Also see the GNU Textutils.

Notes: Penta Text Tools can operate on one machine or over a network. ALTER – TexRep – GSAR are good choices for quick and dirty multiple file s/r. MiniTrue can run interactively, displaying context of matches in an internal viewer, prompt for replace, and includes basic and extended regular expression support. CHANGE can perform s/r with respect to presence of other strings on a line. sed is a power user's tool that supports regular expressions. Also see: awk – Perl.

Penta Text Tools — Search, view, process strings in any text file.

unrated

[added 2000-09-10, updated 2004-08-20]

Based on Unix tools, these run on any DOS 2.0+ or emulator.

• Two GREPPE tools search / replace / modify data in files by pattern.
• NLX (New Line Xlate) translates PC, Mac, Unix EOL characters.
• STRINGS views text in binary files.
• HEAD examines specific portions of text files.

Notes: Interactive or batch S/R; extended regular expression support (cf. egrep). Operate on one machine or over a network. Small – easily run from diskette. Free for non-profit and non-government users.

Author: Anunga Muhummud / Intelligence Services, Australia (2002).

2002-09-25: v2.4.

Download isptt21x.zip (421K).

Penta Text Tools Online Reference Guide.

MiniTrue — Multiple file S/R with regular expression support.

* * * * *

[added 1996, updated 1999-12-23]

"MiniTrue synthesizes the functionality of such stalwarts as sed, more/less and grep while offering complete interactivity and a straightforward syntax." This flexible text search/replace utility is great if you need to search for, or replace, an instance of text across several files. MT incorporates a full screen file viewer which displays the context of matching text within a document.

• Takes input from file(s) or pipes / redirection, e.g.: dir |mt
• Basic and extended regular expression support (grep-like, not identical).
• Capable of performing search / replace operations using multiple strings.
• Case sensitive and insensitive options.
• Overwrites original files by default; option to create backup files.
• Can generate a log file.
• Subdirectory recursion option.
• Can generate batch file containing command line arguments.
• A high degree of interactivity is built into the program- the user can verify individual replacements. Batch processing without verification is also possible.
• Ability to search for text in archived files (external programs required). Replacements can be made to archived files but changes are saved in decompressed files with a different extension (i.e., no archive updating occurs).
• Includes extensive series of help screens; well documented.

Author: Andrew B. Pipkin (1999).

1999-12-23: v2.0.2b. Distribution file has both 16- and 32-bit versions. Now GPL'd.

Download mtr202b.zip (192K).

Go to the MiniTrue page for source code & Linux versions.

TexRep — Easy, multi-string text search and replace tool.

unrated

[added 1999-04-04, updated 2004-06-27]

One of the more comprehensible S/R tools listed here. Includes an easy command syntax, and the help screen can display a table of those hard-to-remember decimal code equivalents for special characters. Up to 15 string pairs may be input at one time. Can accept as input a file list, won't overwrite original files.

condensed SYNTAX:
texrep [-w] [-i]  s1:r1  [s2:r2] ... [@]infile  [-ofileout]
        -w  At times you may want to replace text only if it appears
            as a word. If so, add a -w before the word pairs.
        -i  Ignore case on the searches.
        -o option allows you to specify the output filename, with two variants:
           -ooutfilex.nam  names the output file in full
           -o.xxx          use a period following the o to use the file
                           name, changing the extension to xxx (any set of
                           one to three characters.

Limitations: No regular expression support. Can't take input from redirection.

Author: Stan Peters (1995). Suggested by Dan Dunfee.

1995-07-25: v1.2.

Download texrep12.zip (16K).

Alter — Small and fast global search and replace tool.

* * * *

My all-time favourite search-and-replace is Rob Flor's wonderful ALTER...Exceedingly fast, can accept wildcards _and_ make back ups, can be used as a filter, can mix plain strings with ASCII codes. Only thing extra I'd like is the ability to handle multiple search/replace strings at one time.

