Horizontal rules (lines)

[jiml2]

The simple, single, horizontal rule is very handy in a lot of documents. But a lot of Writer related apps, utilities and add-ons apparently know nothing at all about single horizontal lines - they don't recognize them, they don't allow searches for them, they don't allow them to be used as replacements.

Are there ANY add-ons, etc., that are smart enough to actually deal with - use - single horizontal lines in search and replace operations?

Someone suggested "Alternative Find & Replace." Nice add-on but it pretty much sees a horizontal rule as nothing - an empty paragraph.

Even the single line rule is apparently considered a photographic element, but not all photo rules apply to it. HELP!

Lastly, has anybody come up with a creative replacement for single line horizontal rules? One that follows normal rules in a word processor?
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Thanks a million - JimL