Hi peavine,
this is the default behavior for Find & Replace, and I think the script is perfect. I have added it to the scripts in the Script Debugger and assigned a shortcut in Preferences → Key Bindings.
I wasn’t aware you could add scripts to Script Debugger and set key-bindings for them. That’s a nice feature.
That’s why I had mentioned it. 
Script Debugger is already an ingenious tool.
This is not correct. Replace all searches and replaces the entire code, not just the selected part.
Fredrik71. I originally wrote this script in response to a request on the Script Debugger forum and to Shane’s suggestion that the forum member write a script to accomplish what was desired. The fact that my script is not of interest to you doesn’t mean it’s not of interest to others.
https://forum.latenightsw.com/t/replace-only-in-selection/3293
Second, as db123 notes, Script Debugger will not restrict a search and replace to a selection–it doesn’t matter if the regex option is checked or not. Why couldn’t you take the few minutes it takes to verify your criticism?
Third, the purpose of my script is to do a quick search and replace on text selected in the editor window and has absolutely nothing to do with regex. I clearly state the purpose of my script in my initial post:
I do not object to constructive criticism of my work, but your post is wrong in every respect.
1 Like
db123. I’ve encountered an intermittent issue with your script in which the replace string is not shown in the confirmation dialog and “” is shown instead. I have not encountered this issue with my script, so I assume the issue is with the dialog handlers. I’ll do some additional research to better determine when exactly this issue arises.
db123. Thanks for letting me know that. I run the script with absolutely no changes and I run it by way of Script Debugger, so I’m not doing anything that might cause the issue. It’s very intermittent but I’ll track it down.
@peavine: The script debugger runs the script from the menu using the osascript process. This is a background process and I had to use some tricks to get the dialog to the foreground (current application’s AEInteractWithUser and NSApp’s activateIgnoringOtherApps).
Under Catalina it also behaves a bit different. So the buttons are not accessible with the tab key. In Big Sur they are. I think it is more likely due to the ScriptingBridge.
Edit: I have changed the script so that the values are saved to properties before the dialog is closed. Maybe this is the reason:
on main()
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selectedText to selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
end tell
if c2 = 0 then
display dialog "A text selection was not found" buttons {"Cancel", "Select All"} cancel button 1 default button 2 with title "Search and Replace" with icon caution -- disable if desired
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selectedText to source text
set {c1, c2} to {1, (count selectedText)}
set selection to {c1, c2}
end tell
end if
set dialogResult to my showSearchReplaceDialog()
if dialogResult is missing value then
return
end if
set {searchString, replaceString} to {searchString, replaceString} of dialogResult
set text item delimiters to searchString
set modifiedText to text items of selectedText
set searchStringMatches to ((count modifiedText) - 1)
set text item delimiters to replaceString
set modifiedText to modifiedText as text
set text item delimiters to {""}
if searchStringMatches = 0 then errorDialog("The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text")
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
display dialog "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
else
display dialog "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
end if
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selection to modifiedText
set selection to {c1, c2}
-- compile without showing errors -- enable if desired
end tell
end main
on errorDialog(dialogText)
display dialog dialogText buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
end errorDialog
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
script theScript
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
use framework "Carbon"
property ca : current application
property dialogWindow : missing value
property searchTextField : missing value
property replaceTextField : missing value
property cancelButton : missing value
property replaceButton : missing value
property searchString : missing value
property replaceString : missing value
property replaceClicked : false
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
if current application's AEInteractWithUser(-1, missing value, missing value) ≠ 0 then
return missing value
end if
if ca's NSThread's isMainThread() then
my performSearchReplaceDialog:(missing value)
else
its performSelectorOnMainThread:"performSearchReplaceDialog:" withObject:(missing value) waitUntilDone:true
end if
if my replaceClicked then
return {searchString:my searchString as text, replaceString:my replaceString as text}
end if
return missing value
end showSearchReplaceDialog
on performSearchReplaceDialog:args
set findLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Search:"
findLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 85, 70, 20))
set my searchTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
searchTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 85, 245, 20))
searchTextField's setEditable:true
searchTextField's setBordered:true
searchTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Search for …"
searchTextField's setDelegate:me
set replaceLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Replace:"
replaceLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 55, 70, 20))
set my replaceTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
replaceTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 55, 245, 20))
replaceTextField's setEditable:true
replaceTextField's setBordered:true
replaceTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Replace with …"
set my cancelButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Cancel" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
cancelButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
cancelButton's setFrameOrigin:{150, 10}
cancelButton's setKeyEquivalent:(character id 27)
set my replaceButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Replace" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
replaceButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
replaceButton's setFrameOrigin:{245, 10}
replaceButton's setKeyEquivalent:return
replaceButton's setEnabled:false
set windowSize to ca's NSMakeRect(0, 0, 355, 125)
set winStyle to (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskTitled as integer) + (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskClosable as integer)
set my dialogWindow to ca's NSWindow's alloc()'s initWithContentRect:windowSize styleMask:winStyle backing:(ca's NSBackingStoreBuffered) defer:true
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:findLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:searchTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:cancelButton
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceButton
dialogWindow's setTitle:"Search and Replace"
dialogWindow's setLevel:(ca's NSModalPanelWindowLevel)
dialogWindow's setDelegate:me
dialogWindow's orderFront:me
dialogWindow's |center|()
ca's NSApp's activateIgnoringOtherApps:true
ca's NSApp's runModalForWindow:dialogWindow
end performSearchReplaceDialog:
on buttonAction:sender
if sender is my replaceButton then
set my searchString to searchTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceString to replaceTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceClicked to true
end if
my dialogWindow's |close|()
end buttonAction:
on controlTextDidChange:aNotification
set sender to aNotification's object()
if sender is my searchTextField then
if sender's stringValue() as text ≠ "" then
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:true)
else
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:false)
end if
end if
end controlTextDidChange:
on windowWillClose:aNotification
ca's NSApp's stopModal()
end windowWillClose:
end script
return theScript's showSearchReplaceDialog()
end showSearchReplaceDialog
main()
Thanks db123. I’ll give the new version a try.
db123. I’ve been using the new version of your script for almost 3 days now and haven’t encountered the issue I note above. So, everything looks great. Thanks.
@peavine: Apparently the NSTextFields were occasionally reset to default values when closing the dialog. By saving the values in properties before closing, the problem may no longer occur.
Thanks for your feedback!
You can save yourself a lot of work if you use Script Debugger’s UI, rather than write your own. So your script would start like this:
tell application id "com.latenightsw.ScriptDebugger8" -- require v8.0.2
set findString to search string
set replaceString to search replace string
set usesRegex to search uses regex
set ignoresCase to search ignores case
end tell
Note that it says version 8.0.2 is required. This has only just been released, and it fixes a bug where the search replace string property wasn’t always updated correctly.
Using ASObjC you could then find the matching ranges and replace them one at a time (starting at the end), so that unchanged text would retain its format.
There seems to be some misunderstanding as to the intended use of my script, and I thought I should clarify. I can most easily do this with a use example.
When working on a script, I frequently paste in the script a handler obtained from one of numerous sources. As often as not, one of the variables has a name that does not make sense in the context of the script and so I replace it. I do this by selecting the handler and running the search-and-replace script contained earlier in this thread. This works great.
The key issue here is speed and simplicity. Script Debugger’s built-in search-and-replace is full-featured and I use it often. In the above use example, my script with db123’s excellent edit works better for me.
BTW, Shane has made numerous suggestions for improving my scripts, which I almost always adopt, and I greatly appreciate his advice. In this one particular instance, I think my existing script better meets my needs.
