Find dialog

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The Find dialog provides a quick way to search for specific model elements. Use it to search for elements by name, applied stereotype name, tag value and documentation content. The dialog can be opened from several different places in your modeling tool. To complete a simple search, use the main area of the dialog, or click the Options button, to specify criteria that will reduce your search results to only applicable ones.

To search for elements using the Find dialog

1. Open the Find dialog in one of the following ways:

1. • In the main menu, click Edit > Find.
   • In the main toolbar, click .
   • Press Ctrl+Shift+F.
2. Specify the search criteria in the main.
3. If you would like your search to be more specific, click the Options button to expand the Options area, and select the desired options. 
4. When you finish specifying your search criteria, click the Find button. 

After completing the steps above, the search results are displayed in the Search Results tab of the model browser.
  

The Find dialog with the extended Options area.

Main area of the Find dialog

Use the main area of the Find dialog to specify the most common search criteria, such as an element name or the scope of the search. The table below provides detailed descriptions of all the elements in the main area. 

Dialog element name	Dialog element type	Description
What	Text box with drop- down list	The What box allows you to search for model elements by the text used in their names or textual properties. To search for desired model elements, enter the text you want to find. To search in element names, select the Search in names check box. To search in textual properties including Documentation, select the Search in all texts check box. Note that both of these options are available only if the Options area is collapsed. To make your search more specific, click as illustrated below. You may use wildcard characters (,?) in your search phrase. "" means zero, one, or more characters. If your search phrase is "dd", all the elements containing "dd" in their names can be found, e.g. "Address" and "ThreadDeath". "?" means exactly one character. If your search phrase is "?dd", only the elements with "dd" in their names, beginning with the second character (e.g., "Address"), can be found. "ThreadDeath" cannot be found in this case, because it contains more than one character before the search phrase "dd". Be sure to check the Match exactly command when using wildcard characters!
Type	Text box with	Click and select one or more element types from the list provided in the open Select Element Type dialog. You have the option to include standard and custom subtypes of the selected element type in the search results. Select the Include Subtypes check box to include the subtypes of the selected elements, e.g., models and profiles of Packages. Select the Include Custom Types check box to show the custom types extending the selected element types, e.g., a Smart Package extending a Package.
Scope	Text box with	The scope refers to the package of your model in which the content search will be performed. Click and select the desired package. Specify the search scope before opening the Find dialog by performing one of the following: Right-clicking a package in the Model Browser, and selecting Find from its shortcut menu. Selecting a package in the Model Browser and pressing Ctrl + F.
Properties	Text box with	The box is available only when the Options area is expanded. Click , select the properties applicable to your search and specify their values. The property list in the open dialog contains only the properties of the element types selected in the Type box. Select at least one element type to make the button available. Keep in mind that the property list contains primitive value properties, e.g. string, boolean, integer, and a non-primitive value property named Applied Stereotype.

Options area of the Find dialog

The Options area allows you to select from a number of additional search options that will make your search more specific and narrow down the search results.

Advanced search options

The Find dialog offers a number of advanced search options allowing you to narrow down search results. Below are some specific cases illustrating how search criteria can be defined.
 

To find an element by an element ID

1. Open the Find dialog.
2. In the What box, enter the prefix "xmi.id=" followed by the ID of the element you want to find.
3. Click the Find button.
   
   

To find abstract Classes

1. Open the Find dialog.
2. Click  next to the Type box, and select Class.
3. Expand the Options area if it is not yet expanded.
4. Click  next to the Properties box, select the IsAbstract property, and set its value to true.
5. Click the Find button.

To find the elements with a specific stereotype and a certain phrase in their documentation

1. Open the Find dialog.
2. Click  next to the Type box, select the element type you want to find (e.g, Actor) and select the Include Subtypes check box.
3. Expand the Options area if it is not yet expanded.
4. Click  next to the Properties box, select the Applied Stereotype property, and select a custom stereotype (e.g., «BusinessActor») as its value.  
5. In the same dialog, select the Documentation property and enter a search phrase as its value.
6. Click the Find button.