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DonationCoder.com Software => Coding Snacks => Unfinished Requests => Topic started by: Scott on July 17, 2005, 06:01 PM

Title: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on July 17, 2005, 06:01 PM

The idea is a simple wizard-type utility that creates regular expressions for you.

Maybe I didn't search enough for this yet, but I didn't see a freeware tool that does what I have in mind.  I did find a utility called "RegExBuddy", but it's $30, and ... yeah, right, I might cough up $30 for this.  FileLocator Pro also has a regex helper built in, but it's shareware.  I've attached a screen shot of the wizard built into FileLocator Pro, to give a better idea of what I'm talking about.  (Sorry if the image is huge on your screen.)

Title: Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on July 17, 2005, 06:03 PM

The Regulator:

now open source -> http://regex.osherove.com/

Title: Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on July 17, 2005, 06:04 PM

Thanks.  Please kill this thread.  :(

Title: Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on July 17, 2005, 06:04 PM

Sorry

Title: Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on July 17, 2005, 06:12 PM

It looks like The Regulator just helps test regexs, not write them...

Title: Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on July 17, 2005, 09:04 PM

never satisfied..

ok try this other free one:
http://www.ultrapico.com/Expresso.htm

Title: Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on July 17, 2005, 09:40 PM

never satisfied?  dude, it just didn't seem to be what i needed.  thanks.  :)

Title: Re: IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on July 17, 2005, 11:22 PM

i was just kidding -
hey, let's be honest here,
the entire foundation of this site rests on the fact that none of us are satisfied with tools that are just good enough..
we are compelled to keep searching for the pefect tool...

(https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen0/Small/detective.gif)

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on July 18, 2005, 02:13 PM

Expresso seemed very similar to the other one.  I guess I'll stick with FileLocator Pro (yep, I do have a license).  I was actually thinking that other people might find this handy.  Or maybe I'm the only dumbass too lazy to learn regex.  :)

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: jpfx on July 18, 2005, 05:51 PM

I bought regex buddy http://www.regexbuddy.com/ but whatever problem I have with regex (perl specifically) I can also extend to figuring out how to get regex buddy to produce useful results. I always end up surfing for (and finding) the answer in groups/forums.
Now, if I spent more time (any time) actually organizing what I do write into code snippets then I really would save myself a lot of bother. I will have to try the 2 free ones listed, maybe one is as obscure as my thought processes.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on July 18, 2005, 05:54 PM

What I had in mind was a simple, wizard-driven utility that does what FileLocator Pro offers--a really easy way to build regexs.  None of the applications mentioned here do that.  Or, if they do, they're certainly not as user friendly.

I don't see how this idea "exists".  If I missed something, I'd love for someone to point it out to me.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on July 18, 2005, 06:13 PM

but whatever problem I have with regex (perl specifically) I can also extend to figuring out how to get regex buddy to produce useful results.

hahahahahaha (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen0/Small/szczerzykly.gif)
i hear ya.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on July 18, 2005, 06:16 PM

it sure seems like from the pictures that expresso is designed to help you build regular expressions by assembling them from nice easy to use dialogs..

the EXISTS flag on the post was just meant to indicate that this probably isn't a coding snack; even if these particular programs aren't perfect, its probably too big a task for a coding snack anyway and there are surely more such apps out there waiting to be discovered.

but i can remove the EXISTS thing if you want, nothing is set in stone.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: dajo on July 27, 2005, 07:28 PM

I use Regex Coach (free) to help me with tough regular expressions.
http://www.weitz.de/regex-coach/

The Regex Coach is a graphical application for Linux and Windows which can be used to experiment with (Perl-compatible) regular expressions interactively. It has the following features:

    * It shows whether a regular expression matches a particular target string.
    * It can also show which parts of the target string correspond to captured register groups or to arbitrary parts of the regular expression.
    * It can "walk" through the target string one match at a time.
    * It can simulate Perl's split and s/// (substitution) operators.
    * It tries to describe the regular expression in plain English.
    * It can show a graphical representation of the regular expression's parse tree.
    * It can single-step through the matching process as performed by the regex engine.
    * Everything happens in "real time", i.e. as soon as you make a change somewhere in the application all other parts are instantly updated.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on July 27, 2005, 09:06 PM

that is awesome...
this is why you have to love this section

nice find.(https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen0/Small/THUMBUP.GIF)

ps. program is donationware and written in.. LISP(!)

