CODEWITHSUNDEEP
tfsazure-devops
Alexander Gorelik
Alexander Gorelik

Reputation: 4385

TFS code search find <Button>

I want to find all usages of my react component in code.
I tried <Button> but Special chars <> are not supported.
Tried "Button" and i get "Button" and button with lowercase as results as well.
So exact match is also not supported.

Is there is a way to find a string exactly without any additional results?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1759

Answers (1)

Andy Li-MSFT
Andy Li-MSFT

Reputation: 30372

Unfortunately, search symbols (<> and "" in your scenario) is not supported in code search.

In tfs the symbol "" is used for finding an exact match to a set of words by enclosing your search terms in double-quotes. For example, "Client not found".

Is there is a way to find a string exactly without any additional results?

Yes, but it seems a little complex, just reference my answer in another thread:Is there a way to make TFS code search recognize the "@" symbol?

Checked for some characters in code search. You can't use the symbol characters except * and ? as part of your search query, which including below characters: . , : ; / \ ` ' " @ = ! # $ & + ^ | ~ < > ( ) { } [ ]. The search will simply ignore these symbols.

But you can use wildcard characters * and ? to broaden your search.

You can use wildcard characters anywhere in your search string except as a prefix in a simple search string or a query that uses a code type filter. For example, you cannot use a search query such as *RequestHandler or class:?RequestHandler. However, you can use prefix wildcards with the other search filter functions; for example, the search query strings file:*RequestHandler.cs and repo:?Handlers are valid.

Please see Broaden your search with wildcards for details.

If you want to search the strings including these symbol exactly(such as '@' here), you can code search with other strings (eg, testexample.com here) to narrow down the scope first, then copy the specific code to text editor which support the symbols (eg, Notepad++), then search stings with the symbol characters.

Besides, if you are using Git, another workaround is using the code search tool Hound: a lightning fast code search tool, it supports the symbol characters. Reference this thread to use it: How can I publish source code (Visual Studio) on a intranet?

Also, there is a User Voice here to suggest the feature, you can go and vote it up to achieve that in future.

Upvotes: 2

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