Search and Replace

Go to Search and Replace Code Examples

Wordize provides powerful search and replace functionality, allowing developers to find specific text or patterns in documents and replace them programmatically. This feature is useful for updating templates, correcting errors, and automating content modifications across multiple documents.

With Wordize Replacement for .NET, you can:

1. Find and replace plain text
2. Use regular expressions for advanced search operations

Search and Replace Simple Text

The simplest way to replace text in a document is by providing a search string and a replacement string. This method is useful for making direct word or phrase substitutions.

The following code example shows how to perform search and replace on a string:

string doc = "Document.docx";
string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.1.docx", pattern, replacement);

Find a full list of code examples for search and replace in the Search and Replace Code Examples section at the bottom of the page.

Search and Replace Using Regular Expressions

Wordize provides a powerful way to search and replace documents using regular expressions (Regex). This is useful when working with dynamic text such as dates, numbers, placeholders, or recurring phrases. Using Wordize Replacer for .NET and the Replace method options, developers can define complex search patterns and replace them with the desired text.

The following code example shows how to perform search and replace through a regular expression:

string doc = "Document.docx";
Regex pattern = new Regex("gr(a|e)y");
string replacement = "lavender";

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.4.docx", pattern, replacement);

Find a full list of code examples for search and replace in the Search and Replace Code Examples section at the bottom of the page.

Customize Search and Replace

You can work with many options during the search and replace process using the following FindReplaceOptions:

• ReplacementFormat – to specify the replacement format, defaults to “Text”
• MatchCase – “true” if the search is case sensitive, “false” if the search is case insensitive
• FindWholeWordsOnly – to specify whether we are searching for a standalone word
• IgnoreDeleted – to specify whether to ignore text inside delete revisions, defaults to “false”
• IgnoreInserted – to specify whether to ignore text inside insert revisions, defaults to “false”
• IgnoreFields – to specify whether to ignore text inside fields, defaults to “false”
• IgnoreFieldCodes – to specify whether to ignore field codes only, defaults to “false”
• IgnoreFootnotes – to specify whether to ignore footnotes, defaults to “false”
• UseSubstitutions – to specify whether to recognize and use substitutions within replacement patterns, defaults to “false”
• IgnoreStructuredDocumentTags – to specify whether to ignore the content of SDT, defaults to “false”
• IgnoreShapes – to specify whether to ignore shapes within a text, defaults to “false”

The following code example shows how to perform search and replace with additional options: To perform a search and replace with FindReplaceOptions, use one of the following Replace methods:

string doc = "Document.doc";
string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions { FindWholeWordsOnly = true };

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.7.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, options);

Find a full list of code examples for search and replace in the Search and Replace Code Examples section at the bottom of the page.

Popular User Scenarios

The following code example shows how to specify ReplacementFormat to HTML:

string doc = "Document.doc";
string pattern = "run";
string replacement = "<b>Text </b><i>with </i><u>formatting</u>";

FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions() { ReplacementFormat = ReplacementFormat.Html };

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.7.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, options);

The following code example shows how to specify ReplacementFormat to Markdown:

string doc = "Document.doc";
string pattern = "run";
string replacement = "**Text** *with* `formatting`";

FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions() { ReplacementFormat = ReplacementFormat.Markdown };

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.8.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, options);

The following code example shows how to replace text only if the found pattern is a separate word:

string doc = "Document.doc";
string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions { FindWholeWordsOnly = true };

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.9.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, options);

The following code example shows how to ignore text inside fields when replacing:

string doc = "Document.doc";
string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions { IgnoreFields = true };

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.10.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, options);

The following code example shows how to how to replace all occurrences of a specified character string pattern with a replacement string in an input file and save the result to an image:

Stream[] pages = Replacer.ReplaceToImages("Document1.docx", new ImageSaveOptions(SaveFormat.Png), "Wordize", "(Wordize Pro)");

using var streamIn = File.OpenRead("Document1.docx");

Stream[] pages = Replacer.ReplaceToImages(streamIn, new ImageSaveOptions(SaveFormat.Png), "Wordize", "(Wordize Pro)");
// ...................

Search and Replace Code Examples

Wordize provides both a Standard API and a Fluent API, allowing developers to choose the most convenient approach for their needs.

Go to Search and Replace description

Wordize API

Search and Replace on a String

string doc = "Document.docx";
string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.1.docx", pattern, replacement);

string doc = "Document.doc";
string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.2.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement);

string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

using var streamIn = File.OpenRead("Document.doc");
using var streamOut = File.Create("Document.3.docx");

Replacer.Replace(streamIn, streamOut, SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement);

Search and Replace Using Regex

string doc = "Document.docx";
Regex pattern = new Regex("gr(a|e)y");
string replacement = "lavender";

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.4.docx", pattern, replacement);

string doc = "Document.doc";
Regex pattern = new Regex("gr(a|e)y");
string replacement = "lavender";

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.5.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement);

Regex pattern = new Regex("gr(a|e)y");
string replacement = "lavender";

using var streamIn = File.OpenRead("Document.docx");
using var streamOut = File.Create("Document.6.docx");

Replacer.Replace(streamIn, streamOut, SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement);

Search and Replace Using Additional Options

string doc = "Document.doc";
string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions { FindWholeWordsOnly = true };

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.7.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, options);

string doc = "Document.doc";
Regex pattern = new Regex("gr(a|e)y");
string replacement = "lavender";

FindReplaceOptions options = new FindReplaceOptions { FindWholeWordsOnly = true };

Replacer.Replace(doc, "Document.8.docx", SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, options);

string pattern = "Wordize";
string replacement = "Wordize Pro";

using var streamIn = File.OpenRead("Document.doc");
using var streamOut = File.Create("Document.9.docx");

Replacer.Replace(streamIn, streamOut, SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, new FindReplaceOptions { FindWholeWordsOnly = true });

Regex pattern = new Regex("gr(a|e)y");
string replacement = "lavender";

using var streamIn = File.OpenRead("Document.doc");
using var streamOut = File.Create("Document.10.docx");

Replacer.Replace(streamIn, streamOut, SaveFormat.Docx, pattern, replacement, new FindReplaceOptions { FindWholeWordsOnly = true });

Wordize Fluent API

Within the Fluent API, there is a context. ReplacerContext allows you to customize the document search and replace process. You can search and replace in documents with or without context.

ReplacerContext replacerContext = new ReplacerContext();
replacerContext.SetReplacement("ReplaceMe", "Replacement");

Replacer.Create(replacerContext)
    .From("DocumentIn.docx")
    .To("DocumentOut.docx")
    .Execute();

ReplacerContext replacerContext = new ReplacerContext();
replacerContext.SetReplacement(new Regex("gr(a|e)y"), "lavender");

Replacer.Create(replacerContext)
    .From("DocumentIn.docx")
    .To("DocumentOut.docx")
    .Execute();

ReplacerContext replacerContext = new ReplacerContext();
replacerContext.SetReplacement(new Regex(@"oc[a-z]+e"), "**Text** *with* `formatting`");
replacerContext.FindReplaceOptions.ReplacementFormat = ReplacementFormat.Markdown;

Replacer.Create(replacerContext)
    .From("DocumentIn.docx")
    .To("DocumentOut.docx")
    .Execute();