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I'm still new to articy:draft and I want to know if it's possible to search and replace words across the whole project. I know searching is possible, but I can't find the replace function, if it's even there. Ctrl+H doesn't do anything.

Of course it would be more convenient if there was a function similair to what I described here, but I'd already be happy if I can just replace multiple instances of the same word with another word.

Secespitus
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1 Answers1

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No, there is no such option

Looking through the official documentation and checking the query language document it appears that you can't simply use the advanced query script to write for example a SQL Upate. It only gives you search options and the interface doesn't have a replace option.

There is a workaround - export to Excel and then import

Looking through the forum I found this discussion from 2014 where an employee mentioned that adding a replace function is on their agenda... As far as I can see this feature is probably still on the agenda, but I couldn't find more.

You could use the API, but far easier, faster and cheaper is the solution to

  • Click on the project hierarchy view
  • Right-Click on the uppermost hierarchy node (or one of the lower ones, if you only want to replace for example text in the assets or entities)
  • Click on Export (or press Ctrl + Shift + E)
  • Choose .xlsx (for re-import)
  • Click OK
  • Excel should open; if not, navigate to the file in your filebrowser and open the file
  • Use Excel's Search and Replace function
  • Save the file
  • In Articy:Draft click on the upper left bubble to open the bubble menu and click Import (or press Ctrl + Shift + I)
  • Choose the file
  • Keep pressing Next until you are back to the normal window

Now all your references should be updated.

Personally I would recommend backing up your project before. Of course you should always backup your project in case something happens, but as this is a workaround and you are manipulating the values outside of the usual environment the chances for making mistakes are probably higher.

I only tested this with a quick test project where I created two entities and a dialogue that had text like "Player" in them and changed every occurence of "Player" in Excel to "Tester". It seemed to work.

Secespitus
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  • Oh boy... this is really bad. I actually came across the same discussion and saw it was from 2014. I was hoping, that by now, they built in a better, less hack-y solution and I simply couldn't find it. I guess I was wrong. :( It's a shame because they already allow you to create characters and link them to their respective dialog boxes. It would be such a useful feature if you could just reference those entities in your dialog in the same way, so they just take the current name of the character you're linking to, instead of "hardcoding" the "current" name of your characters into the dialog... –  Feb 24 '18 at 12:35
  • @noClue I only tested a bit yesterday evening and today, but I thought the same thing. The tool looks great at first, but it's quite expensive and the forum is often not very helpful. Without a bigger community it's hard to work with the tool. And still missing a replace function and proper referring to variables in text is a big minus in my opinion. – Secespitus Feb 24 '18 at 12:37
  • I tried out a few tools already (among them Scrivener), and I NEVER found a tool that offers this functionality. I have so many placeholder names in my writing, that it's something I simply can't do without. If it at least had a simple replace function, I could just write {char1} and have those placeholders reliably replaced. I know this isn't the right place to ask, but do you happen to know a software that has this functionality? Referencing characters/objects in text? –  Feb 24 '18 at 12:46
  • @noClue Give me some time to check a few, though I suspect the answer is "no". But you could theoretically ask about such software here. Look for example at my question Are there tools that can aid an author in writing a branching storyline? Just change that to "Are there tools that can aid an author by having character entities that can be referenced in text?" – Secespitus Feb 24 '18 at 12:52
  • @noClue RPG Maker VX Ace/ RPG Maker MV have an option like the one you are searching. In text bars you can use a lot of different shortcuts, such as Hello, \n[1]! to display the name of your first character. If his name is "Dave" it will output "Hello, Dave!". If it's "Eric" it will output "Hello, Eric!". Characters are saved in a database with all their attributes and so this can be done exactly how you said. As the RPG Maker allows you to put in arbitrary ruby script you can theoretically do whatever you want with it, though it's obviously geared towards RPGs. There is a trial version. – Secespitus Feb 24 '18 at 13:10
  • Oh wow, you're right, I totally forgot about RPG Maker... unfortunately, RPG Maker comes with its own set of drawbacks that turned me off from it, so I can't really use that either. I guess I'll just ask a question like you suggested. It just seems so bizarre to me that none of these "big" tools/software specifically made for writing have a functionality like that. Am I really the only person on this planet who might want to change a character's name afterwards? –  Feb 24 '18 at 13:20
  • @noClue It's marketing. Dedicating time and thereby money to a simple feature like "replace stuff" is not great publicity. Saying that you have a new workflow option, or an export to share your work or you updated the UI to make it more beautiful - those are things you can show and where people will be excited. This happens in professional software all the time across all fields. You are not the only one and RPG Maker shows that it's possible. – Secespitus Feb 24 '18 at 13:25