WHAM - Scriptable Text Search and Replace Utility
People who used my BEETLE program commented that they liked the idea of a scriptable and template-driven program to perform advanced search-and-replace functions and other advanced text "munging" operations. But they wanted a general program that could work on text files, rather than deriving data from an Access database. It was for these folks that I created Wilson's Highly Automated Munger (WHAM).
Using WHAM, you can create a list of source files you want to modify by dragging them onto the application window. You can apply filters to remove unwanted files. For example, you could drag a directory onto WHAM, and apply a "*.HTM" file so that only .HTM files are added to the list of source files.
Once you have assembled a list of files to modify, you select a WHAM script to choose what will be searched for and replaced. For example, you might choose a script to remove all <font> tags from all documents. When you run a WHAM script, changes specified by the script are applied to the source documents. You can opt to make changes directly to the source files, or to generate a new copy of the files, leaving the originals intact.
WHAMScript grew to include a wide variety of commands. The language was a bit arcane, and I think I was the only one who ever actually wrote any custom scripts for WHAM. The program also provided an interactive mode, which provided a dialog box through which you could make "one pass" searches. Using WHAMScript, you could make iterative and even recursive searches.
NOTE: The word "munge" means to destroy something intentionally or unintentionally, or to make large scale changes to the extent that it is no longer recognizable. Legend has it that the term is derived from the acronym "MUNG," which stands for "Mash Until No Good." I use the word "munge" in the sense of making large-scale changes to a file. Of course, if you're not careful, such changes can be destructive!