Actions

This tab determines the text to be searched for, or search/replaced.

Generate a Hyperlink report

The Link Report is enabled when the Generate a hyperlink report checkbox is checked, AS WELL AS at least one search replace being performed in the Hyperlink address field. It displays both the original and modified urls which is very useful to check new links before they are changed.

Load replacement list from file

When checked, search/replace pairs are loaded from a file dynamically at run time - from Excel (.XLS files), Comma Separated Value (.CSV files) or Tab-delimited (.TAB files) formats. The current search type, search location and other options are used for every search/replace pair added. A list can also be imported using an option in the Options menu.

For the complete file format details, please click here. You can find sample import files in the Samples folder (in .tab, .csv and .xls format).

PowerPointPipe can handle an unlimited number of replacements - but Microsoft Excel is limited to 65534 rows of data. You can work around this limit by loading multiple files from the command line. Note - despite Microsoft Excel 2007 and later being able to handle 1 million rows, it is unable to provide data beyond 65535 rows to PowerPointPipe. To work around this, save your Microsoft Excel data to a .CSV or .TAB temporary file so that PowerPointPipe can import all the data.

Note: Loading large lists from Excel is very slow - export your list to .CSV or .TAB and then import that instead.

Using these values

Uses the search/replace pairs specified in the grid. Click the [Add] button to add a new row to the end of the grid. To delete rows, first select them and then click [Delete]. To edit a row, click it, and then press [F2], or click the cell a second time. You can [Tab] and [Shift-Tab] through the grid. You can change the search settings for multiple rows simultaneously by first selecting them and then changing the search settings below. You can move rows using drag and drop. .

Find what

Type the information you want to search for or paste it from the Clipboard. The Find text is limited by Microsoft PowerPoint to be a maximum length of 255 characters. You can right click this field for a popup menu with Cut, Copy, Paste and Clear commands.

Note: You can only search for one line of text at a time. If you wish to use multiple lines, or search using wildcards, see the special characters section.

Searching for multiple lines

Although the edit field can hold multiple lines of text, Microsoft PowerPoint does NOT allow you to search for multiple lines at once (and PowerPointPipe cannot get around this limitation). The best way to search for multiple lines is to break them up into several line-by-line or phrase-by-phrase searches.

Replace with

Type the text that you want to use as replacement text or paste if from the Clipboard. Leave the Replace With box empty to delete the Find What box from your document. You can right click this field for a popup menu with Cut, Copy, Paste and Clear commands.

Search Type

Normal search

Matches the text exactly as written.

EasyPattern wildcards

Important Note: This search type ONLY applies to the search locations Hyperlink addresses, Shapes, Headers, Footers, Built in/Custom properties, Notes and Links (OLE/DDE). If you attempt to use it in Slides, Slide Master etc it will result in a normal search. For wildcard searches in Slides, and the Slide Masters, use Microsoft PowerPoint's inbuilt wildcards, with the Search Type set to 'Normal search'.

An EasyPattern allows you to search for a class of text strings rather than specifying every single possibility. For example, to search for a dollar sign followed by a currency amount:

$[ capture(1+ digits, period, 2 digits) ]

Replace With:

USD $1

Click here for the EasyPattern basics and reference.

EasyPatterns are easier to learn and use than perl regex patterns, but to use them in other packages you need to use EasyPattern Helper to convert them to perl regex.

Perl regex wildcards

Important Note: This search type ONLY applies to the search locations Hyperlink addresses, Shapes, Headers, Footers, Built in/Custom properties, Notes and Links (OLE/DDE). If you attempt to use it in Slides, Slide Master etc it will result in a normal search. For wildcard searches in Slides, and the Slide Masters, use Microsoft PowerPoint's inbuilt wildcards, with the Search Type set to 'Normal search'.

A perl regex pattern allows you to search for a class of text strings rather than specifying every single possibility. For example, to search for a dollar sign followed by a currency amount:

\$(\d+\.\d{2})

Replace With:

USD $1

Click here for the Perl regex reference.

Perl regex patterns are harder to learn and use than EasyPatterns, but they are support by a huge range of applications.

Search Location

Where to search or search/replace.

• Slides - look in each slide
• Hyperlink addresses (*) - look inside hyperlink addresses. To change the displayed text, use the 'Cells' option above as well
• Shapes/Shapes and Text boxes (*) - inside the text of shapes and grouped shapes and text boxes
• Headers (*) - search inside the left, centre and right header of each sheet
• Footers (*) - search inside the left, centre and right footer of each sheet
• Built in properties (*) - inside Subject, Title, Author etc fields
• Custom properties (*) - inside custom properties defined by the user
• Notes (*) - search/replace inside slide notes
• Links (OLE/DDE) (*) - search/replace inside the filenames of links to other objects
• Slide Master - inside the text, hyperlinks, shapes, header, footer, notes and links of each slide's master (which can be different to the presentation master)
• Master Slide - inside the text, hyperlinks, shapes, header, footer, notes and links of the presentation Master Slide
• Title Master  - inside the text, hyperlinks, shapes, header, footer, notes and links of the Title Master
• Handout Master  - inside the text, hyperlinks, shapes, header, footer, notes and links of the Handout Master
• Notes Master  - inside the text, hyperlinks, shapes, header, footer, notes and links of the Notes Master
• Code Modules (*) - search and replace code modules. If the modules are password-protected, enter this password on the Options tab, Password to Unprotect field. See code modules security.

Items with (*) support the use of EasyPatterns and Perl regex patterns.

Hyperlink addresses

If you want to change the displayed text (not the hyperlink itself), please use a Slides Search instead of, or in addition to this option. This option can be used to search and replace hyperlinks to update server names, UNC paths etc. We recommend that the Match Case option be unchecked, so that both upper case and lower case data can be found. You can use any search type, including EasyPatterns and Perl regex patterns.

If the hyperlink address and display text are identical they will be updated simultaneously. PowerPointPipe treats the two representations of space (' ' and '%20') as equivalent, however other escaped characters (in %XX form) need to be handle manually.

Note also that sometimes the display text of a hyperlink is completely different to the actual link. To be sure that what you are replacing is correct, right click on the hyperlink in PowerPoint and choose 'Edit Hyperlink'. You may have to perform one search for the display text and another search for the hyperlink text.

Match case

Distinguishes between UPPERCASE and lowercase letters. When Match Case is selected, PowerPointPipe finds only those instances in which the capitalization matches the text you typed in the Find What box.

Match whole words only

Ensures the match is not part of a larger word e.g. a search for 'mat' would not be found in the word 'matches' when this option is checked.

Prompt

When checked, displays the found text and asks for confirmation before replacing it.

You can choose to Replace or Skip just one, the remainder in the current file, or the remainder for the whole job.

Note: Prompting is not supported for every Look In location.

Skip Prompt if Identical

If the search text is identical after replacing it, then skip showing the prompt. This can be very useful when using pattern matching which may not alter the text.

Highlight replacement

Where possible, the replaced text is highlighted to make it easier to find.

Start replacing

When you click this button, PowerPointPipe will begin making replacements.

Start searching

When you click this button, PowerPointPipe will begin searching for the search text. No replacements will be made.