This software is a Tcl/Tk-based browser designed to handle large text files in a line-oriented format. It provides an efficient and convenient way to navigate through such files with ease.
Trowser is a unique browser application that is designed to handle large line-oriented text files. It is implemented in Tcl/Tk and serves as a viable alternative to "less". Trowser has several enhanced features compared to less, including color highlighting, graphically bookmarking, a persistent search history, separate search result or filter windows, and flexible skipping of input from pipes to STDIN. Notably, Trowser has a user-friendly graphical interface that allows users to navigate through the text files with ease using the keyboard, just like less. The cursor positioning concept and key bindings are derived from Vim.
It's essential to note that Trowser is primarily meant for sifting through debug output files written by software under development. Typically, debug files are extensive, containing hundreds or thousands of lines of trace, each line documenting the call, and actual parameters entered. When dealing with complex exceptions, one would need to analyze multiple lines of debug trace to comprehend the cause. Trowser was developed to simplify this process by allowing users to analyze top-level events, such as stimuli by the environment, and then dig deeper into the details.
One could use standard tools such as grep or awk in conjunction with less or Vim to accomplish this task, but it would require lots of repetitive manual hacking on the command line. By contrast, Trowser saves users time by automating the process in a specialized tool. The initial 1.0 release features filter capabilities that do not differ much from various regular text editors. Future development may improve the filtering abilities by allowing multiple search results windows and incorporating pre-defined stacks of search patterns to enable quick folding-in and -out of trace detail levels.
Trowser already possesses the capacity to automate data parsing out of the trace file, which can be included in bookmarks and search result lists, and can easily undergo extension for different applications. Despite its extensive functionality, Trowser is a relatively small application, with less than 7000 lines of code. This is mainly thanks to the robust "text" widget in Tk, making it relatively easy to understand the source code to extend or adapt the application's features to your requirements.
It's essential to note that Trowser is primarily meant for sifting through debug output files written by software under development. Typically, debug files are extensive, containing hundreds or thousands of lines of trace, each line documenting the call, and actual parameters entered. When dealing with complex exceptions, one would need to analyze multiple lines of debug trace to comprehend the cause. Trowser was developed to simplify this process by allowing users to analyze top-level events, such as stimuli by the environment, and then dig deeper into the details.
One could use standard tools such as grep or awk in conjunction with less or Vim to accomplish this task, but it would require lots of repetitive manual hacking on the command line. By contrast, Trowser saves users time by automating the process in a specialized tool. The initial 1.0 release features filter capabilities that do not differ much from various regular text editors. Future development may improve the filtering abilities by allowing multiple search results windows and incorporating pre-defined stacks of search patterns to enable quick folding-in and -out of trace detail levels.
Trowser already possesses the capacity to automate data parsing out of the trace file, which can be included in bookmarks and search result lists, and can easily undergo extension for different applications. Despite its extensive functionality, Trowser is a relatively small application, with less than 7000 lines of code. This is mainly thanks to the robust "text" widget in Tk, making it relatively easy to understand the source code to extend or adapt the application's features to your requirements.
What's New
Version 1.3: N/A