Find and Replace special characters

[Guest]

I'm sure this is a simple question: how can I find a comma (or other special
characters) and replace with null with the FIND AND REPLACE pop up? I know I
can design a query of some sort but it would sure be quicker to run the FIND
and replace.

Thanks,

Bonnie

 

[Scott McDaniel]

I'm sure this is a simple question: how can I find a comma (or other special
characters) and replace with null with the FIND AND REPLACE pop up? I know I
can design a query of some sort but it would sure be quicker to run the FIND
and replace.

AFAIK, you cannot replace with a NULL value using the Find and Replace feature built into Access ... but then I've never
tried it. Is there some reason why you can't just replace the comma or other character with an empty space. For example,
to find all commas and replace them with a blank space:

The FIND portion would be something like ", " without the double quotes.

The REPLACE portion would be " " (i.e. a blank space), again without the double quotes

Scott McDaniel
scott@takemeout_infotrakker.com
www.infotrakker.com

 

[Guest]

Hi Scott

Thanks for replying - I'm okay with the replace - it's the find that I'm
having a bit of trouble with. It seems that the FIND doesn't recognize
special characters. Says it not found.

Thanks,

Bonnie

 

[John W. Vinson]

Hi Scott

Thanks for replying - I'm okay with the replace - it's the find that I'm
having a bit of trouble with. It seems that the FIND doesn't recognize
special characters. Says it not found.

How exactly are you trying to do the find? What's an example of the text
string you're searching, and what do you put in the find box?

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Guest]

Hi John,

I have a last name field that has a comma after the last name - Smith,

I am putting a comma in the FIND option and it looks for it and comes back
and tells me NOT FOUND. I think it is because it is a comma. I thought that
I could use brackets to find it but that doesn't work either. Try it and I
believe you will see what I am talking about.

Thanks,

Bonnie

 

[John W. Vinson]

Hi John,

I have a last name field that has a comma after the last name - Smith,

I am putting a comma in the FIND option and it looks for it and comes back
and tells me NOT FOUND. I think it is because it is a comma. I thought that
I could use brackets to find it but that doesn't work either. Try it and I
believe you will see what I am talking about.

Works fine for me. You *are* selecting "Any part of field" aren't you? If
you're looking for the default "whole field" it will find only records where
the lastname consists of just a single comma.

I'm using A2003, all service packs: what about you?

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Guest]

Hi John,

I am using A2003 SP2 but I tried it on another machine and it works. I must
be crazy!

Thanks for the help.

Bon