How to do things
AI Noob vs. Pro

List biggest files
List newest files
Show subdir sizes
Search in files
Replace word in files
List dir differences
Send files in LAN

Free Open Source:

Swiss File Knife

a command line
multi function tool.

remove tabs
list dir sizes
find text
filter lines
find in path
collect text
instant ftp or
http server
file transfer
send text
patch text
patch binary
run own cmd
convert crlf
dup file find
md5 lists
fromto clip
hexdump
split files
list latest
compare dirs
save typing
trace http
echo colors
head & tail
dep. listing
find classes
speed shell
zip search
zip dir list

Depeche View
Source Research
First Steps

windows GUI
automation

command line
file encryption

free external tools,
zero install effort,
usb stick compliant:

zip and unzip
diff and merge
reformat xml
reformat source

cpp sources

log tracing
mem tracing
hexdump
using printf

articles

embedded
stat. c array
stat. java array
var. c array
var. java array
view all text
as you type
surf over text
find by click
quick copy
multi view
find nearby
fullscreen
bookmarks
find by path
expressions
location jump
skip accents
clip match
filter lines
edit text
highlight
load filter
hotkey list
receive text
send in C++
send in Java
smooth scroll
touch scroll
fly wxWidgets
fly over Qt
search Java

Do you have to cope with hard-to-read source code? One colleague is using 3 spaces per tab, the other 4, and a totally different bracket style... if you have to read through a larger portion of source and like to have it purified first, try Artistic Style.
  • download Artistic Style from here.
  • extract the Windows .zip file (there is also a Linux version)
  • copy astyle.exe somewhere into your PATH.
now say
   astyle -h
for detailed instructions. for example,
   astyle --style=ansi test1.cpp test2.cpp test3.cpp
will reformat the listed files; be aware that they're overwritten, so you better make a backup before.

how to reformat many source files in one command

using the free swiss file knife, you can reformat many source files in one go like this:

   sfk run "astyle --style=ansi <$file 2>nul" -to \out\$file . .java -yes

which reformats all .java files in the current directory tree. the "2>nul" is required to get rid of all stderr output, as astyle writes its version info to that stream. example command output:

   written: \out\actual\Box.java
   written: \out\actual\Click0.java
   written: \out\actual\Click1.java
   written: \out\actual\Click2.java
   written: \out\actual\Click3.java
   written: \out\actual\ColumnOfBoxes.java
   written: \out\alternative\Box.java
   written: \out\alternative\Click0.java
   written: \out\alternative\Click1.java
   written: \out\alternative\Click2.java
   written: \out\alternative\Click3.java
   written: \out\alternative\ColumnOfBoxes.java

to view the resulting files instantly, type

   dview \out

which loads and displays all files from directory tree "\out" in depeche view:

click to enlarge

further reading: how to reformat xml files