Visual REGEXP simplifies creation and debugging of regular expressions through its user-friendly design interface.
However, it is important to note that there are limitations to this software. One limitation is that some regexp can consume a lot of CPU time, which seems to be caused by using -all, -inline, and -indices flags together. Another limitation is that when a subexpression is not matched (empty match), the last character of the previous match is colored. This is due to a problem in Tcl, and a bug has been submitted to Scriptics.
Despite these limitations, Visual REGEXP has some improvements in its latest release, thanks to Martin Lemburg. It is now a tcl 8.5a4 starpack with a new GUI layout that is based on a paned window. The GUI code has also been changed to be more ergonomic, and the informational labels (replacements & matches) are now sunken.
In addition, there are now additional "first" and "last" navigation buttons, and a new option to navigate through matches or matches and submatches. The displayed count of matches is changed to display the current and the count of matches used for navigation (probably changes, if the new navigation option is changed). The replace widget is disabled on startup, and the tcl console is added to the help menu.
Finally, the key bindings inside the regexp text widget are now improved to allow for expanded regexp (-expanded or (?x)) to contain tabs and newlines. Tabs are created with Control-Tab, and newlines with Control-Return. Additional with Control-C|V|X (not c|v|x), it is possible to use the clipboard like with Control|Shift-Insert, Shift-Delete.
Overall, Visual REGEXP is a helpful software for designing and debugging regular expressions, with some limitations that shouldn't deter users from using it. Its latest release brings some improvements that make it even more user-friendly and ergonomic.
Version 3.1: N/A