How to Search for XML in Word
XML is a popular and flexible computer language for aggregating data in a structured format. The applications of XML are immense. While the data consists of nothing more than a basic outline style, computers can interpret this data in a variety of ways. The design of a web page or the settings for an external piece of hardware can all be controlled by a simple XML file. It is possible to find XML scripts contained in many different text formats. The popular Microsoft Word software can easily be used to type XML code. When looking at a large Word document, isolating the sections that contain XML code is easy.
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Instructions
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Open the Microsoft Word document you wish to search for XML data.
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Understand what XML code looks like. The structure of the XML language is simple and easy to identify. All XML lines must begin with a "tag". The actual nature of these tags widely varies, but the syntax is the same. A tag is enclosed in "<>" brackets. The lines will often end in a variation of these brackets. XML cannot exist without these simple symbols. XML syntax symbols can be found online at w3schools.com/xmL/xml_syntax.asp.
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Find the XML code in the Word file by using the Find feature in Microsoft Word. This command lets you easily search for any type of text or symbol that could appear on any page in the document. Start by clicking the Edit menu at the top of the program window.
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Click on the Find command in the Edit menu. A pop-up box will appear with the dialog for customizing the search settings for the document.
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Type into the Find box the content you are searching for. Since all XML requires "<" and ">" brackets, type one of these into the box.
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Configure the Find settings to suit your work flow. You may select to have the found items automatically highlighted. You can also choose a section of the document to search rather than the entire file. To search the whole document, leave this setting alone and accept the default configuration.
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Click the Find Next button. The feature will search the document for the syntax of an XML statement. When a possible match is found, the Microsoft Word file will scroll to that place in the file and show the result. Continuously clicking on Find Next will cycle through all the search results. If lengthy XML code is present in the document, you only need to see the first search result to identify its starting place. Additional Find Next iterations will move incrementally through each line of code as they will all contain the searched item.
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