Collaborative RCE Tool Library - Regular Expression Tools (including sub-categories)

Tool Updated: The Regex Coach

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:37:01 GMT

Listed in categories: Regular Expression Tools, String Finders

Most recent version:
0.9.2

Most recent release date:
January 2, 2008

Description:
The Regex Coach is a graphical application for Windows which can be used to experiment with (Perl-compatible) regular expressions interactively. It has the following features:

* It shows whether a regular expression matches a particular target string.
* It can also show which parts of the target string correspond to captured register groups or to arbitrary parts of the regular expression.
* It can "walk" through the target string one match at a time.
* It can simulate Perl's split and s/// (substitution) operators.
* It tries to describe the regular expression in plain English.
* It can show a graphical representation of the regular expression's parse tree.
* It can single-step through the matching process as performed by the regex engine.
* Everything happens in "real time", i.e. as soon as you make a change somewhere in the application all other parts are instantly updated.

Tool Updated: PowerGREP

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:36:22 GMT

Listed in categories: Data Search and Extraction Tools, Regular Expression Tools, Source Code Search Tools, String Finders

Most recent version:
3.5.2

Most recent release date:
March 11, 2009

Description:
PowerGREP is a very powerful Windows grep tool. Quickly search through large numbers of files on your PC or network, including text and binary files, compressed archives, MS Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PDF files, etc. Find the information you want with powerful text patterns (regular expressions) specifying the form of what you want, instead of literal text. Search and replace with one or many regular expressions to comprehensively maintain web sites, source code, reports, etc. Extract statistics and knowledge from logs files and large data sets.

Tool Updated: RegexBuddy

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:35:13 GMT

Listed in categories: Regular Expression Tools, String Finders

Most recent version:
3.3.0

Most recent release date:
April 8, 2009

Description:
From the website:

"RegexBuddy is your perfect companion for working with regular expressions. Easily create regular expressions that match exactly what you want. Clearly understand complex regexes written by others. Quickly test any regex on sample strings and files, preventing mistakes on actual data. Debug without guesswork by stepping through the actual matching process. Use the regex with source code snippets automatically adjusted to the particulars of your programming language. Collect and document libraries of regular expressions for future reuse. GREP (search-and-replace) through files and folders. Integrate RegexBuddy with your favorite searching and editing tools for instant access"

Note that the developer does not provide any trial or free download of this software. It merits inclusion in the RCE library because it is a very versatile regex builder and pseudo-debugger. For reversers without good regex knowledge this tool is invaluable; it allows point-and-click regex building, and will break a regex down to its individual parts for easier review.

The developer previously released trial versions (version 2.x.x) of this software. These trial versions are perfectly usable and featured for RCE acitivities, therefore you may wish (and find it easier) to locate a 2.x.x trial version.