Author Topic: Best search and replace software discussion (Read 58,101 times)

Darwin · « **Reply #25 on:** September 01, 2007, 12:52 AM »

Quote from: DigitalVolcano on August 31, 2007, 09:45 AM

Hey all,
Just found a showstopper bug - if the columns are sorted in any way the system may perform operations on the wrong checkmarked files (marked files mode only). I'll fix and upload this tonight.

The bug is in all versions... it's due to using an API column sort which scrambles the index. Argh!

Thanks for the warning and for the speed with which you got a fix out!

rjbull · « **Reply #26 on:** September 26, 2008, 03:53 PM »

Adding to this thrread because there's a short-lived discount on HFFR: DC details here

Darwin · « **Reply #27 on:** September 26, 2008, 05:51 PM »

Note my reply in the above referenced thread. The discount *appears* to be short-lived, but in fact is probably not... They are offering a powerful product at a reasonable price (even without the discount) and with a lifetime licence, though...

rjbull · « **Reply #28 on:** September 27, 2008, 09:09 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on September 26, 2008, 05:51 PM

The discount *appears* to be short-lived, but in fact is probably not... They are offering a powerful product at a reasonable price (even without the discount) and with a lifetime licence, though...

It does seem a good product, but I still don't like being mislead.

Darwin · « **Reply #29 on:** September 27, 2008, 11:03 PM »

Yeah, I don't know what to think about that... I've run across this before and have been annoyed then, as well. However, I haven't had any negative experiences with vendors doing this, yet (knock on wood).

Ehtyar · « **Reply #30 on:** September 28, 2008, 12:14 AM »

The open source GrepWin is the best free/open source find-and-replace tool with an interface I've found.

Ehtyar.

rjbull · « **Reply #31 on:** September 29, 2008, 09:03 AM »

Quote from: Ehtyar on September 28, 2008, 12:14 AM

The open source GrepWin is the best free/open source find-and-replace tool with an interface I've found.

From the screenshot, it only looks to do a single search-and-replace pair at a time. The only free one [Edit] that I know of [/Edit] that can do multiple pairs at a time is ReplacEm, the Web site for which seems to have disappeared.

Ehtyar, why was some of the text in your last post invisible? Viz.:

Quote

(see attachment in previous post)

Looks like the italic tags were being interpreted as invisible.

Ehtyar · « **Reply #32 on:** September 29, 2008, 11:09 AM »

Huh? It looks fine to me?

Ehtyar.

Darwin · « **Reply #33 on:** September 29, 2008, 01:24 PM »

rjbull - it's an auto-link to ehtyar's post - the new forum software adds it to quoted posts, rather than duplicating pictures and attachments everytime a post is quoted. So if you click on the link: (see attachment in previous post)
It takes you back to Ehtyar's post (and the screenshot that has been replaced with it).

J-Mac · « **Reply #34 on:** September 30, 2008, 05:36 AM »

And here I am going back and forth, highlighting absolutely nothing looking for this "invisible text"!!

(I figured it must be something "juicy" to hide it that well! - Got me!)

Jim

(EDIT: BTW, gotta learn me some Regex! I always skip it figuring I don't have the time. But I realize I am missing lots! Any decent learning resources? Thx!)

Ehtyar · « **Reply #35 on:** September 30, 2008, 07:40 AM »

http://www.regular-expressions.info/ is a very good beginners guide, though watch yourself for all the shameless PowerGrep plugs. Also, if anyone has a nice free regex composer, I'd really like to hear about it.

Ehtyar.

J-Mac · « **Reply #36 on:** September 30, 2008, 08:11 AM »

Quote from: Ehtyar on September 30, 2008, 07:40 AM

http://www.regular-expressions.info/ is a very good beginners guide, though watch yourself for all the shameless PowerGrep plugs. Also, if anyone has a nice free regex composer, I'd really like to hear about it.

Ehtyar.

Believe it or not I found that site right after I posted. Actually, though, I don't code at all - I am looking mostly for enough to perform Regex searches, and/or script writing.

Thanks!

Jim

Ehtyar · « **Reply #37 on:** September 30, 2008, 08:19 AM »

The tutorial isn't specifically for developers...
If you're using regex in scripting, then I'll assume you're using Perl and point you here for a quick primer, and here & here for a more complete reference.

Ehtyar.

rjbull · « **Reply #38 on:** September 30, 2008, 08:48 AM »

Quote from: Darwin on September 29, 2008, 01:24 PM

rjbull - it's an auto-link to ehtyar's post - the new forum software adds it to quoted posts, rather than duplicating pictures and attachments everytime a post is quoted.

Thanks... It only appeared when I used quote-reply, so makes sense that far, but it isn't obvious.

rjbull · « **Reply #39 on:** September 30, 2008, 08:58 AM »

Quote from: J-Mac on September 30, 2008, 05:36 AM

gotta learn me some Regex! [...] Any decent learning resources?

I got started with the succinct explanation in a book, The AWK Programming Language, by Aho, Kernighan and Weinberger, published by Addison-Wesley.