• Takes input from file(s) or redirection.
• ALTER will handle any file size. The command line may be up to 127 characters and the filespec may include wildcards.
• If a filename is given, the original file is renamed "*.DEL" and changes are written to the original filename.ext. Note: ALTER will write a new file even if the original did not contain the search string- all files included in the filespec will get updated with a new time stamp unless output is redirected to a new filename.
• ALTER will work with text or binary files.
• The number of changes for each file processed are placed in an environment variable "CH" and are also output to the screen during processing.
• ASCII codes may be mixed with text. The ASCII codes are separated by commas, literal text must always be within quotes.
• EXE size: 6.2K

Disadvantages: No regular expression support. No "case insensitive" option. Doesn't allow multiple s/r requests. Can't insert an ASCII code for literal quotation mark within a string?

Syntax:
ALTER "find text" "Replace text"<FileName >OutFile
ALTER FileName.ext "find text" "Replace text"
Wildcards may be used in filename.  Tally is output to screen.
TYPE Filename |ALTER "find text" "Replace text">OutFile
Comma delimited ASCII codes may be mixed with quote delimited text

Errorlevels:
 0 if no changes made.
 1 if changes made.
 2 if file not found.
 3 if argument quote mismatch.
Total changes put in Env. Variable %CH%
ALTER -QFileName.ext arg arg  for quiet mode

Author: Rob Flor (1992). Suggested by Robert Bull.

1992-05-05: v0.06i beta.

Download alter.zip (8K).

GSAR (General Search And Replace) — Multi-file, text or binary, search and replace.

unrated

[added 1998-07-04, updated 2005-08-22]

A simple search and replace tool that's (usually) easy on the fingers.

• Takes input from file(s) or redirection.
• Accepts wildcarded filespecs and file lists.
• Can overwrite original file or specify new output file.
• Works with text or binary files.
• Case sensitive and insensitive options.
• Can specify input/output strings as ASCII or HEX, or decimal.
• Outputs number of changes made.

Usage: gsar [options] [infile(s)] [outfile]
-s<string> Search string
-r[string] Replace string. Use '-r' to delete the search string from the file
-i         Ignore case difference when comparing strings
-B         just display search & replace Buffers
-f         Force overwrite of an existing output file
-o         Overwrite the existing input file
-c[n]      show textual Context of match, 'n' is number of bytes in context
-x[n]      show context as a heX dump, 'n' is number of bytes in context
-b         display Byte offsets of matches in file
-l         only List filespec and number of matches (default)
-h         suppress display of filespec when displaying context or offsets
-du        convert a DOS ASCII file to UNIX (strips carriage return)
-ud        convert a UNIX ASCII file to DOS (adds carriage return)
-F         'Filter' mode, input from stdin and eventual output to stdout
Ctrl characters may be entered by using a ':' in the string followed by the
ASCII value of the character. The value is entered using ':' followed by three
decimal digits or ':x' followed by two hex numbers. To enter ':' use '::'

Authors: Tormod Tjaberg and Hans Peter Verne, Norway (1996, 2004).

CHANGE — Contextual multi-file search and replace tool.

unrated

[added 2002-11-15]

Change is an easy to use, basic search and replace tool that lacks regular expression support but does excel as an s/r tool with contextual awareness: you can replace strings based on the presence or absence of other strings which occur on a line (e.g., "replace apple with orange only if peach also occurs in line of text"). This capability can be finely tuned using Boolean operators ("replace apple with orange only if peach AND banana occur on same line"). More complex nesting of Boolean statements is supported. Best of all, Change's syntax is easy to comprehend.

• Accepts wildcards and file lists; option to overwrite input files or create differently named ouput files.
• Can specify input/output strings as ASCII or HEX, or decimal.
• Can handle up to 30 s/r requests at a time using control file.
• Case sensitive and insensitive options.
• Option to create report file.
• Subdirectory recursion option
• Can alter binary as well as text files.
• Interactive verification of changes is possible.
• Frequently used parameters can be set in an ini file or in an environment variable.

