perl or sed or awk help for newbie [more inside]
posted by v-tach on Mar 20, 2012 - 26 answers

Batch convert Word docs to text files? [more inside]
posted by yarrow on Jul 9, 2009 - 5 answers

Faster techniques for grabbing lines of a file and doing text manipulation and arithmetic via shell (or other) scripting? [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on May 9, 2008 - 20 answers

Which programming language can I learn relatively quickly for simple interpretation and manipulation of text files on my Windows box? [more inside]
posted by poweredbybeard on Apr 12, 2007 - 28 answers

Coding question: What is the best/easiest way to preserve typographical formatting (like nbsp's, line breaks) of pasted text that will be stored in a database and later displayed in boxes of arbitrary size? [more inside]
posted by shownomercy on Dec 31, 2006 - 6 answers

I want to create a web application in which the user enters text into a field and clicks on a submit button, and the text is then altered based on a set of conditions and given back to the user. What's the easiest way of doing this? I have a vague idea that I should use Perl and CGI. I don't know Perl or CGI, but I do know a bit of Java, a bit about servlets and JSPs, some Visual Basic, and quite a bit about http. [more inside]
posted by bingo on Nov 29, 2006 - 13 answers

On the Mac, if I need to munge text in extremis, I prefer to use BBEdit. Recently, on the PC, I am finding myself in need of a text editor which is similar to BBEdit. I will use it both for coding and for text-cleaning. I prefer freeware and shareware but that's by no means the deciding factor. Which programs should I check out? Which should I avoid? [more inside]
posted by mwhybark on Mar 16, 2005 - 21 answers