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

Display the result of an sfk command chain directly with the free Depeche View for windows, using the +view or +fview chain command.
  • Download the free Swiss File Knife Base from Sourceforge.
  • Open the Windows CMD command line, Mac OS X Terminal or Linux shell.
  • OS X : type mv sfk-mac-64.exe sfk and chmod +x sfk then ./sfk
  • Linux: type mv sfk-linux-64.exe sfk and chmod +x sfk then ./sfk. OS X and Linux syntax may differ, check the help within the tool.
sfk ... +view [-noshl|-nocol] ["-..."]

Show SFK command text output interactively in Depeche View,
a high speed text browser and filter tool for Windows which
also runs on Linux/Mac if WINE is installed.

The tool allows browsing of text with soft scrolling
and instant search as you type or click on words.

Depeche View can also be used standalone, to browse and
search all text from office 2007 files of a folder.

Type sfk getdv to download Depeche View Lite now,
or visit www.depecheview.com for more infos.
The tool is fully portable and needs no installation.

Many SFK commands allow to add +view to have their output
shown instantly in DView. This requires dview, dview.exe
or dview.bat being located in the PATH. If you have downloaded
an executable like dview155.exe, rename it before use.

DView can be run under Linux and Mac, if the latest WINE
package is installed. Google for "linux wine", or search it
in your package manager.

use as a chain command, or to display stdin:

   +[f]view can be used only after another command
   producing a list of filenames or plain text data:

      +view  expects text as input.
      +fview expects a list of filenames or HTTP URLs.

   or use "sfk view -i" to display text from stdin.

options
   -nocol[or]   disable colored output and display.
                set this if you're using dview < 1.1.4
                or any other viewer.
   -wrap[=n]    wrap lines at column n. currently, this feature
                disables colors (implies -nocol), but depending
                on the content processed, dview may still show
                colors based on syntax highlighting.
   -noshl       disable syntax highlighting at dview.
   "-x1 -x2"    all other options are passed through unchanged
                to the viewer application. if multiple parameters
                have to be passed, surround them by double quotes.
   -verbose     tell verbosely which target binary is invoked.
   -noback      by default, dview is run as a background process,
                by prefixing the overall command with "start ".
                say -noback to let sfk wait until dview is stopped.

dview options and parameters
   all non sfk options and parameters are passed through, like:

   -office               with fview: load office file contents
   -tab n                set tab size n (dview 1.6.3 or higher)
   -area 20:20:600:400   open at position 20,20 with size 600x400
   -find "a text"        search a text instantly
   -sfind "a \qtext\q"   search text given with slash patterns

   for all dview options try: dview -help -find "all*options"

temporary files
   this command creates a temporary file which is currently
   not deleted. type "sfk help options" for options on that.

using a different viewer
   when viewing a list of files, this command runs
      "dview -flist tmpfilename"
   with tmpfilename containing a list of filenames.

   when viewing text line output, this command runs
      "dview tmpfilename"
   with tmpfilename containing ascii text data.

   specify -verbose to see what is invoked in detail.

examples
   sfk list docs .txt +fview
      view content of all .txt files in directory docs.

   sfk list docs .xlsx .odt +fview -office
      view content of office files .xlsx, .odt within docs.

   sfk echo x +view -verbose
      tell verbosely which dview(.exe?) executable is actually used.

   sfk list docs .txt +ffilter -+foo -hitfiles +fview "-max -over"
      view all .txt files from docs containing "foo", pass options
      -max -over to the viewer, showing a maximized window in overscan
      mode (without any title bar).

   sfk list docs .txt +ffilter -+foo +view "-space 0:0:40"
      view only text lines from docs containing "foo", in a window
      covering the whole desktop, except for 40 pixels at the bottom.

   sfk fromclip +view
      display current clipboard content (plain text only).

   tar tvf foo.tar | sfk view -i
      display a tar file's content listing.

   sfk larc -size -time -withdirs foo.tar +view
      the same, with sfk reading the .tar directly.

   sfk filter urls.txt +fview
      if urls.txt contains HTTP URLs like
         http://.100/sys/status.xml
         http://.100/sys/trace.xml
         http://.100/sys/errors.xml
      then dview 1.7.1 or higher will load them,
      allowing interactive search and filtering.

   sfk filt calls.txt -form "http://.100$col1" +fview
      if calls.txt contains paths like
          /sys/status.xml
          /sys/trace.xml
          /sys/errors.xml
      expand them like http://192.168.1.100/sys/status.xml
      and load these into dview for interactive filtering.
 
sfk ... +view [-noshl|-nocol] ["-..."]

