Q231807: WD97: Wildcard Calculates Search and Replace Text Improperly

Article: Q231807
Product(s): Word 97 for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:97
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbdta
Last Modified: 14-NOV-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you find or replace text using wildcard criteria of any character occurring
from n to m occurrences (?{n,m}), Word may find or replace text that exceeds m.

In the text example:

  sample a 123
  sample ab 123
  sample abc 123
  sample abcd 123

to find all occurrences of text beginning with the word "Sample ", followed by
just one to three characters and ending with " 123", you would build a wildcard
search criteria of:

  Sample (?{1,3})( 123)

in the Find what box (in the Find and Replace dialog box on the Edit menu).

This criteria, however, will find the last line in the example above, which
contains more than three characters.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are
listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION
================

For more information about find and replace, click Microsoft Word Help on the
Help menu, type "find and replace" (without the quotation marks) in the Office
Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics
returned.

For additional information about wildcard search or replace, please see the
following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q198047 WD97: Can't Find Text Using Wildcards with Find or Replace

  Q198370 WD97: Find/Replace with Wildcard Finds All Punctuation

  Q176776 WD: Searching for Special Characters When Use Wildcards Selected

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbdta 
Technology        : kbWordSearch kbWord97 kbWord97Search kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbnofix

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