Useful Little Things

I created a web page where you can enter a block of text, then run a search-and-replace operation on it. Why? Why not!

I think I’ll add regular expressions next. I added regular expression support, which was really easy with PHP.

Maybe I’ll add the ability to upload a file and replace text server-side, in case the file is just too big to paste into a text box. So I added the ability to upload a file and replace text server-side. You know, just in case the file is just too big to paste into the text box. I set the file size limit to 2 MB. If you go over that, you just get to wait until it passes 2 MB, then nothing happens.

Anyone have any ideas that would make the page any cooler?

I was organizing my digital photos this weekend, when I needed to copy lots of pictures from several folders into one folder. A quick Google search didn’t turn up any specific programs, although a few utility suites have the functionality to do what I wanted.

Side note: In Linux, I could have written a shell script to do this pretty quick. I probably could have done the same with a batch file, but it just felt wrong.

So, since I’m too lazy to actually do what I perceive as work, I wrote a quick C# program to do the job. Just in case I want to flatten a bunch of file folders later. Or, if my wife wants to… Okay, okay. I admit it. I wrote the program just for the fun of it! What can I say, I’m a geek.

Also, since I’m a sharing kind of person, I created a project on Source Forge and uploaded the end result. So, if you have a bunch of files in a bunch of folders, and for some crazy reason you want all the file consolidated in a single folder, you should head over to the project page at Source Forge and download it.

If you’re looking for a visual XSL/XSLT editor/transform, I’ve got two options for you, both of which are open source: JSimpleX and SimpleXSLT. JSimpleX is a Java-based visual XSL transform application. It has basic XML/XSL editing capabilities, combined with a visual output window (see screen shot). SimpleXSLT is Windows-only port of the application, for people who prefer a native-windows look and feel.