Finding text strings in a given file is something that anyone can do with even the most basic text processing tool—that is, provided that you are sure the said string is in that given file, know exactly what the string looks like, and you perform your searches a file at a time.
You can feed the program with as many text-based files as you wish or need, and then combine as many search options as required. Most of them are pretty obvious—contains, lacks, stars, or ends with a certain combination of characters—but its main and more powerful tool will require from you a certain level of programming knowledge.
Built-in RegEx Extractor’s regular expressions are a set of strong algorithms to help you find the most complex combinations of characters regardless of their position, location, and the various possibilities in which they might appear. They are not for the faint of heart, though. You need to understand how they work and what it is that they do exactly. If you happen to be savvy enough to ‘program’ your own, then RegEx Extractor is the perfect tool for you. For the rest of us, we can always make use of the four basic options described above and the common operators that we all use when searching for text. The results will show you the words or phrases that matched your search and where you can find them among the files selected.
The trial version is enough to show you all its potential, but it will not allow you to export the results.
Pros
- Searches in multiple files at a time
- Create your own regular expressions
- Combine up to four basic search options
- Provides clear matches and where they can be found
Cons
- Creating new rules requires certain expertese
- Exporting is not allowed in the unlicensed version