RegexCraft

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GREP — search & replace across files

GREP — search & replace across files

RegexCraft GREP applies the current pattern, engine, and options to files under a folder. Use it to find matches in a codebase or to replace them safely with dry-run and optional backups.

Open GREP

  • Toolbar GREP button, or right-panel GREP tab
  • Keyboard: Ctrl+5 (⌘+5 on macOS)
  • Ctrl+Enter runs Search while GREP is active

GREP uses the same Flavor (.NET / PCRE2), pattern, replacement string, and Options as the rest of the app.

  1. Enter or paste a folder path, or click Browse…
  2. Adjust Include globs (semicolon-separated), e.g. *.cs;*.json;*.md
  3. Adjust Exclude globs, e.g. bin/**;obj/**;.git/**;node_modules/**
  4. Toggle Recursive if you want subfolders
  5. Click Search (or Ctrl+Enter)

Results show file name : line number and a truncated line. Select a result to open a preview of the file with match highlighting. Use Test on a hit to load that line into Match mode.

Progress & cancel

Search runs asynchronously so the UI stays responsive. Progress text shows the current file and hit counts. Click Cancel to stop; partial results are kept when cancelled.

Limits

  • Default max file size ~2 MB (larger files are skipped)
  • Binary-looking files (NUL bytes) are skipped
  • Match and file counts are capped to protect memory on huge trees

Replace across files

  1. Set the Replacement field (same as Replace mode: $1, ${name}, $&, …)
  2. Prefer Dry-run replace first — previews which files would change without writing
  3. Uncheck Dry-run only when ready to write
  4. Optionally keep Backup (.bak) so each modified file is copied to filename.bak first
  5. Click Replace

After a successful write, GREP re-runs Search so the list stays current.

Warning: Turning off dry-run writes to disk. Use backups or version control for safety.

Tips

  • Start with a tight include list (*.cs) to keep scans fast
  • Exclude build artifacts and VCS folders by default
  • Engine choice matters for advanced constructs (lookbehind, named groups, etc.)
  • Invalid patterns surface as errors before scanning begins