Today, I’d like to give you some information regarding a small utility set: these programs are really useful, but sadly not many people know about them.
I’m referring to the QL Toolbox ’98 Collection by Adrian D. Yves. This collection consist of ten utility programs, mostly dedicated to string and file manipulation.
Too bad these programs are not updated anymore – but still, they are a really valid help in software developing.
Let’s now see what these little programs do, together with some information about them.

File name                  Rel. Description                                                               
comparedirs_obj   0.40 Directory compare
dirlist_obj                 0.40 Create a directory list
encode_obj              0.80 File cryptography
fcomp_obj                0.30 File compare
find_obj                     0.50 Find a string into a file
listnames_obj         0.50 Find the resident extensions into a file
makedirs_obj          0.80 Create a directory tree via a file
shlines_obj               0.30 Find lines containing a string
tidyasm_obj            0.30 manipulates _asm source files
whatkey_obj           0.50 Returns the ASCII code of a key

Comparedirs.
Performs a comparison between two directories, including subdirectories.
It can compare two entire volumes. Really useful, e.g. to compare alignment between volumes and their backups.

Dirlist.
Reads the specified volume (completely or part of it) and writes the reported structure on a text file.
This is useful during a backup, as it can build (or reconstruct) really complex directory trees.
Many similar utilities present big problems in building particularly complex trees.

Encode.
It’s just a simple cryptography program. It’s extremely easy to use, and it comes handy to have a simple file protection if – as an example – you need to hide something from your children. But hey, what files do you have? 😉

Fcomp.
Just a simple file compare utility, capable of showing the differences in ASCII or hexadecimal view, together with other viewing options.

Find.
A classical string searching program. Several options are available.

Listnames.
This software processes an executable program in order to search any extension loaded into it.

Makedirs.
Working companion for dirlist. This program analyze a volume (or part of it) and writes a text file containing the description of the directory tree.
It’s an extremely useful software for backup volumes creation.

Shlines.
Another search utility. It is useful to highlight the line numbers in which the searched string appears.
This utility works at its best if used together with the “find” program.

Tidyasm.
Simple Assembly source files manipulator.

Whatkey.
Just a common ASCII file viewer.

Nothing new, but honestly – how could it not be there? 🙂