I think Shane meant that you could spare the script section with the dialog window and access the input fields of Script Debugger instead. That’s right, but we don’t deal with Applescript exclusively solution-oriented, but also to get to know AppleScriptObjC, for example. In this respect it was worth the effort (for me) and replacing with a popup window is even faster in the use case:
Still, thanks to Shane for the info and especially for the brilliant idea of being able to run scripts with shortcuts and for the Script Debugger app in general!
That’s right. You could still use the same code to do the actual work.
I revised the script in post 16 to remove an unnecessary error handler and to cleanup the code a bit. I did not alter db123’s dialog handler, which works great as written.
-- Revised 2022.02.28
on main()
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selectedText to selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
end tell
if c2 = 0 then -- select entire script if no selection
display dialog "A text selection was not found" buttons {"Cancel", "Select All"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon caution -- disable if desired
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selectedText to source text
set {c1, c2} to {1, (count selectedText)}
set selection to {c1, c2}
end tell
end if
set dialogResult to my showSearchReplaceDialog()
if dialogResult is missing value then error number -128
set {searchString, replaceString} to {searchString, replaceString} of dialogResult
set text item delimiters to searchString
set modifiedText to text items of selectedText
set searchStringMatches to ((count modifiedText) - 1)
set text item delimiters to replaceString
set modifiedText to modifiedText as text
set text item delimiters to {""}
if searchStringMatches = 0 then
display dialog "The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text" buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
else if searchStringMatches = 1 then
display dialog "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
else
display dialog "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
end if
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
tell application "Script Debugger" to tell document 1
set selection to modifiedText
set selection to {c1, c2}
-- compile without showing errors -- enable if desired
end tell
end main
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
script theScript
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
use framework "Carbon"
property ca : current application
property dialogWindow : missing value
property searchTextField : missing value
property replaceTextField : missing value
property cancelButton : missing value
property replaceButton : missing value
property searchString : missing value
property replaceString : missing value
property replaceClicked : false
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
if current application's AEInteractWithUser(-1, missing value, missing value) ≠ 0 then
return missing value
end if
if ca's NSThread's isMainThread() then
my performSearchReplaceDialog:(missing value)
else
its performSelectorOnMainThread:"performSearchReplaceDialog:" withObject:(missing value) waitUntilDone:true
end if
if my replaceClicked then
return {searchString:my searchString as text, replaceString:my replaceString as text}
end if
return missing value
end showSearchReplaceDialog
on performSearchReplaceDialog:args
set findLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Search:"
findLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 85, 70, 20))
set my searchTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
searchTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 85, 245, 20))
searchTextField's setEditable:true
searchTextField's setBordered:true
searchTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Search for …"
searchTextField's setDelegate:me
set replaceLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Replace:"
replaceLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 55, 70, 20))
set my replaceTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
replaceTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 55, 245, 20))
replaceTextField's setEditable:true
replaceTextField's setBordered:true
replaceTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Replace with …"
set my cancelButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Cancel" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
cancelButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
cancelButton's setFrameOrigin:{150, 10}
cancelButton's setKeyEquivalent:(character id 27)
set my replaceButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Replace" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
replaceButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
replaceButton's setFrameOrigin:{245, 10}
replaceButton's setKeyEquivalent:return
replaceButton's setEnabled:false
set windowSize to ca's NSMakeRect(0, 0, 355, 125)
set winStyle to (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskTitled as integer) + (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskClosable as integer)
set my dialogWindow to ca's NSWindow's alloc()'s initWithContentRect:windowSize styleMask:winStyle backing:(ca's NSBackingStoreBuffered) defer:true
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:findLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:searchTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:cancelButton
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceButton
dialogWindow's setTitle:"Search and Replace"
dialogWindow's setLevel:(ca's NSModalPanelWindowLevel)
dialogWindow's setDelegate:me
dialogWindow's orderFront:me
dialogWindow's |center|()
ca's NSApp's activateIgnoringOtherApps:true
ca's NSApp's runModalForWindow:dialogWindow
end performSearchReplaceDialog:
on buttonAction:sender
if sender is my replaceButton then
set my searchString to searchTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceString to replaceTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceClicked to true
end if
my dialogWindow's |close|()
end buttonAction:
on controlTextDidChange:aNotification
set sender to aNotification's object()
if sender is my searchTextField then
if sender's stringValue() as text ≠ "" then
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:true)
else
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:false)
end if
end if
end controlTextDidChange:
on windowWillClose:aNotification
ca's NSApp's stopModal()
end windowWillClose:
end script
return theScript's showSearchReplaceDialog()
end showSearchReplaceDialog
main()
This script works with Script Editor but is otherwise identical to that above.
