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5.1.5 Moving with the Find Tool

       

The Find tool lets you quickly locate a specific character string or numeric value. The power of the Find tool lies in its ability to accept expressions. NExS is not limited to just locating a specified string. It can find numeric values that meet certain logical or calculated conditions and can find strings that match specified patterns.

For example, you can search for cells whose values are greater than 100 and less than 150, or for cells whose values are less than the average of the three preceding cells. This facility is extremely useful for spotting patterns in large, complex data sets.

You can tell NExS which part of the spreadsheet to search, whether to search by row or by column, and whether to search for text characters or numeric values.

To use the Find tool:

  1. Select Find... from the Search menu or press the [F6] key. NExS displays the Find dialog box as shown in Figure 5.2.

  2. In the Find dialog box, make the following entries to carry out the Find operation:

    Search Range Specify the range of cells in which NExS should search, by entering two corner coordinates (e.g. A1..Z55). The default range is the entire spreadsheet. If a range was selected when you invoked the Find operation, the default is this selected range.
    Target Specify the string or value as it would appear formatted in the cell. To find a numeric value that meets certain criteria, enter an expression in Target. For example, to find values less than 20, specify the Filter as #<20 and do a numeric search. Target criteria is explained in more detail in the following section.

  3. By default, NExS searches row by row. Change the selection box to Search by Column to start searching column by column.

  4. Select Text Comparison or Numeric Comparison to indicate whether the Find operation does character comparisons or whether it evaluates numeric and logical expressions.

  5. To start the search, select Apply or OK. Select Find Next ([F7]) and Find Previous ([F8]) on the Search menu to find additional cells meeting the search requirements.

   figure1000
Figure 5.2: Find Dialog Box

Find Next

 

To find the next occurrence of the value or string being searched, select Find Next button from the Search menu. Alternatively, press the [F7] key to repeat the search. The Find operation (described above) must precede the Find Next operation.

Find Previous

 

To find the previous value that was searched, select Find Previous from the Search menu. Alternatively, press [F8] key to search the previous value.

Target Criteria

 

The Target of a search may be specified as a text regular expression pattern or a numeric formula.

To simply search for text strings as they appear in the spreadsheet, type the string inside the Target entry box as it would appear when formatted in the cell and select Text Comparison. For example:

Doe, John

The Text Comparison method can also be used to find formatted numeric values as they appear in the cells. For example:

$1,000,000

To find cell values that meet criteria that can be specified mathematically, enter the Target as a formula and select Numeric Comparison. ``#'' is used to represent the current cell being evaluated. For example:

How NExS Evaluates Target Criteria

 

NExS follows these rules when finding a target string:


next up previous contents index
Next: 5.2 Creating Multiple Views Up: 5.1 Moving Around the Previous: 5.1.4 Moving with the

NExS User's Guide, Version 1.4.5
Grey Trout Software
11 April 1999