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on August 02, 2005, 07:43 PM

But again, unless I'm missing something, Regex Coach doesn't help you create regexs; it just helps you test and pick apart existing reg expressions.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on August 02, 2005, 08:02 PM

scott is there a shareware app that does what you want?
maybe if we see that we will be able to better locate a freeware tool.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Scott on August 02, 2005, 08:05 PM

 
Aside from the subcomponent of FileLocator Pro I show in the screen shot above, I don't know of one.  But the screen shot shows how FLP lets you enter strings and select plain-English operations to build regexs from scratch
 

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: ewemoa on March 22, 2009, 07:27 AM

I didn't locate any posts w/ the following, so FWIW:

http://kodos.sourceforge.net/about.html

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Darwin on March 22, 2009, 09:57 AM

Just to note - AFAICT, FileLocator Pro 5 no longer features the regex builder... just a more mundane reg ex tester. Off hand, I can’t remember if version 4 retained the builder or not. Pity.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Deozaan on March 22, 2009, 01:50 PM

I guess that leaves Regex Buddy (http://www.regexbuddy.com/) by JGSoft (http://www.just-great-software.com/).

I haven't used it myself, and like the original post says, it's not free, but I've used other JGSoft applications and have been very happy with them.

Also, if you just want to test Regular Expressions, then fellow DC Member allen (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=18249) has a handy online utility called ReReplace.com (http://www.rereplace.com/).

ReReplace.com is a full-featured web based text search utility with full regular expressions support, advanced match highlighting and text replacement capabilities.

-http://www.rereplace.com/

 By the way, it was Allen who told me about JGSoft and he uses Regex Buddy (and even links to it on rereplace.com).

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Darwin on March 22, 2009, 04:29 PM

Heh, heh - I already have a licence for RegExBuddy, I was just updating the thread WRT FileLocator Pro. Of course, other grep utilities also have something like the RegEx builder that used to be a feature of FL Pro... I just can't offhand think which ones do, and which ones do not. I'll have to load them and report back. Right, off to do that now. Back in a tick.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Darwin on March 22, 2009, 04:49 PM

Ah... I was thinking of Advanced Find and Replace 4 (http://www.abacre.com/afr/index.htm). However, the built-in Regular Expression Builder is not in the same league as the one that was included in FileLocator Pro 3 (and 4?), sadly.

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And of course, it's not freeware, either!

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: Darwin on March 22, 2009, 04:53 PM

Ach! I'm a dunderhead...

FileLocator Pro 5 STILL has the Expression Wizard - you have  to select RegEx as an option and then click the Help button next to it to invoke the wizard:

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PS one of the nice things about FileLocator Pro is that it comes in a 64 bit version  :Thmbsup:

EDIT: added screenshot

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: mouser on March 22, 2009, 05:29 PM

File Locator Pro is an excellent program.. very nice inside-zip searching as well.
We ran a discount on it in the past -- we should try to get one again.

Title: Re: EXISTS - IDEA: Regular Expression Helper
Post by: cyberdiva on March 22, 2009, 06:10 PM

Funduc, makers of the excellent program Search & Replace, offers a freeware program called Search and Replace Regular Expression Wizard (http://www.funduc.com/search_replace_wizard.htm).  It doesn't write the regexes for you, but it does provide a good deal of help.  Here's the description (there are screenshots on the web page):
The Search and Replace Regular Expression Wizard is an application we made to help you create, understand, and debug Regular Expressions  used by our Search and Replace windows grep utility. The wizard allows you to construct new expressions, or modify existing ones, using a term-by-term approach. You can visualize the effect of each term in a sample text you can paste into the program from the windows clipboard or retrieve from a file on disk. The effect of specific terms is presented in-context, using colors to distinguish the current term from other parts of the overall expression. 'Search' and 'Replace' Expressions are constructed/ examined in separate screens of the Wizard so you can work on each part semi-independent of the other. You can move back & forth between the Wizard screens to make adjustments or experiment. The sample text can also be changed at any point by returning to the starting screen. When you are satisfied, the final expressions can be inserted automatically in the respective fields in the Search and Replace main program dialog (if Search and Replace is running).

I don't think you need to have Search and Replace to use the Wizard.  Anyway, since it's freeware, there's no harm in giving it a try.