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List biggest files
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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

XMLStarlet is a command line tool with many functions for handling XML files, but the most interesting function discussed here is the reformatting of XML files, making them better "human readable". today's software development is unimaginable without XML files. configuration data, request content, documentation - everything is packed into XML today, but often these files are not easy to read and nearly impossible to edit with a normal, straight text editor (the only way in which I edit xml's), simply because some generator bot didn't really care about the end user, or developer, who has to cope with it.

to reformat the stuff,

  • download XMLStarlet from here.
  • unzip the -win32.zip file
  • copy the xml.exe somewhere into your PATH, or onto usb stick.
now, to pretty reformat any .xml file, type
   xml format myinput.xml >myoutput.xml
and get a well-formatted myoutput.xml.

how to reformat many xml files in one command

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

1. select the files you are interested in. for example:

   sfk list . xml

selects all .xml files from the current directory tree, like:

   apps\JSR172Demo\server\src\config.xml
   apps\JSR172Demo\server\src\jaxrpc-ri.xml
   apps\JSR172Demo\server\src\web.xml

2. extend the command to run xml.exe on each file:

   sfk list . xml +run "xml format $file" -to pretty\$file -yes

example output:

   written: pretty\apps\JSR172Demo\server\src\config.xml
   written: pretty\apps\JSR172Demo\server\src\jaxrpc-ri.xml
   written: pretty\apps\JSR172Demo\server\src\web.xml

in this example, the reformatted contents are written into output files under a directory "pretty". let us view how config.xml was reformatted by:

   dview . config.xml

which simply displays all "config.xml" files in the current directory tree using depeche view:

click to enlarge

further reading: how to reformat source code