rexCrawler v2.5.0.0 has been released! The interface has been cleaned up a bit, among other things: a progress bar has been added, the results panel will now fill as matches roll-in (rather than after the crawler has finished completely), and the output file is flushed after each match so that all is not lost if the crawler crashes or is canceled.

Things to look forward to in the next release include context menus for the results panel and Microsoft Office file (.doc, .xls, etc.) searches!

I have added the contents of the Help file included with v2.4.5.0 to the website. Below the main navigation sidebar on the left-hand side of this website, you will now find a "Usage" sidebar with links to the individual elements of the UI and their documentation. Hopefully, this will help people who are a bit daunted by the magnitude of rexCrawler's level of configuration, and perhaps help them to decide which filter would best suit their needs.

--Todd Boyd
rexCrawler Author

The new version of rexCrawler has been released. However, you won't find any new features in the actual crawler. What I've done is created a Help menu system using Helpinator Free and embedded it in the executable file.

The Help menu contains descriptions of all of the UI elements and their purpose.

For the next release: Wildcard file name filtering and context menus for the results Grid View!

--Todd Boyd
rexCrawler Author

In addition to overhauling rexCrawler, I've decided to put a contact form on the webpage. Feel free to e-mail me with questions, comments, suggestions, praise, criticism, and anything in-between that you think will make rexCrawler a better product. If it's within my means to code it, I will at least give your ideas due consideration.

--Todd Boyd
rexCrawler Author

rexCrawler is getting a tad bit of exposure. It's been uploaded to freeware sites that I myself did not upload it to, and I've seen it discussed in a couple of freeware forums on the topic of desktop search programs. As such, I have decided that it's time to overhaul the program. There are several features that I have meant to include in the "public" version that I haven't yet moved out of my development sandbox. Well, that's going to change.

Coming soon, rexCrawler will have:

•  full support for multiple extension matching (without the use of regular expressions)
• the option to replace the text that is found (including the use of regular expression capture groups)
• the ability to search through the text (stripped of formatting) in Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, etc. (tentative)
• several aesthetic changes, such as a link to the website, a prettier "About" menu, Help documentation, etc.

I've got some time away from class and work in the next couple of weeks, and I think this would be a good project to work on. rexCrawler is a product that I have put a lot of my own blood, sweat, and tears into. I put it out there on the off chance that it would help someone else accomplish what I needed to when I decided to write it. Now that at least a good handful of people (that I know about, and have been vocal) have found it to be a useful program, I feel like I owe it to myself--and the freeware community at large--to polish it up a bit so that power users and laymen alike can use it to suit their purpose. That was my original goal, and remains the primary goal.

--Todd Boyd
rexCrawler Author

rexCrawler v2.4.4.0 is now available for download in the Releases section. The page will be updated later to contain a bit more information about rexCrawler... but for now, at least you can get it and play with it for yourself.