views:

108

answers:

5

Hi, all.

One of my application components produces some extremely hairy log files. They require a lot of poking and prodding before they produce useful information. I'm on the hunt for a text editor for windows that will let me enter text in either RegEx or Grep-style syntax, and automatically show/hide the relevant lines.

Does anyone know of a text editor that has this feature?

Thanks!
IVR Avenger

+2  A: 

GVim with for example, :g command. There are also plugins that allow entering search criteria, and they show relevant lines, and fold everything else.

ldigas
I like gvim, though I've successfully avoided getting into the whole vi/vim/emacs holy war, up until now. I can't seem to get it to match on two strings in a file, though: :g string1 works, :g string2 works, but it won't find :g string1*string2. Any ideas?
IVR Avenger
:g/string1\|string2 <-- is that it ?
ldigas
In any case: ":help regexp", the operators are all there.
ldigas
Should probably be :g/string1.*string2/
too much php
A: 

Emacs, of course (occur), but I think pretty much every editor will do this.

brool
+1  A: 

I would recommend Notepad++ as far as a good all-around Windows text editor is concerned - it is very extensible and includes just about every power feature you need to wade through data logs. If your log files are in a well-defined format, you can even use the built-in language editor to define a custom visual scheme for your logs - easier on the eyes.

-matt

Matt
A: 

Another option is SlickEdit using it's "Selective Display..." option

Aragorn
A: 

Although it wont show/hide based on a regex, Textpad will allow you to search and produce a hyperlinked result file with the lines that will allow you to click into the actual log. Consider the benefit: You can keep the filtered results up on your left monitor, and you can click into the full files and show them on your right monitor to see the context.

akf