You've probably used Delphi's Find in Files feature to search for an identifier or library function through multiple folders of source code. If you have backups of your source or multiple projects with copied or similar sets of routines and check the "Include subdirectories" checkbox, the search results could contain a lot of duplicates taking extra time to wade through them all. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to fine-tune the folders being searched?

There is!

In my last blog entry, I explained how I converted my original company logo in JPG format to SVG. That's sort-of like reverse-engineering to get the source code. Now that I have my logo in SVG format, I can more easily manipulate it and create custom derivations for specific purposes.

I've been hearing a lot about SVG, or Scalable Vector Graphics, lately and how much better they are than bitmap formats such as JPG or PNG for icons or simple images because they scale up or down to fit the plethora of devices we use today.

I find the Windows File Explorer's built-in search feature to be painfully limited, slow, and inadequate for my needs. It's right there in the file explorer window so it's really handy but every time I use it, I'm frustrated. After recently acquiring the UltraEdit suite of tools, I started looking at one of the included products, UltraFinder. It is significantly better!

I do a lot of contract programming in a niche market that requires small, custom-written, import/export programs. Some of these can are copied with few modifications for similar customers. Once in a while, there's a common need where the application can be used by several customers. In those instances, I need to implement some form of licensing and accountability but I didn't want anything too elaborate nor do I want to incur ongoing charges for an online API for the one-time pricing structure of the projects I work on.

A few weeks ago I compared UltraEdit with EditPad Pro; an ancillary product that comes with the UltraEdit Studio suite is UltraFTP. I've been using an open source FTP client for many years and have come to rely on WinSCP for keeping websites up to date, uploading software for customers, and more. I figured since I now own the UE suite of products, I should at least look at UltraFTP. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

I'm a proponent of good security and when I leave my computer, I want it to require a password or code to get back in. But VMWare also locks its virtual Windows sessions needlessly. Here's a registry hack to prevent that.

This review doesn't cover every feature of the two editors nor does it go into great depth as there are tutorials and videos on each of the respective sites. It also concentrates on just the task of editing files, mostly ignoring file comparison, FTP, and file-finding features of UltraEdit's companion tools. This review is the personal conclusion I came to based on my experience, interest, and needs--your view may be different. The bulk of my time is spent in the full-featured Delphi IDE; nevertheless, I do have need for a good-quality text editor in many circumstances and having several time-saving features built-in are well worth learning about and using.