Chop 1.1 build: 9639 released: 2014-07-13 compiled with: Java 1.8.0_131 Jet jet12.0-pro-x86/1.8.0_131 Chop the heads/tails off files just before or after some marker string in the file.. Copyright: (c) 2014-2017 Canadian Mind Products. Java application. Download from: http://mindprod.com/products1.html#CHOP ---- Notes: You must install the Java JRE to use this program. See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/jgloss/jre.html This program can only be used from the command prompt, (or via an command line style icon shortcut) e.g. under Windows command.exe or JPSoft tcmd.exe, formerly called the DOS box. Just clicking the programs in a directory listing will not do anything useful. Just typing the program names at the command prompt will not either. This program requires a manual install! See below. This program works with vanilla text files, (e.g. ASCII files or UTF-8 Unicode files). You will need a text editor to create and view them, not a word processor. e.g. notepad, Visual Slick Edit or other suitable text editor http://mindprod.com/jgloss/editor.html. You must use a monospaced font http://mindprod.com/jgloss/monospacedfonts.html (aka fixed pitch, aka programmer font) to view your files, or they won't look properly aligned. I put out an avalanche of free software into the world, and submit PAD files to hundreds of distribution sites, but I rarely hear back from anyone. What's happening? Does it all just work fine? It is so complicated nobody can figure out how to use it and they give up on it? It is it useful? Since everyone has the source, do people just fix the programs to their liking themselves? Did you have trouble installing? Do I presume you know too much? I would be happy to hear from you about your experiences, positive or negative and your requests for improvements. A one-line email to roedy@mindprod.com would be great. ===> Free <=== Full source included. You may even include the source code, modified or unmodified in free/commercial open source/proprietary programs that you write and distribute. May be used freely for any purpose but military. For more details on this restriction, see http://mindprod.com/contact/nonmil.html If you include any Canadian Mind Products code in your own applications, your app too must be labelled non-military use only. http://mindprod.com/contact/nonmil.html All Java jars and source code are included. If you need the class files or Javadoc, you will have to build them yourself. To streamline the zip downloads, class files and Javadoc have been removed. ---- Prerequisites: This program runs under any OS that supports Java, (e.g.W2K/XP/W2003/Vista/W2008/W7-32/W7-64/W8-32/W8-64/Linux/LinuxARM/LinuxX86 /LinuxX64/Ubuntu/Solaris/SolarisSPARC/SolarisSPARC64/SolarisX86/SolarisX64/OSX/AIX...) so long as you have <><> Java version 1.8 <><> or later installed (32-bit or 64-bit Java). See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html for details. ---- Installing on a PC: Download source and compiled jar files to run on your own machine as an application. First install a recent Java JDK or JVM. See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html. To install, extract the zip download with WinZip (or similar unzip utility) into any directory you please, often J:\ -- ticking off the use folder names option. To run as an application, type: java.exe %JAVA_OPTIONS -ea -jar J:\com\mindprod\chop\chop.jar {put any parms here} adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is. ---- Installing on a MacIntosh: Use Safari to download source and compiled jar files to run on your own machine as an application. Safari will automatically unpack the zip into ~/Downloads (version 10.5) [or on the Desktop (version 10.4 and earlier)]. First install a recent Java JDK or JVM. See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html. You may optionally move the download tree to a permanent home. I don't have a MacIntosh, just a PC, so I can't test my Java programs for Mac compatibility. In theory they should work without problems, but in practice that does not always happen. If you have problems please, let me know, preferably with screenshots and complete verbatim error messages. To run as an application, without parameters, just double click the jar file. To run as an application with parameters, in bash shell type: open Terminal.app cd ~/Desktop java.exe -ea -jar com/mindprod/chop/chop.jar {put any parms here} adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is. ---- Rebuilding: The zip already contains the necessary jar files, so unless you modify the program, there is no need to recompile the source or rebuild the jar. Configure.java basedir="E:/" in rebuild.xml to the drive where your files are. Use ANT and rebuild.xml, not build.xml, to recompile and recreate the jar. ---- Use: Chops the end ends off text files either before or after a marker string. The companion Behead utility chops the beginnings off files before or after a marker string. chop.jar [-q] -charset="UTF-8" -before="xxx" -after="yyy" [-s] files and dirs -q = quiet. Suppress progress messages. -charset= what character set the file is, uses platform default if you leave it out. -before= the string to look for in the file. The tail end of the file is chopped off starting just before this marker. The marker is case-sensitive. -after= the string to look for in the file. The tail end of the file is chopped off starting just after this marker. You must have either -before or -after but not both. The marker is case-sensitive. -s= also process subdirs, then a list of files and directories, multiples but no wildcards supported yet. Neither -before nor -after can be regexes. It is almost impossible to specify a regex on the command line without the command line processor messing it up. For details on possible encodings and how to tell which encoding a file is using, see http://mindprod.com/jgloss/encoding.html behead.jar [-q] -charset="UTF-8" -before="xxx" -after="yyy" [-s] files and dirs -q = quiet. Suppress progress messages. -charset= what character set the file is, uses platform default if you leave it out. -before= the string to look for in the file. The beginning of the file is chopped off starting just before this marker. The marker is case-sensitive. -after= the string to look for in the file. The beginning of the file is chopped off starting just after this marker. You must have either -before or -after but not both. The marker is case-sensitive. -s= also process subdirs, then a list of files and directories, multiples but no wildcards supported yet. What are these utilities for? I wrote them when a bug tacked on junk to my files. I wrote it to strip off the junk. It can be useful is screenscraping to peel footers or headers off the pages you download. For more complicated chopping, try the splitter utility. Why the axe icon? It symbolises chopping the end off a file or beheading. ---- Version History: 1.0 2014-05-18 initial version 1.1 2014-07-13 do search for marker starting at the end. Add Behead. -30-