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Swiss File Knife

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Some sfk commands support * and ? wildcards, as well as slash patterns like \t or \xnn.
  • 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 wildcards and text patterns:

available wildcards:
   * = any number of characters.
   ? = a single character.

available slash patterns:
   \t   = TAB
   \q   = double quote "
   \r   = carriage return
   \n   = linefeed
   \xnn = any character with hexadecimal value nn,
          e.g. \x09 is the same as \t (TAB)
   \\   = the backslash \ itself
   \*   = the star '*' itself     [only with some commands]
   \?   = quotation mark '?'      [only with some commands]

support by commands:

   if any command supports slash patterns,

   - they are not active by default, except for commands
     starting with "x" that use SFK Expressions.

   - to use, say -spat directly after the command name:
     sfk echo -spat "three\tlittle\ttabs\t."
     prints: three   little  tabs    .

   - to activate slash patterns globally over multiple commands
     of a command chain, say -spat directly after "sfk":
     sfk -spat echo "two\ttabs" +filter -rep "x\tx_x"
     prints: two_tabs

   if any command supports wildcards,

   - they are active by default.

   - they can be deactivated by option -literal or -lit,
     if you need to find/replace '*' or '?' characters themselves:
     sfk echo "*** ok ***" +filter -lit -rep "_*_=_"
     prints: === ok ===

   - to deactivate globally over multiple commands of a chain,
     say -literal directly after "sfk":
     sfk -literal echo "*** ok ???" +filter -lit -rep "_?_!_"
     prints: *** ok !!!

   - another way to find/replace '*' or '?' is to say -spat
     and then to use \* and \? patterns:
     sfk echo "*** ok ***" +filter -spat -rep "_\*_=_"
     prints: === ok ===

   further reading:

      sfk help options - general options reference
      sfk help chain   - about command chaining
 
sfk wildcards and text patterns:

available wildcards:
   * = any number of characters.
   ? = a single character.

available slash patterns:
   \t   = TAB
   \q   = double quote "
   \r   = carriage return
   \n   = linefeed
   \xnn = any character with hexadecimal 
   value nn,
          e.g. \x09 is the same as \t (TAB)
   \\   = the backslash \ itself
   \*   = the star '*' itself     [only 
        with some commands]
   \?   = quotation mark '?'      [only 
        with some commands]

support by commands: if any command supports slash patterns, - they are not active by default, except for commands starting with "x" that use SFK Expressions. - to use, say -spat directly after the command name: sfk echo -spat "three\tlittle\ ttabs\t." prints: three little tabs . - to activate slash patterns globally over multiple commands of a command chain, say -spat directly after "sfk": sfk -spat echo "two\ttabs" +filter -rep "x\tx_x" prints: two_tabs if any command supports wildcards, - they are active by default. - they can be deactivated by option -literal or -lit, if you need to find/ replace '*' or '?' characters themselves: sfk echo "*** ok ***" +filter -lit -rep "_*_=_" prints: === ok === - to deactivate globally over multiple commands of a chain, say -literal directly after "sfk": sfk -literal echo "*** ok ???" +filter -lit -rep "_?_!_" prints: *** ok !!! - another way to find/replace '*' or '?' is to say -spat and then to use \* and \? patterns: sfk echo "*** ok ***" +filter -spat -rep "_\*_=_" prints: === ok === further reading: sfk help options - general options reference sfk help chain - about command chaining

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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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