Mass Replacement (Problems)

The best thing about computers is they do exactly what you command them to do.  The worst thing about computers is they do exactly what you command them to do.

So…

I am in the process of writing a technical book about the use, safety concerns, and function of digital multimeters.  Yesterday, I decided I needed, for the sake of readability, to change the term “input port” to “input jack,” throughout the forty-some pages I have written to this point.

The input jack I am talking about, by the way, is the hole in the face of a multimeter where you plug in the test leads used to connect to electrical circuits and components when testing voltage, ohms, etc.

To make my correction, I opted to use the “Replace” function for the entire document.  When the window for Replace popped up: I typed in the following:

For Find: port.

For Replace With: jack.

When I clicked on the Replace button, the application reported a total of 43 changes made throughout the document.

Fair enough.

No, replace that with: good.

I closed the Replace pop-up and began to scroll back down to where I was editing something.  That’s when I found where the word “important” had been changed to “imjackant.”

This occurred 13 times.

Nice try, Microsoft.

-- Mitchell Hegman