Text Utilities 2 for DOS
(text search and replace (grep), spell checkers, reference, word counters, misc.)

Ratings: [* fair] to [* * * * * excellent]

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MiniTrue- Replace text across multiple files (e.g., Web URL's).

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This text search/replace utility is great if you need to replace an instance of text across several files. e.g., Web site URL's. MiniTrue has many options- including regular expression support. One can also perform text searches without replacing. There are more powerful Unix-like programs (e.g., SED) for DOS that do similar things, but MiniTrue is much easier to use. Includes extensive series of help screens.

download mintr151.zip.


FGREP386- Finds files with given text.

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FGREP386, like many similar grep utilities for DOS, finds files in which a given string of text occurs. There are many free grep utilities available, and some support regular expressions and mimic their UNIX counterparts well. Not all are simple to use, however. I use FGREP386 because of its small size, speed, option suite, and relative ease of use. It's only 8K and is optimized for fast operation (a 386 chip version is included). It's principle drawback is lack of regular expression support. See MiniTrue or XGREP for utilities supporting regular expression searches.

download fgrep183.zip


XGREP- Tiny text finder with regular expression support.

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XGREP is yet another text finding utility. XGREP displays the lines in a file that contain a particular word, phrase, or pattern; can count those lines in which a particular pattern occurs; or can generate a list of files that refer to a given topic. Like a true grep program, xgrep supports "regular expression" searches. That is, one can perform flexible searches for text strings meeting a range of criteria (e.g., find text matching four consecutive numbers, restricted to digits 1-7). What separates XGREP from the freeware competition is its small size (3k) and the author's excellent documentation of regular expression syntax. Veteran Unix experts will find XGREP's close fidelity to UNIX GREP syntax welcome.

download xgrep103.zip


GrepFV- Search for text in compressed files.

Although I prefer Xgrep as a regular text search tool, GrepFV does something unique and useful- it can also search for text in files that are packed in ZIP, ARJ, LHA, ZOO, ARC, and PAK archives.

Archive searching requires both external archive programs AND a tool called FV (not included). FV is part of the LIST text viewer package. GrepFV offers regular expression support (but syntax is not explained in documentation). Limitations: Case sensitive searching is not supported. Line numbering of found text is not supported.

GrepFV is donationware according to the documentation.

download grepfv10.zip


WCNT- Count and analyze word frequency in text documents.

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Several freeware "word count" programs are available on the Internet. WCNT is one of the more comprehensive I've discovered. It includes a host of options:

  1. - Can analyze HTML documents (ignores tags in word counts).
  2. - Count of lines, characters, non-whitespace characters, words, distinct words and unique words.
  3. - Average length of words, distinct words and unique words.
  4. - Sorted word lists with frequencies.
  5. - Word length distribution histograms.
  6. - Configurable word sets.
  7. - DOS code page awareness.
  8. - Multiple filespecs with wildcards.

download wcnt120.zip


GDSpell- Easy to use stand-alone spell checker can handle big files.

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GDSpell (SPELL) is a standalone spell checker from the developers of the freeware NE editor. Both programs use the same dictionary- so you don't need to clutter your hard disk with different dictionaries. Unlike NE, SPELL can spell check big files- I think it swaps to disk and uses XMS- (but I'm not certain). Even if your editor can't load a big file, you can still spell check it with this nifty utility. Can create and use a custom dictionary. Spell checking dialog is similar to those found in popular word processors. Quick and painless.

(Thanks to Yves Bellefeuille's freeware list for pointing me to this one.)

download gdsp300b.zip (420K)


Acrobat Reader for DOS.

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Why use an old, DOS version of Acrobat instead of the Windows version? Good question. You may not need it. But I have a Cannon Bubble Jet printer. When I printed some pdf-formatted tax forms (downloaded from the Net) in Win Acrobat, they looked unusual. It's because I didn't have all the Adobe fonts necessary to get a printout that closely matched the original documents. Acrobat for DOS allows you to print a bitmapped image of a document- fonts are not used with this option. It's slow, but the printout from AcroDOS matched the appearance of the tax forms very closely (the IRS accepted them without question).

download Acrodos.zip (2.6 MB)


JORJ- Dictionary for DOS.

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JORJ is a standalone dictionary program for DOS. Several executable versions are packaged together (compiled for different memory usage). The lexicon has some significant drawbacks. The word list is small but adequate (larger in registered version) and definitions are brief. Words are syllabicated, but parts of speech are lacking. Even with these shortcomings, JORJ still serves as a handy reference.

download jorj97.zip (650K)


Penc- Text-only encyclopedia.

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Penc is a text-only encyclopedia (not a program) comprehensive enough to be useful. An encyclopedia this small can't add much detail to entries- and Penc doesn't. But it did have a one line entry for my little ex-home town of Godfrey, IL, USA in it (and that's my definition of comprehensive !). Penc should not be viewed as "authoritative" since there is no clue where the author obtained his source information. The 5 MB plain text version is obviously difficult to navigate (hint: use LIST viewer and its find function). The HTML version is bigger but easier to navigate using a browser. Finally, there are online encyclopedias on the Net (including an online version of Penc) that are easier to use and won't gobble up your disk space.

Beyond these limitations, Penc may be a useful and handy reference for you. It is divided into major topical sections within which entries are sorted alphabetically. There are some areas covered which some of the "popular" CD-ROM dictionaries often neglect. Take a look at the online version and perhaps you'll decide to download the plain text or html versions.

download text version [5MB unzipped] ...

penc90.zip 1.2MB

or html version...

  • penc90h1.zip 658K, 1of4
  • penc90h2.zip 743K, 2of4
  • penc90h3.zip 114K, 3of4
  • penc90h4.zip 384K, 4of4

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    (c)1997 Richard L. Green