There's also the following freeware from SilverAge Software, makers of Handy File Find and Replace:

Quote

Regular Expression Laboratory - FREEWARE !

Regular Expression Laboratory is an assistant simple to use tool to help you learn and prepare regular expressions.

If you are a developer or just concerned with text processing tasks, the Regular Expression Laboratory is a tool that you need. In fact, you felt that you need a program like this but could not formalize your needs. We have done this job for you. Now you can construct your regular expressions with much ease and test them by applying to an arbitrary text.

Regular Expression Laboratory support the incredible size of a stored regular expression: 2MB!

I'd hate to face a regular expression 2 Mb in size

Ehtyar · « **Reply #40 on:** September 30, 2008, 11:14 AM »

Direct link for Regular Expression Laboratory. Quite nice rjbull, thank you

Ehtyar.

Evanal · « **Reply #41 on:** October 08, 2008, 06:59 PM »

There is a search and replace tool called MultiFind.
It is a pretty handy application that places several searches in different tab pages. This can be usefull if you make search/replace in same folders from time to time. MultiFind understands regular expressions, unicode files, and can hide in tray.

J-Mac · « **Reply #42 on:** October 09, 2008, 12:56 AM »

Quote from: Evanal on October 08, 2008, 06:59 PM

There is a search and replace tool called MultiFind.
It is a pretty handy application that places several searches in different tab pages. This can be usefull if you make search/replace in same folders from time to time. MultiFind understands regular expressions, unicode files, and can hide in tray.

Are you by any chance associated with that web site?

Jim

sajman99 · « **Reply #43 on:** September 23, 2009, 05:45 PM »

Since the poster who recommended MultiFind never affirmed or denied any affiliation, I never bothered to check out the software back then. But now that I've seen MultiFind listed on software sites, I decided to take a look. Turns out the freeware "lite" version of MultiFind is an easy-to-use lightweight and functional program comparable to DigitalVolcano's TextCrawler. If I had to pick just one, I'd still give the nod to TextCrawler but IMO MultiFind is a worthwhile contender. For the record, I especially like MultiFind's "Integrate MultiFind into Explorer's Context Menu" option which aids quick searching/replacing. The Pro version is available for $24.95, but I'm sticking with the freeware version for now.

Good Day, sajman99

AbteriX · « **Reply #44 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:11 PM »

I think i like "FileReplace" better

German only:
http://www.meyweb.ch/meysoft/filereplace-suchen-ersetzen-mehreren-dateien.htm

sajman99 · « **Reply #45 on:** September 23, 2009, 08:48 PM »

AbteriX, FileReplace looks pretty good, but... (1) I don't speak German- darn it! (2) The unregistered version--unlike MultiFind and TextCrawler etc.--has some serious limitations on the number of searched/replaced terms.

But I sure wish they had an English version so I could fully evaluate it.

sri · « **Reply #46 on:** September 24, 2009, 06:45 AM »

I haven't checked all the posts in this thread...I use Replace Text (formerly known as BK ReplaceEm) a lot.

Quote

At its core, Replace Text is essentially a text search-and-replace program. However, unlike the search-replace functionality of a standard text editor, Replace Text is designed to operate on multiple files at once. And you need not only perform one search-replace operation per file; you can setup a list of operations to perform. If different groups of files need to have different operations performed on them, this is no problem either. You can also specify a backup file for each file processed, just in case the replace operation didn't do exactly what you wanted.

http://www.ecobyte.com/replacetext/

Curt · « **Reply #47 on:** September 24, 2009, 11:27 AM »

Quote from: justice on July 30, 2007, 09:42 AM

What is the best textual search and replace around?

The best may be Finders Keepers, but I am not too sure that the program hasn't been abandoned. And I find it weird that you have to first trial the program before you can be told what the price is. Also I am concerned that the activation procedure seems to fit a "one machine only"-license.

The program is written by the author of the program "Book Writer".

[attachimg=#]

Quote from: Finders Keepers

Key Benefits: Save Time and Eliminate Frustration

Four kinds of file searches Plain-text, Regular Expression, Approximate, or Sound-alike.

Indexed text retrieval It's not just for searching--use it for project overview too! Find files or text on a hard drive in 1 second.

Six ways to view the files you find or index Text Viewer, Binary Viewer, Default Viewer, Windows® Associated file, Windows® Quick View, or a Selected Viewer.

Find anything inside the files on your drives, disks, or LAN.
Find names even if you don't know how to spell them.
Find misspelled words, alternate spellings, and typo-ed words.
Use plain and simple searches or complex grep-like regular expressions.
Optionally search zip files.
Replace text inside files, creating backups of the originals automatically.
View or launch found files in any of six ways.
Keep your results in any of several ways so you don't have to search for the same thing again and again.

Nearly 100 settings for advanced users--beginners don't have to set anything.

Touch files' dates, times, and attributes.
Jump from file to file with a single click to see found words in various files.
Index 1 file or 1000's for index-based text retrieval.
Much more!

It's easy to keep yourself from losing time and trains of thought to words hidden or lost in files. Want to look some more? Take a quick tour of Finders Keepers™.

http://www.yadudigital.com/products/products.htm