Searching data models

In the Search window, the Data Model Search page allows you to search data model resources. You can also use this page to find and replace object name, label, documentation, or abbreviation strings.

About this task

Using the Data Model Search page, you can search for text that is contained in the name, label, documentation, or abbreviation of any object within a data model resource.

Procedure

To search a data model:

  1. Highlight a data model in the Data Project Explorer, and click Search > Search from the tool bar menu.
  2. In the window that opens, click the Data Model Search tab.
  3. Specify options for the search:
    Search string
    Specify the expression that you want to search. Object names, labels, documentation, and abbreviation are searched. Use the following wildcards to narrow the scope of the search:
    • "*" matches any set of characters, including the empty string
    • "?" matches for any character
    • "\" is the escape for a literal; if you want to search for an asterisk, question mark, or backslash character, type a backslash before it to indicate that you are not using these characters as wildcards (e.g., "\*", "\?", or "\\")
    Case sensitive
    Select if you want the text search to be case sensitive.
    Regular expression
    Select if you want to search using a regular expression. The regular expression that you enter is checked for syntax errors.
    Include diagrams
    Select if you want to include diagram elements when you search.
    Restriction: The workbench will only search for matches at the table, entity, or note level. Searching for columns and attributes is currently not supported.
    You can search for diagram elements in the following diagram types:
    • Dimensional diagrams of logical and physical data models
    • IE diagrams of logical and physical data models
    Restriction: The workbench will only search for the name, label, and documentation of an element. The workbench will only search for the description of a note, shape, or copyright.
    Note: The performance of the workbench might degrade if you search for elements within large diagrams.
    Search For
    Select one or more properties for which you want to search. You can search for strings in the Name, Label, Documentation, or Abbreviation properties of data objects.
    Scope
    Specify the scope of your search. You can search the whole workspace, pre-defined working sets, previously selected resources, or projects enclosing the selected resources.
  4. Optional: Click Replace to find a string in a data object property and replace it with another string.
    Restriction: You can only replace strings in properties that can be searched: names, labels, documentation, or abbreviations.

Results

The search results are listed in the Search view.

What to do next

Double-click an object that is listed in the Search view to highlight the object in the Data Project Explorer.

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