Find and replace

The Find and replace tool searches string fields for specific values and replaces them with updated values.

Examples

The Find and replace tool can be used in scenarios such as the following:

• A dataset contains a field with inconsistent street suffixes such as "St.", "Street", and "Str". Use the Find and replace tool to standardize all values to “Street” to improve consistency.
• You have a dataset that includes outdated organization names following a recent rebranding. Use the Find and replace tool to update all occurrences to the new name to ensure consistency across reporting and integrations.

Parameters

The following table outlines the parameters used in the Find and replace tool:

Parameter	Description
Input dataset	The dataset containing the values to be replaced.
Target fields	The field or fields containing the values to be replaced.
Show options for empty values and matching behavior	Enables more options for finding and replacing values.
Rules	Defines how to search for the value to replace, and how to replace the found value.

Usage notes

Use the Input dataset parameter to identify the dataset containing the values to find and replace.

The Target fields parameter to specify the string fields that contain the values to find and replace. You can specify one or many fields.

Use the Rules parameter to define how to search for and update field values. By default, the options are as follows:

• Find value—The string value you want to update. The search for this value is case sensitive.
• Replace value—The new string value.

To enable additional options for finding and replacing values, enable the Show options for empty values and matching behavior parameter. With this parameter enabled, the following options are available:

• Find type—The type of search to perform to find the values to replace. The options are as follows:
  • Value—Searches for a specific string value. Use the Find value parameter to specify the value to search for.
  • Blank (null)—Searches for null values.
  • Empty string—Searches for empty string values of "".
  • Whitespace—Searches for whitespace values such as " ".
• Find value—The string value to search for and update. This option is only available if Find type is set to Value.
• Replace type—The type of value to update the found values with. The options are as follows:
  • Value—Replaces the found values with a new value. Use the Replace value parameter to specify the new value.
  • Blank (null)—Replaces the found values with null values.
  • Empty string—Replaces the found values with empty string values of "".
• Replace value—The value to replace the found values with. This option is only available if Replace type is set to Value.
• Match location—The location of the value to find relative to the full field value. The options are as follows:
  • Entire value—The value to find is the full field value.
  • Contains value—The value to find is contained within the full field value.
  • Starts with value—The value to find is at the start of the full field value.
  • Ends with value—The value to find is at the end of the full field value.
• Case sensitive—Determines whether the search will be case sensitive. By default, the search is case sensitive. This option is only available if Find type is set to Value.

If the Match location parameter is set to Contains value, Starts with value, or Ends with value, consider the following:

• If the Replace type parameter is set to Blank (null), the replace will operate on the full field value and it will be replaced with a null value.
• If the Replace type parameter is set to Value, the replace will operate on the partial value you searched for and it will be updated with the new value, and the rest of the string will be maintained.
• If the Replace type parameter is set to Empty string, the replace will operate on the partial value you searched for and it will be removed from the full value, and the rest of the string will be maintained. For example, if the field contains a value of "Street" and searched for "eet", the result will be "Str".

Outputs

The tool output will contain all fields from the input dataset. The fields specified using the Target fields parameter will be updated with new values.

Licensing requirements

The following licensing and configurations are required:

• Creator or Professional user type
• Publisher, Facilitator, or Administrator role, or an equivalent custom role

To learn more about Data Pipelines requirements, see Requirements.