If you have a large project on your hands, searching for some variable, text string, or function can be time-consuming, especially if the project you are working on includes hundreds of files. Fortunately, there are some good software solutions to search through text-based files and find lines of code.
Notepad++
Notepad++ is a handy text editor that allows users to find a specific search string. To search for lines of code, select Find in Files and configure the Directory and Find What field. The Find in Files window also allows you to configure other options such as Search Mode and Transparency. You can also change the filters to search for file names or specific file types such as .php or .css. There are additional functionalities that enable users to switch between different search modes, including modes using regular expressions and extended (\x, \0, \t, \r, \n) as well as to match case or whole word only.
Windows Search
Windows Search also allows users to search for text within different types of software projects, including scripting and text-based web files such as .js, .php, and .html. You can use this option in Vista, and Windows 7, 8, and 10. Just type index in the search menu and click Indexing Options. Click the Advanced button found at the bottom of the window and then click on the File Types tab. This allows you to select the file type that Windows Search will return in searches. You can limit your search to specific file types such as .bsc, .bmp, .cda, .bat, .ccd, and others. Add new extension to list is also a handy feature to add a new file type.
SeekFast
As a software tool to locate text, SeekFast enables users to search through different file types such as .html, .txt, .php, .plx, .jsp, .cpp, .jsp, and others. The tool is particularly handy when you are working on large software projects as it returns files and text searches. It allows users to find relevant results and can be used with all current versions of Windows. The software enables users to locate text, variables, and functions and search for words and sentences in different file types. To search in text files, right-click a folder in Window Explorer and choose SeekFast. Type the words you are searching for in the Search box, press enter and SeekFast will return relevant results. Searched words are highlighted in red.
Conclusion
Searching within Java, C++, PHP, and other large software projects can be difficult if you have to search through thousands of files and different file types. Using handy tools such as Notepad++, Windows Explorer, and SeekFast enables users to search for text in text-based files without opening each result in a text editor.