• Doesn't take input from redirection.
• No regular expression support.
• EXE is rather large (122K).

Author: Bruce Guthrie (2002).

2002-08-10: v0208.

Download CHAN0208.ZIP (93K).

More in these pages from Bruce Guthrie.

GSR (Global Search Replace) — 32-bit interactive or c-line mode multi-file search and replace tool.

[added 1999-05-03]

Started with no parameters, GSR presents a dBase-like form to be filled in with filespec (wildcards permitted), text to search for, text to replace with, whether search will be case sensitive, whether replacements will be performed with or without user's approval of each one, and whether to process subdirectories. Or, GSR can be started with all parameters entered into the command-line. Compiled Clipper app, with source. Released under GNU general Public License.

Author: Phil Barnett / The Oasis (1999). Suggested by Howard Schwartz.

1999-01-09: v1.84.

Download gsr184g.zip (223K).

Text search & replace (and more) using regular expressions, from the Unix world.

sed, a popular and powerful tool, is frequently used for text search and replace. It is also useful as a versatile filter / formatter. Requires facility with regular expressions. Three versions are listed here.

For more about sed, and seds, go to Eric Pement's sed . . . the stream editor.

GNU sed — 32-bit port of the GNU OS version.

unrated

[added 1998-09-02, updated 2005-08-03]

32-bit DJGPP build – requires 80386+ and a DOS Protected Mode Interface (CWSDPMI or other). Documentation is directed toward experienced users.

Author: Port by Juan Manuel Guerrero, Germany (2005).

2005-04-01: v4.1.4.

U-SEDIT — A sed with clear documentation, 16-bit port from Unix.

unrated

[added 1998-09-22]

Mere mortals may want to look at this older sed version with approachable documentation. A 16-bit offshoot of GNU sed, it runs on DOS 2.0+.

Author: Mike Arst (1990). Suggested by Robert Bull.

HHsed (sed15) — Another real mode sed.

[updated 2004-10-29]

From the docs, a few distinctive features:

• There is no hidden length limit (40 in BSD sed) on 'wfile' names.
• There is no limit (8 in BSD sed) on the length of 'labels'.
• 'Escape sequences' are inhibited for both 'label's and 'filename's.
• Escape sequences are valid in all contexts except file names and labels.
• The full range of characters are allowed all 256 values.
• If no arguments are given sed prints usage data.
• In all contexts a blank file name means 'stdout'.

This version otherwise appears to be equivalent to the UNIX version on the Sun4 computer... anything that sed did on that system, this version of sed will do the same on either a Sun4 or a PC under DOS.

Authors: Eric S. Raymond, David P. Kirschbaum, Howard L. Helman (1991).

1991-10-01: v1.5.

TSP — Interactive text search program.

unrated

[added 1998-07-14, updated 2000-04-30]

TSP is an interactive text searcher which uses an internal viewer to display matching text within the context of adjacent lines (cf. MiniTrue). As you step through matches in each file you can write selected matching lines to a file or send them to a printer. During an interactive run you can also load a file with matching text into your favorite editor (default is Brief, or define another editor in an env. var.). TSP can run in a non-interactive mode with automatic writing of matching lines to a file or the printer. Handled a 1.25 MB test file with ease.

TSP [@][drive:][path]filename target_string [/C] [/AW] [/AP] [/AE] [/1] [/B]
     [/S] [/X:[@]file.ext] [/L:outfile.ext] [/A:attributes]

  [drive:][path]filename   File specification including wildcards.
  @[drive:][path]filename  Search list of file specification(s) in filename.
  target_string            String to be searched for.
  /C                       Use case-sensitive search, by default ignores case.
  /AW                      Automatically write results to a file.
  /AP                      Automatically send results to the printer.
  /AE                      Automatically edit files when a match is found.
  /1                       Find first occurrence of target_string in each file.
  /B                       Write results to Brief .APX file in First-Only mode.
  /S                       Searches subdirectories under specified directory.
  /X:[@]file.ext           Excludes subdirectories from subdirectory search.
  /L:outfile.ext           Name of output file. Default name is FOUND.TSP.
                           The extension is always .APX when /B switch is used.
  /A:attributes            Also searches files with the specified attributes.
                           Attributes can be H (hidden) and/or S (system).

