(emacs.info) Tags Search

 
 Searching and Replacing with Tags Tables
 ----------------------------------------
 
    The commands in this section visit and search all the files listed
 in the selected tags table, one by one.  For these commands, the tags
 table serves only to specify a sequence of files to search.
 
 `M-x tags-search <RET> REGEXP <RET>'
      Search for REGEXP through the files in the selected tags table.
 
 `M-x tags-query-replace <RET> REGEXP <RET> REPLACEMENT <RET>'
      Perform a `query-replace-regexp' on each file in the selected tags
      table.
 
 `M-,'
      Restart one of the commands above, from the current location of
      point (`tags-loop-continue').
 
    `M-x tags-search' reads a regexp using the minibuffer, then searches
 for matches in all the files in the selected tags table, one file at a
 time.  It displays the name of the file being searched so you can
 follow its progress.  As soon as it finds an occurrence, `tags-search'
 returns.
 
    Having found one match, you probably want to find all the rest.  To
 find one more match, type `M-,' (`tags-loop-continue') to resume the
 `tags-search'.  This searches the rest of the current buffer, followed
 by the remaining files of the tags table.
 
    `M-x tags-query-replace' performs a single `query-replace-regexp'
 through all the files in the tags table.  It reads a regexp to search
 for and a string to replace with, just like ordinary `M-x
 query-replace-regexp'.  It searches much like `M-x tags-search', but
 repeatedly, processing matches according to your input.  
 Replace, for more information on query replace.
 
    It is possible to get through all the files in the tags table with a
 single invocation of `M-x tags-query-replace'.  But often it is useful
 to exit temporarily, which you can do with any input event that has no
 special query replace meaning.  You can resume the query replace
 subsequently by typing `M-,'; this command resumes the last tags search
 or replace command that you did.
 
    The commands in this section carry out much broader searches than the
 `find-tag' family.  The `find-tag' commands search only for definitions
 of tags that match your substring or regexp.  The commands
 `tags-search' and `tags-query-replace' find every occurrence of the
 regexp, as ordinary search commands and replace commands do in the
 current buffer.
 
    These commands create buffers only temporarily for the files that
 they have to search (those which are not already visited in Emacs
 buffers).  Buffers in which no match is found are quickly killed; the
 others continue to exist.
 
    It may have struck you that `tags-search' is a lot like `grep'.  You
 can also run `grep' itself as an inferior of Emacs and have Emacs show
 you the matching lines one by one.  This works much like running a
 compilation; finding the source locations of the `grep' matches works
 like finding the compilation errors.   Compilation.
Info Catalog
(emacs.info) Find Tag
(emacs.info) Tags
(emacs.info) List Tags
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