I'm looking for a text-manipulation app for Mac [closed]

Question

I'm wondering if anyone knows of an app that would allow me to auto-sequence massive lists and the like. I'm finding it hard to explain! Basically I would like to do stuff like:

<p class="item_1_link">
 <a href="item_1.html">
  <img src="picture_1.jpg">
 </a>
</p>

<p class="item_2_link">
 <a href="item_2.html">
  <img src="picture_2.jpg">
 </a>
</p>

...and so on, without typing it out.

The above isn't an example of the code I'm trying to create of course, it's an example of the type of text manipulation I'm looking for!

Sorry this is a bit vague but any pointer in the right direction would be appreciated!

Answer 1

Your question is definitely vague, but perhaps check out the macro features in TextMate? My understanding is you want to generate the same template but change the text such as item_1_link, item_1.html, and picture_1.jpg. You can create such snippets in TextMate where you would be able to make a keyboard shortcut that generates the template and then just ⇥ (tab) across to each field that you want to type your text in.

The image below shows an example for creating a new function in Python.

Answer 2

BBEdit's Clipping system can invoke scripts (see chapter 12 of the BBEdit 10 manual) which could handle something like this easily.

For something as trivial as your example, I would use simply use a Regex find and replace in BBEdit or TextMate. List the numbers, one per line, then search and replace ^(.*)$ with something like:

<p class="item_\1_link">
   <a href="item_\1.html">
     <img src="picture_\1.jpg">
   </a>
</p>

If there were many numbers I'd generate the text with a script. If it was something I'd have to use often, then I'd make a clipping.

Usually I'd have the data in a list, comma separated perhaps, that I want to transform. Regex is the quick and easy way to do this.

Answer 3

I'd use a scripting language

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

print <<END for (0..7);
<p class="item_${_}_link">
 <a href="item_$_.html">
  <img src="picture_$_.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
END
}

Produces

<p class="item_0_link">
 <a href="item_0.html">
  <img src="picture_0.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
<p class="item_1_link">
 <a href="item_1.html">
  <img src="picture_1.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
<p class="item_2_link">
 <a href="item_2.html">
  <img src="picture_2.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
<p class="item_3_link">
 <a href="item_3.html">
  <img src="picture_3.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
<p class="item_4_link">
 <a href="item_4.html">
  <img src="picture_4.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
<p class="item_5_link">
 <a href="item_5.html">
  <img src="picture_5.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
<p class="item_6_link">
 <a href="item_6.html">
  <img src="picture_6.jpg">
 </a>
</p>
<p class="item_7_link">
 <a href="item_7.html">
  <img src="picture_7.jpg">
 </a>
</p>

Answer 4

You can do it with code, as the other answers point out. Or you can do it with OpenOffice Spreadsheets using just formulas and copy and paste. This is a great and easy way to avoid any real programming and still achieve your goals. Excel will work too, of course.