Show SFK command text output interactively 
   in Depeche View,
a high speed text browser and filter tool 
for Windows which
also runs on Linux/Mac if WINE is installed.

The tool allows browsing of text with soft 
scrolling
and instant search as you type or click 
on words.

Depeche View can also be used standalone, 
to browse and
search all text from office 2007 files of 
a folder.

Type sfk getdv to download Depeche View 
Lite now,
or visit www.depecheview.com for more 
infos.
The tool is fully portable and needs no 
installation.

Many SFK commands allow to add +view to 
have their output
shown instantly in DView. This requires 
dview, dview.exe
or dview.bat being located in the PATH. 
If you have downloaded
an executable like dview155.exe, rename it 
before use.

DView can be run under Linux and Mac, if 
the latest WINE
package is installed. Google for "linux 
wine", or search it in your package
manager.

use as a chain command, or to display 
stdin:

   +[f]view can be used only after another 
    command
   producing a list of filenames or plain 
   text data:

      +view  expects text as input.
      +fview expects a list of filenames 
    or HTTP URLs.

   or use "sfk view -i" to display text 
                     from stdin.

options
   -nocol[or]   disable colored output and 
                display. set this if you're
                using dview < 1.1.4 or
                any other viewer.
   -wrap[=n]    wrap lines at column n. 
                currently, this feature
                disables colors (implies
                -nocol), but depending on
                the content processed,
                dview may still show colors
                based on syntax
                highlighting.
   -noshl       disable syntax highlighting 
                at dview.
   "-x1 -x2"    all other options are 
                passed through unchanged to
                the viewer application. if
                multiple parameters have to
                be passed, surround them by
                double quotes.
   -verbose     tell verbosely which target 
                binary is invoked.
   -noback      by default, dview is run as 
                a background process, by
                prefixing the overall
                command with "start ". say
                -noback to let sfk wait
                until dview is stopped.

dview options and parameters
   all non sfk options and parameters are 
   passed through, like:

   -office               with fview: load 
                         office file
                         contents
   -tab n                set tab size n 
                         (dview 1.6.3 or
                         higher)
   -area 20:20:600:400   open at position 
                         20,20 with size
                         600x400
   -find "a text"        search a text 
                        instantly
   -sfind "a \qtext\q"   search text given 
                         with slash
                         patterns

   for all dview options try: dview -help 
   -find "all*options"

temporary files
   this command creates a temporary file 
 which is currently
   not deleted. type "sfk help options" for 
   options on that.

using a different viewer
   when viewing a list of files, this 
   command runs
      "dview -flist tmpfilename"
   with tmpfilename containing a list of 
   filenames.

   when viewing text line output, this 
   command runs
      "dview tmpfilename"
   with tmpfilename containing ascii 
   text data.

   specify -verbose to see what is invoked 
            in detail.

examples sfk list docs .txt +fview view content of all .txt files in directory docs. sfk list docs .xlsx .odt +fview -office view content of office files .xlsx, .odt within docs. sfk echo x +view -verbose tell verbosely which dview(.exe?) executable is actually used. sfk list docs .txt +ffilter -+foo -hitfiles +fview "-max -over" view all .txt files from docs containing "foo", pass options -max -over to the viewer, showing a maximized window in overscan mode (without any title bar). sfk list docs .txt +ffilter -+foo +view "-space 0:0:40" view only text lines from docs containing "foo", in a window covering the whole desktop, except for 40 pixels at the bottom. sfk fromclip +view display current clipboard content (plain text only). tar tvf foo.tar | sfk view -i display a tar file's content listing. sfk larc -size -time -withdirs foo.tar +view the same, with sfk reading the .tar directly. sfk filter urls.txt +fview if urls.txt contains HTTP URLs like http://.100/sys/status.xml http://.100/sys/trace.xml http://.100/sys/errors.xml then dview 1.7.1 or higher will load them, allowing interactive search and filtering. sfk filt calls.txt -form "http://.100$col1" +fview if calls.txt contains paths like /sys/status.xml /sys/trace.xml /sys/errors.xml expand them like http://192.168.1.100/sys/status.xml and load these into dview for interactive filtering.

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sfk is a free open-source tool, running instantly without installation efforts. no DLL's, no registry changes - just get sfk.exe from the zip package and use it (binaries for windows, linux and mac are included).

 

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