Limitation: No regular expression support.

Author: Paul Bosselaers (2000). Suggested by Marianna Van Erp.

2000-04-17: v2.21.

Download tsp221.zip (28K).

 Text search using regular expressions, from the Unix world.

 Also see dg (data-grepper) – Search for complete records based on search phrase.

GNU grep, egrep, fgrep — Search for text; basic and extended regular expression support.

unrated

[added 1998-07-23, updated 2005-05-27]

One of many available UNIX-derived greps for DOS, GNU's combines the functions of:

grep		Search using basic regular expressions
egrep		Search using extended regular expressions
fgrep		Search using fixed strings

Two different packages are available: A 16-bit version, with a single EXE (command line options set its function); and a 32-bit version with grep, egrep, and fgrep binaries that are identical except for filename.

Other differences between versions: The older 16-bit grep doesn't have a "recurse subdirectories" option, but the 32-bit version does. The 32-bit version is a DJGPP v2 build, requiring 80386+ and a DOS Protected Mode Interface (CWSDPMI or other).

Authors: 16-bit port by Stephen McConnell (1995); 32-bit port by Andrew Cottrell (2003).

Fast GREP (FGREP, FGREP386) — Find files containing search string.

* * *

Fast GREP, like many similar grep utilities for DOS, finds files in which a given string of text occurs. There are many free grep utilities available, and some support regular expressions and mimic their UNIX counterparts well. Not all are simple to comprehend, however: Fast GREP is distinct for its small size, speed, option suite, and relative ease of use. It's only 8K and is optimized for fast operation. Its principle drawback is lack of regular expression support. Runs on DOS 3.0+. No Win9x LFN support, will not handle extremely long paths.

GREP		For 8/16 bit CPU
GREP386		For 32-bit CPU
BUILDFT		Build a character frequency table

Use Fast GREP's GREP386.COM with 80386+ CPUs – it's faster than GREP.COM. Fast GREP has a built-in character frequency table, designed to be a good fit with program code, but not necessarily best for all text content. The BUILDIT util can be used to create a custom table, adapted to user needs.

USAGE: fgrep [-Zv] [options] target {[@]file...}

switches: (edited for formatting)
-a ANSI mode).......................-r recurs. search (dirs/subdirs)
-b binary search....................-R recurs. search (subdirs)
-B case insensitive binary search...-s suppress **File header lines
-c case sensitive...................-t display found text only
-e return errorlevel only...........-v reVerse (negative) search
-f display **File header only.......-w whitespace not significant
-g[name] get frequency table........-x no logo
-i#[,#] define input search field...-Za echo command line to stdout
-j left justify output..............-Zb filter "bell" characters
-l line numbers.....................-Zd display current search dir
-m M-soft(R) output format..........-Zl send logo to stdout
-M M-soft(R) output format w/ path..-Zv ignore FGREP= env variable
-o# set max output length, 0-50000..-0 display no text
-p pause on full screen.............-1 disp. 1st matching line only
-@ generate ONLY list of matching file names
-? display this information using stdout
@file indicates a text file containing a file list

Author: Christopher J. Dunford (1997).

1997-06-04: v1.84.

Download fgrep184.zip (29K).

XGREP — Tiny text finder with regular expression support.