-- Revised 2022.03.05
on main()
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set selectedText to contents of selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
end tell
if c1 = c2 then -- select entire script if no selection
display dialog "A text selection was not found" buttons {"Cancel", "Select All"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon caution -- disable if desired
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set selectedText to contents
set {c1, c2} to {1, (count selectedText)}
set selection to {0, c2}
end tell
end if
set dialogResult to my showSearchReplaceDialog()
if dialogResult is missing value then error number -128
set {searchString, replaceString} to {searchString, replaceString} of dialogResult
set text item delimiters to searchString
set modifiedText to text items of selectedText
set searchStringMatches to ((count modifiedText) - 1)
set text item delimiters to replaceString
set modifiedText to modifiedText as text
set text item delimiters to {""}
if searchStringMatches = 0 then
display dialog "The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text" buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
else if searchStringMatches = 1 then
display dialog "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
else
display dialog "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
end if
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set contents of selection to modifiedText
set selection to {(c1 - 1), c2}
end tell
end main
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
script theScript
use scripting additions
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
use framework "Carbon"
property ca : current application
property dialogWindow : missing value
property searchTextField : missing value
property replaceTextField : missing value
property cancelButton : missing value
property replaceButton : missing value
property searchString : missing value
property replaceString : missing value
property replaceClicked : false
on showSearchReplaceDialog()
if current application's AEInteractWithUser(-1, missing value, missing value) ≠ 0 then
return missing value
end if
if ca's NSThread's isMainThread() then
my performSearchReplaceDialog:(missing value)
else
its performSelectorOnMainThread:"performSearchReplaceDialog:" withObject:(missing value) waitUntilDone:true
end if
if my replaceClicked then
return {searchString:my searchString as text, replaceString:my replaceString as text}
end if
return missing value
end showSearchReplaceDialog
on performSearchReplaceDialog:args
set findLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Search:"
findLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 85, 70, 20))
set my searchTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
searchTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 85, 245, 20))
searchTextField's setEditable:true
searchTextField's setBordered:true
searchTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Search for …"
searchTextField's setDelegate:me
set replaceLabel to ca's NSTextField's labelWithString:"Replace:"
replaceLabel's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(20, 55, 70, 20))
set my replaceTextField to ca's NSTextField's textFieldWithString:""
replaceTextField's setFrame:(ca's NSMakeRect(87, 55, 245, 20))
replaceTextField's setEditable:true
replaceTextField's setBordered:true
replaceTextField's setPlaceholderString:"Replace with …"
set my cancelButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Cancel" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
cancelButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
cancelButton's setFrameOrigin:{150, 10}
cancelButton's setKeyEquivalent:(character id 27)
set my replaceButton to ca's NSButton's buttonWithTitle:"Replace" target:me action:"buttonAction:"
replaceButton's setFrameSize:{94, 32}
replaceButton's setFrameOrigin:{245, 10}
replaceButton's setKeyEquivalent:return
replaceButton's setEnabled:false
set windowSize to ca's NSMakeRect(0, 0, 355, 125)
set winStyle to (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskTitled as integer) + (ca's NSWindowStyleMaskClosable as integer)
set my dialogWindow to ca's NSWindow's alloc()'s initWithContentRect:windowSize styleMask:winStyle backing:(ca's NSBackingStoreBuffered) defer:true
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:findLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:searchTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceLabel
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceTextField
