Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

dnGREP VS FAR - Find And Replace

Compare dnGREP VS FAR - Find And Replace and see what are their differences

dnGREP logo dnGREP

dnGrep allows you to search across files with easy-to-read results.

FAR - Find And Replace logo FAR - Find And Replace

FAR is a simple tool for search and replace operations over multiple files.
  • dnGREP Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-23
  • FAR - Find And Replace Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-10-12

dnGREP features and specs

  • Open Source
    dnGREP is open-source software, which means it is free to use and its source code is publicly available for inspection, modification, and enhancement.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    dnGREP offers a graphical user interface that makes it easier for users to perform complex search and replace operations without needing to remember command-line syntax.
  • Powerful Search Capabilities
    The tool supports a variety of search options, including regular expressions, XPath, and phonetic search, providing powerful and flexible search functionality.
  • Advanced Features
    It includes advanced features like file encoding support, search inside archives and support for multiple file types, making it a versatile tool for different use cases.
  • Integration with Plugins
    dnGREP can integrate with various plugins, enhancing its functionality and allowing for greater customization based on user needs.

Possible disadvantages of dnGREP

  • Limited Platform Support
    dnGREP is primarily designed for Windows environments, which can be limiting for users who work on other operating systems like macOS or Linux.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic functions are user-friendly, leveraging its advanced features such as regular expressions and XPath searches can require a steep learning curve for beginners.
  • Performance Issues with Large Files
    Users may experience performance issues, such as slow search times, when working with very large files or extensive directories.
  • Limited Community Support
    As a smaller open-source project, dnGREP might not have as large a community or as extensive documentation compared to more widely-used alternatives.
  • Dependency on .NET Framework
    The tool requires the .NET framework to run, which could be an additional overhead for users who do not already have this installed.

FAR - Find And Replace features and specs

  • Open Source
    FAR - Find And Replace is an open-source tool, which means it is free to use and allows users to inspect, modify, and enhance the software according to their needs.
  • Versatile Functionality
    It provides users with the ability to find and replace text across multiple files quickly and efficiently, which is beneficial for batch processing or scripting tasks.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The tool offers a straightforward and easy-to-navigate graphical user interface, making it accessible to users with different levels of technical expertise.
  • Supports Regular Expressions
    FAR supports regular expressions, which allows for more complex search and replace operations, giving users the flexibility to manipulate text in sophisticated ways.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    The application is compatible with multiple operating systems, including Windows, providing flexibility to users working in different environments.

Possible disadvantages of FAR - Find And Replace

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to more robust text editing tools, FAR may lack certain advanced features that experts might need for complex text manipulation tasks.
  • Potential Learning Curve
    While the interface is user-friendly, users who are new to regular expressions or bulk file processing may initially face a learning curve in effectively using the tool.
  • Speed Limitations
    For extremely large datasets or files, the performance of the find and replace operation may not be as fast as more specialized commercial software.
  • Community Support
    Being an open-source project, it may not have the same level of customer support as commercial alternatives, meaning users rely on community forums for assistance.
  • UI Design
    The user interface design may be considered outdated compared to newer applications, which might affect user experience for those who prioritize modern design aesthetics.

Analysis of dnGREP

Overall verdict

  • Yes, dnGREP is a highly effective tool for text searching and manipulation, especially suited for users who require advanced features like regular expressions. Its user-friendly interface and integration with Windows Explorer enhance its functionality, making it a good choice for both casual users and professionals.

Why this product is good

  • dnGREP is a powerful tool for searching and replacing text across multiple files. It supports regular expressions and allows for advanced search options, such as proximity search and exclusion search. The tool integrates seamlessly with Windows Explorer for easy access and provides a user-friendly GUI for managing complex search tasks. Additionally, dnGREP offers features like syntax highlighting, search result export, and search history tracking, making it an efficient choice for users needing robust text search capabilities.

Recommended for

  • Software developers and programmers who need to conduct complex search and replace tasks across codebases.
  • Data analysts and researchers who require effective text searching tools for processing large datasets.
  • IT professionals and system administrators looking for a reliable tool to manage and search configuration files.
  • Writers and editors who want to streamline their workflow by quickly locating and modifying text within documents.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to dnGREP and FAR - Find And Replace)
File Manager
70 70%
30% 30
Note Taking
70 70%
30% 30
Clipboard Manager
79 79%
21% 21
File Management
33 33%
67% 67

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, dnGREP should be more popular than FAR - Find And Replace. It has been mentiond 9 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

dnGREP mentions (9)

  • IrfanView
    Chipping in dnGrep. Allows to grep inside XLSX and Word files. http://dngrep.github.io/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Research aid, multiple text file searching.
    You can try Recoll (https://www.lesbonscomptes.com/recoll/pages/index-recoll.html - instant result when searching, but needs indexing first and you might want to donate a little for windows version) or dnGrep (https://dngrep.github.io/ - slower but free and do not need much setup). Source: over 2 years ago
  • What are the best apps you've been using for a long time on Windows?
    DnGrep - TL;DR : grep with less headaches, a gui, and less features. Source: over 2 years ago
  • IT Pro Tuesday #192 - Windows Search, Fiber How-To, Autopsy Tutorial & More
    DnGrep is a Windows tool that allows you to search text, Word, Excel, PDF and archive files using text, regular expression, XPath and phonetic queries. Features include search/replace, whole-file preview, right-click search in File Explorer and more. Kindly suggested by majkinetor. Source: over 3 years ago
  • What tool(program or cli) did you wish you knew about earlier
    - dnGrep – Powerful search for Windows - https://dngrep.github.io/. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

FAR - Find And Replace mentions (1)

  • How to split a sequence diagram?
    I recommend using Faind And Replace (F.A.R). The interface is somewhat old school, but I know of nothing better for finding and replacing text across multiple files in a directory tree. Source: over 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing dnGREP and FAR - Find And Replace, you can also consider the following products

grepWin - grepWin is a simple search and replace tool which can use PCRE regular expressions to search for...

Advanced Recent Access - Advanced Recent Access is designed to see more properties of your recent used resources (files and directories). Key features: can see more properties of the recent resources, such as path, size, type, date modified and date created. And more.

DocFetcher - DocFetcher is a portable German/English open source desktop search application.

SearchMyFiles - Alternative to the standard Search For Files And Folders module of Windows. Duplicates search is also supported.

Agent Ransack - Agent Ransack is a tool for finding files and information on your hard drive fast and efficiently.

PowerGREP - Quickly search through large numbers of files on your PC or network using powerful text patterns to find exactly the information you want. Search and replace with plain text or regular expressions to maintain web sites, source code, reports, ...