* * * *

XGREP is yet another text finding utility. XGREP displays the lines in a file that contain a particular word, phrase, or pattern; can count those lines in which a particular pattern occurs; or can generate a list of files that refer to a given topic. Like a true grep program, XGREP supports "regular expression" searches. That is, one can perform flexible searches for text strings meeting a range of criteria (e.g., find text matching four consecutive numbers, restricted to digits 1-7). What separates XGREP from the freeware competition is its small size (3K) and the author's good documentation of regular expression syntax. One .COM file, compiled from 80x86 ASM source.

Usage: XGREP [-chlnsvyorx] expression [file ...]
Options:
-c Line count only.. -r Recursively search subdirectories
-h No file names.... -s Silent about inaccessible files
-l File names only.. -v Non-matching lines
-n Number lines..... -x No magic: all operators need \
-o Errors to stdout. -y Case-insensitive match
Syntax:
^ .. start of line...... repeat:. * ..... 0 or more times
$ .. end of line................. + ......1 or more times
.... wildcard.................... ? ......0 or 1 times
[] . character class............. \{m\}.. m times
[^]. inverse class............... \{m,\}..m or more times
\ .. quote next character........ \{m,u\}.m to u times
Classes:
:a alpha...:c cntrl...:d digit...:g graph
:l lower...:n alnum...:p punct...:s space
:t print...:u upper...:x xdigit..:z ascii

Author: Robert Nordier, South Africa (1994).

1994-06-17: v1.03.

Download xgrep103.zip (13K).

AGREP — Fast grep-like util with approximate pattern matching capability.

unrated

[added 1998-07-03, updated 2005-12-09]

This program is intended for users familiar with regular expression syntax, but it has OK docs, good help screens, and a sufficient variety of useful examples. Copyrighted, free only for private, non-commercial use. From the docs:

AGREP is a powerful tool for fast searching a file or many files for a string or regular expression, with approximate matching capabilities and user-definable records...AGREP is similar to egrep (or grep or fgrep), but it is much more general and usually faster...It also supports many kinds of queries including arbitrary wild cards, sets of patterns, and in general, regular expressions. It supports most of the options supported by the grep family plus several more (but it is not 100% compatible with grep).

Usage:
AGREP [-#cdehi[a|#]klnprstvwxyABDGIRS] [-f patternfile] [-H dir] pattern [files
-#  find matches with at most # errors     -A  always output file names
-c  output the number of matched records   -B  find best match to the pattern
-d  define record delimiter                -Dk deletion cost is k
-e  for use when pattern begins with -     -G  output the files with a match
-f  name of file containing patterns       -Ik insertion cost is k
-h  do not display file names              -Sk substitution cost is k
-i  case-insensitive search; ISO <> ASCII  -ia ISO chars mapped to lower ASCII
-i# digits-match-digits, letters-letters   -i0 case-sensitive search
-k  treat pattern literally - no meta-characters
-l  output the names of files that contain a match
-n  output record prefixed by line number
-p  supersequence search                   -CP 850|437 set codepage
-r  recurse subdirectories (UNIX style)    -s silent
-t  for use when delimiter is at the end of records
-v  output those records without matches   -V[012345V] version / verbose more
-w  pattern has to match as a word: "win" will not match "wind"
-x  pattern must match a whole line
-y  suppresses the prompt when used with -B option
@listfile  use the file names in listfile
METASYMBOLS:
\z          turns off any special meaning of character z (\# matches #)
^           begin-of-line symbol
$           end-of-line symbol
.           matches any single character (except newline)
#           matches any number > 0 of arbitrary characters
(a)*        matches zero or more instances of preceding token a (Kleene closure)
a(a)*       matches one or more instances of preceding token a
            (Use this as replacement for (a)+ which is not implemented yet.)
[b-dq-tz]   matches characters b c d q r s t z
[^b-diq-tz] matches all characters EXCEPT b c d i q r s t z
ab|cd       matches "ab" OR "cd"
<abcd>      matches exactly, no errors allowed in string "abcd"
            (overrides the -1 option)
cat,dog     matches records having "cat" OR "dog"
cat;dog     matches records having "cat" AND "dog"