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:cancelButton
dialogWindow's contentView()'s addSubview:replaceButton
dialogWindow's setTitle:"Search and Replace"
dialogWindow's setLevel:(ca's NSModalPanelWindowLevel)
dialogWindow's setDelegate:me
dialogWindow's orderFront:me
dialogWindow's |center|()
ca's NSApp's activateIgnoringOtherApps:true
ca's NSApp's runModalForWindow:dialogWindow
end performSearchReplaceDialog:
on buttonAction:sender
if sender is my replaceButton then
set my searchString to searchTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceString to replaceTextField's stringValue()
set my replaceClicked to true
end if
my dialogWindow's |close|()
end buttonAction:
on controlTextDidChange:aNotification
set sender to aNotification's object()
if sender is my searchTextField then
if sender's stringValue() as text ≠ "" then
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:true)
else
my (replaceButton's setEnabled:false)
end if
end if
end controlTextDidChange:
on windowWillClose:aNotification
ca's NSApp's stopModal()
end windowWillClose:
end script
return theScript's showSearchReplaceDialog()
end showSearchReplaceDialog
main()
The scripts included below were written for use with Script Debugger and Script Editor, and both utilize Shane’s Dialog Toolkit Plus script library. These scripts include search-all, match-word, and consider-case options. I tested these scripts on Monterey; they can be tested on earlier versions of macOS by removing the first line of the scripts.
Dialog Toolkit Plus can be downloaded from:
https://latenightsw.com/freeware/The Script Debugger script:
The Script Debugger script is:
-- revised 2022.07.31
use AppleScript version "2.8" -- remove to test with earlier versions of macOS
use framework "Foundation"
use script "Dialog Toolkit Plus" version "1.1.0"
use scripting additions
on main()
set {searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption} to displayDialog()
if searchString = "" then errorDialog("A search string was not entered")
searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
end main
on displayDialog()
set dialogWidth to 330
set verticalSpace to 10
set {theButtons, minWidth} to create buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} cancel button 1 default button 2
set {searchCheckbox, unusedTop, searchWidth} to create checkbox "Search All" left inset 0 bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {wordCheckbox, unusedTop, wordWidth} to create checkbox "Match Words" left inset (searchWidth + 8) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {caseCheckbox, theTop, caseWidth} to create checkbox "Consider Case" left inset (searchWidth + wordWidth + 16) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {replaceField, replaceLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "replace with..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Replace:" field left 0
set {searchField, searchLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "search for..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Search:" field left 0
set allControls to {searchCheckbox, wordCheckbox, caseCheckbox, replaceField, replaceLabel, searchField, searchLabel}
set {buttonName, controlsResults} to display enhanced window "Search and Replace" buttons theButtons acc view width dialogWidth acc view height theTop acc view controls allControls initial position {} without align cancel button
return {item 6, item 4, item 1, item 2, item 3} of controlsResults
end displayDialog
on searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
tell application id "com.latenightsw.ScriptDebugger8" to tell document 1
if searchOption is false then
set selectedText to selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
else
set selectedText to source text
set selection to {1, (count selectedText)}
end if
end tell
if selectedText = "" then errorDialog("A text selection was not found")
set selectedText to current application's NSMutableString's stringWithString:selectedText
if wordOption is true and caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words and consider-case search options were enabled."
else if caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to searchString
set optionText to "The consider-case search option was enabled."
else if wordOption is true then
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words search option was enabled."
else
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & searchString
set optionText to "No search options were enabled."
