoundLoc = InStr(StartLoc, SourceString, searchstring) '* 
    If FoundLoc <> 0 Then 
            ReplaceFirstInstance = Left(SourceString, FoundLoc - 1) & _ 
            replacestring & Right(SourceString, _ 
            Len(SourceString) - (FoundLoc - 1) - Len(searchstring)) 
            StartLoc = FoundLoc + Len(replacestring) '* 
    Else 
        StartLoc = 1 '* 
        ReplaceFirstInstance = SourceString 
    end If 
End Function 


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