reflections on jrepl and findrepl
Posted: 26 Dec 2014 15:23
Dear Dave and Aacini,
First of all, let me say that jrepl and findrepl are excellent programs. Some may grumble that they are JavaScript wrapped in Batch, but I don’t think that’s a valid criticism because it would be simply impossible to write a program in “pure Batch” (whatever that is) that would have the same functionality as jrepl and findrepl.
However, I am puzzled as to why there are two programs that do more or less the same thing. May I be so bold as to suggest that you work together, merge your code, and create a new, unified find-and-replace tool? I’ll help with the documentation. I’m good at picking lint out of sentences.
Lastly, my one gripe with your tools is that they presuppose the user is an expert in regular expressions. It would be a simple thin for clever chaps such as yourselves to include shorthands for commonly-performed tasks such as: trim trailing whitespace; merge multiple blank lines; case conversions; Win to Unix line endings; etc.
Just my two cents!
- SB
First of all, let me say that jrepl and findrepl are excellent programs. Some may grumble that they are JavaScript wrapped in Batch, but I don’t think that’s a valid criticism because it would be simply impossible to write a program in “pure Batch” (whatever that is) that would have the same functionality as jrepl and findrepl.
However, I am puzzled as to why there are two programs that do more or less the same thing. May I be so bold as to suggest that you work together, merge your code, and create a new, unified find-and-replace tool? I’ll help with the documentation. I’m good at picking lint out of sentences.
Lastly, my one gripe with your tools is that they presuppose the user is an expert in regular expressions. It would be a simple thin for clever chaps such as yourselves to include shorthands for commonly-performed tasks such as: trim trailing whitespace; merge multiple blank lines; case conversions; Win to Unix line endings; etc.
Just my two cents!

- SB