end if
set searchStringMatches to (selectedText's replaceOccurrencesOfString:searchPattern withString:replaceString options:(current application's NSRegularExpressionSearch) range:{0, selectedText's |length|()})
if searchStringMatches = 0 then errorDialog("The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text. " & optionText)
set selectedText to selectedText as text
if replaceString = "" then
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Delete 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Delete " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote
end if
else
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
end if
end if
display dialog dialogText with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
tell application id "com.latenightsw.ScriptDebugger8" to tell document 1
set selection to selectedText
if searchOption is false then
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
set selection to {c1, c2}
else
set selection to {1, 0}
set selection to {1, (count selectedText)}
end if
end tell
end searchAndReplace
on errorDialog(theText)
display dialog theText buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
end errorDialog
main()
The Script Editor script is:
-- revised 2022.07.31
use AppleScript version "2.8" -- remove to test with earlier versions of macOS
use framework "Foundation"
use script "Dialog Toolkit Plus" version "1.1.0"
use scripting additions
on main()
set {searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption} to displayDialog()
if searchString = "" then errorDialog("A search string was not entered")
searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
end main
on displayDialog()
set dialogWidth to 330
set verticalSpace to 10
set {theButtons, minWidth} to create buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} cancel button 1 default button 2
set {searchCheckbox, unusedTop, searchWidth} to create checkbox "Search All" left inset 0 bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {wordCheckbox, unusedTop, wordWidth} to create checkbox "Match Words" left inset (searchWidth + 8) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {caseCheckbox, theTop, caseWidth} to create checkbox "Consider Case" left inset (searchWidth + wordWidth + 16) bottom 0 max width dialogWidth
set {replaceField, replaceLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "replace with..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Replace:" field left 0
set {searchField, searchLabel, theTop, fieldLeft} to create side labeled field "" placeholder text "search for..." left inset 0 bottom (theTop + verticalSpace) total width dialogWidth label text "Search:" field left 0
set allControls to {searchCheckbox, wordCheckbox, caseCheckbox, replaceField, replaceLabel, searchField, searchLabel}
set {buttonName, controlsResults} to display enhanced window "Search and Replace" buttons theButtons acc view width dialogWidth acc view height theTop acc view controls allControls initial position {} without align cancel button
return {item 6, item 4, item 1, item 2, item 3} of controlsResults
end displayDialog
on searchAndReplace(searchString, replaceString, searchOption, wordOption, caseOption)
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
if searchOption is false then
set selectedText to contents of selection
set {c1, c2} to character range of selection
else
set selectedText to contents
set {c1, c2} to {1, (count selectedText)}
set selection to {0, c2}
end if
end tell
if selectedText = "" then errorDialog("A text selection was not found")
set selectedText to current application's NSMutableString's stringWithString:selectedText
if wordOption is true and caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words and consider-case search options were enabled."
else if caseOption is true then
set searchPattern to searchString
set optionText to "The consider-case search option was enabled."
else if wordOption is true then
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & "\\b" & searchString & "\\b"
set optionText to "The match-words search option was enabled."
else
set searchPattern to "(?i)" & searchString
set optionText to "No search options were enabled."
end if
set searchStringMatches to (selectedText's replaceOccurrencesOfString:searchPattern withString:replaceString options:(current application's NSRegularExpressionSearch) range:{0, selectedText's |length|()})
if searchStringMatches = 0 then errorDialog("The search string " & quote & searchString & quote & " was not found in the selected text. " & optionText)
set selectedText to selectedText as text
if replaceString = "" then
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Delete 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Delete " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote
end if
else
if searchStringMatches = 1 then
set dialogText to "Replace 1 instance of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
else
set dialogText to "Replace " & searchStringMatches & " instances of " & quote & searchString & quote & " with " & quote & replaceString & quote
end if
end if
display dialog dialogText with title "Search and Replace" with icon note
set c2 to c2 + (((count replaceString) - (count searchString)) * searchStringMatches)
tell application "Script Editor" to tell document 1
set contents of selection to selectedText
set selection to {(c1 - 1), c2}
end tell
end searchAndReplace
on errorDialog(theText)
display dialog theText buttons {"OK"} cancel button 1 default button 1 with title "Search and Replace" with icon stop
end errorDialog
main()
Very nice. You should share this on the ScriptDebugger forums. Find and change is one of the few things I don’t like about SD.