Finding text (multiple times) and highlighting

Question

I would like to find all the instances of a word in a Google doc and highlight them (or comment - anything so it stands out). I have created the following function, but it o

Answer 1

Well, simple javascript is enough,

var search = searchtext;
var index = -1;

while(true)
 {
   index = text.indexOf(search,index+1);

   if(index == -1)
     break;
   else
     /** do the required operation **/
 }

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Ok so, chaining your codes it could finish like this :

function findWordsAndHighlight() {
var doc = DocumentApp.openById("DocID");
var text = doc.editAsText();
var search = "searchTerm";
var index = -1;
var color ="#2577ba";
var textLength = search.length-1;

while(true)
 {
   index = text.getText().indexOf(search,index+1);
   if(index == -1)
     break;
   else text.setForegroundColor(index, index+textLength,color );
 }

};

I still have a doubt. This code works nice, but why I have to use search.length-1?

Answer 3

With the introduction of document-bound scripts, it's now possible to make a text highlighting function that's invoked from a custom menu.

This script was modified from the one in this answer, and may be called from the UI (with no parameters) or a script.

/**
 * Find all matches of target text in current document, and highlight them.
 *
 * @param {String} target     (Optional) The text or regex to search for. 
 *                            See Body.findText() for details.
 * @param {String} background (Optional) The desired highlight color.
 *                            A default orange is provided.
 */
function highlightText(target,background) {
  // If no search parameter was provided, ask for one
  if (arguments.length == 0) {
    var ui = DocumentApp.getUi();
    var result = ui.prompt('Text Highlighter',
      'Enter text to highlight:', ui.ButtonSet.OK_CANCEL);
    // Exit if user hit Cancel.
    if (result.getSelectedButton() !== ui.Button.OK) return;
    // else
    target = result.getResponseText();
  }
  var background = background || '#F3E2A9';  // default color is light orangish.
  var doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument();
  var bodyElement = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();
  var searchResult = bodyElement.findText(target);

  while (searchResult !== null) {
    var thisElement = searchResult.getElement();
    var thisElementText = thisElement.asText();

    //Logger.log(url);
    thisElementText.setBackgroundColor(searchResult.getStartOffset(), searchResult.getEndOffsetInclusive(),background);

    // search for next match
    searchResult = bodyElement.findText(target, searchResult);
  }
}

/**
 * Create custom menu when document is opened.
 */
function onOpen() {
  DocumentApp.getUi().createMenu('Custom')
      .addItem('Text Highlighter', 'highlightText')

      .addToUi();
}

Answer 4

I know this is an oldie, but here's how I add effects to text in Google Script. The example below is specifically for adding highlighting to all occurrences of a particular string in a document.

function highlightText(findMe) {
    var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();
    var foundElement = body.findText(findMe);

    while (foundElement != null) {
        // Get the text object from the element
        var foundText = foundElement.getElement().asText();

        // Where in the Element is the found text?
        var start = foundElement.getStartOffset();
        var end = foundElement.getEndOffsetInclusive();

        // Change the background color to yellow
        foundText.setBackgroundColor(start, end, "#FCFC00");

        // Find the next match
        foundElement = body.findText(findMe, foundElement);
    }
}