Month: January 2012

Edit multiple files at once using change.py

For many years I have used a home grown tool that allows me to make simple changes to multiple files with one command. It is called change and has existed as csh, bash and perl incarnations over the years. I recently rewrote it in python and thought that it might be useful to others so I am publishing it. Here is an example of how it works:

I suspect that lots of you have written your own, similar tools. If that is the case, please look it over send me suggestions for improvements.
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2 Color Chooser tool now available

I released my web based, interactive “2 color chooser” tool today. You can find it here or in the “USEFUL LINKS” section on my blog page.

This tool allows you to select two colors using RGB or HSV. Here are some of different uses that motivated me to me write it. Here is what it looks like in action:

Note that the little + sign next to the gradient allows you to see the CSS source code for the gradient commands.

The tool can be used to see how well two nested colors contrast which is useful for determining the effectiveness of color schemes. This is especially useful for determining how well a scheme works for fonts in page headers/footers or to determine whether color blind users can distinguish the colors.

It can also be used to see how well two colors work in a gradient. Different browsers support different gradient options. This tool is tuned for FF because that is what I use. Any suggestions for other browsers would be greatly appreciated.

Finally it can be used to test color differences on different monitors. You can bring it up side by side on two monitors and visually compare/contrast the color display. I have used it for tuning my HP and Dell monitors. I was surprised at the initial variation.

This tool demonstrates client side javascript programming techniques using JQuery including dynamic updates, slider bars and simple menus. If you are interested in the source code you can download it by selecting one of the links below.

The files that I wrote are 2-color-chooser.html, 2-color-chooser.js, 2-color-chooser.css and hdr.css. All of the rest are from various public domain packages.

You are free to modify or incorporate the software but I would be grateful if you would cite me as a source.

And last but not least, I would be remiss in not mentioning the book “Javascript, The Definitive Guide” by David Flanagan. If you are at all interested in the learning javascript this book is a must have. I have read both the 5th and 6th editions and heartily recommend both, although, in my view, the 6th edition is slightly better.

Have fun!

SecEd released

I officially released SecEd into the public domain today, you can find it here.

SecEd was written using Python 2.7 and the wxPython 2.8 package. It allows you to securely edit sensitive data. It also has a feature that allows you to rate the strength of your password.

Because it is written in Python it is portable and because it is open source you can use it to learn about wxPython and/or teach me more about it.

Have fun!