cat_win

Simple Command-line Tool made in Python
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Table of Contents

Arguments & Options
- Quick-Find Headers
- General Information

> catw [FILE]... [OPTION]...
> catw --help

> cats [OPTION]...
> cats --help

Arguments & Options

Argument / Option	Description	works in REPL
-h, --help	show help message and exit	✔
-v, --version	output version information and exit	✔
--debug, --debug	show debug information	✔

-l, --linelength	display the length of each line	✔
-n, --number	number all output lines	✔
--fp, --file-prefix	include the file in every line prefix	❌

-e, --ends	display $ at the end of each line	✔
--chr, --char	display special characters	✔

-b, --blank	hide empty lines	✔
-p, --peek	only print the first and last lines	❌
-r, --reverse	reverse output	❌
-u, --unique	suppress repeated output lines	❌
--sort, --sort	sort all lines alphabetically	❌
--sortl, --sortlength	sort all lines by length	❌
--sf, --specific-format	automatically format specific file types	❌

-E, --echo	handle every following parameter as stdin	❌
-, --stdin	use stdin	❌
-o, --oneline	take only the first stdin-line	✔
-U, --url	display the contents of any provided url	❌

-f, --files	list applied files and file sizes	❌
-d, --dirs	list found directories	❌
-s, --sum	show sum of lines	❌
-w, --wordcount	display the wordcount	❌
--cc, --charcount	display the charcount	❌

-g, --grep	only show lines containing queried keywords or patterns	✔
--nk, --nokeyword	inverse the grep output	✔
--nb, --nobreak	do not interrupt the output	✔

-a, --attributes	show meta-information about the files	❌
-m, --checksum	show the checksums of all files	❌
--strings, --strings	print the sequences of printable characters	✔

--b64d, --b64d	decode the input from base64	✔
--b64e, --b64e	encode the input to base64	✔
--eval, --EVAL	evaluate simple mathematical equations	✔
--hex, --HEX	convert hexadecimal numbers to binary, octal and decimal	✔
--dec, --DEC	convert decimal numbers to binary, octal and hexadecimal	✔
--oct, --oct	convert octal numbers to binary, decimal and hexadecimal	✔
--bin, --BIN	convert binary numbers to octal, decimal and hexadecimal	✔

--binview, --binview	display the raw byte representation in binary	❌
--hexview, --HEXVIEW	display the raw byte representation in hexadecimal	❌

-!, --edit	open each file in a simple editor	❌
-#, --hexedit	open each file in a simple hex-editor	❌
-M, --more	page through the file step by step	❌
-B, --raw	open the file as raw bytes	❌

-c, --clip	copy output to clipboard	✔
--dot, --dotfiles	additionally query and edit dotfiles	❌
--plain, --plain-only	ignore non-plaintext files automatically	❌
--nc, --nocolor	disable colored output	✔

--config, --config	change default parameters	✔
--cconfig, --cconfig	change color configuration	✔
--config-clear, --config-reset	reset the config to default settings	✔
--cconfig-clear, --cconfig-reset	reset the color config to default settings	✔
--config-remove, --cconfig-remove	remove the config-file	✔

-R, --R<stream>	reconfigure the std-stream(s) with the parsed encoding <stream> = 'in'/'out'/'err' (default is stdin & stdout)	✔

enc=X, enc꞉X	set file enconding to X (default is utf-8)	✔
find=X, find꞉X	find/query a substring X in the given files	✔
match=X, match꞉X	find/query a pattern X in the given files	✔
trunc=X꞉Y, trunc꞉X꞉Y	truncate file to lines X and Y (python-like)	❌

[a,b]	replace a with b in every line	✔
[a꞉b꞉c]	python-like string indexing syntax (line by line)	✔

General Information

Order of Operation
- Files will be used in the same Order as they were provided.
- When passing in a File-pattern or a Directory the Files will be used in the Order in which they were found. This will often be alphabetically, although this is not guaranteed.
- URLs will be used in the Order as they were provided, after all Files have been displayed.
- Arguments will for the most part be used in the same Order as they were provided, yet there are some Exceptions.
Case-Sensitivity
- The Arguments are case-sensitive.
- Some Arguments have slightly different Behaviour when using upper- or lowercase Letters.
Chaining
- One-letter Arguments can be chained together (e.g. -l -n -c is equivalent to -lnc)
Input Order
- No specific Order for passing in Arguments or Files is neccessary.
- Arguments, Files and Urls may be passed in without any Rules to ordering (e.g. catw file1 -argument url -argument2 file2).
- If the same Argument is passed in multiple times only the first occurence is being counted.
Unknown Files
- When encountering unknown Files the User is being prompted to write to Stdin.
- The Stdin is being used to then write the Files.
- When using the --stdin Parameter unknown Files will be automatically written with the content of StdIn.
Coloring
- The Output will contain Color by Default.
- cat_win will not explicitly add Color if the Argument --nc, --nocolor is used. (The Output may still contain Color if a File itself contains the ANSI-Color-Coding.)
- The Output will be stripped of any Color if the Output is piped and the Configuration strip_color_on_pipe is set to true .

-h, --help

Displays the help Message. This Message is for the most part equivalent to the Table above. The Code execution will stop after showing this Message. This Argument has Priority over all other Arguments, hence the Order of passing this Argument in makes no Difference. If no Arguments or Files are provided, the help Parameter will be used by Default.

-v, --version

Displays a short Message containing basic Information about the Code. This includes the version Number but also the installation Directory. The Code execution will stop after showing this Message.

> catw -v

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catw <Version> - from <Path>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Built with:     Python <PyVersion>
Install time:   YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
Author:         Silas A. Kraume

--debug, --debug

Displays debug Information before and after the Code execution. This Argument is not shown in the default help Message and is provided for Developers/Development.

-l, --linelength

Displays the Length of each Line as a Prefix to the Line itself. This Argument will be used at the end such that other Arguments may influence the Length of the Lines beforehand.

> catw test.txt -l
[ 6] line 1
[10] long_line!

-n, --number

Numbers all Lines. The Numberisation is done at the Beginning such that different Arguments may disorganize the Numberisation again. Each File starts with line Number 1 therefor multiple Files are not consecutively numbered. If multiple Files are provided, the Prefix will also include the Number of the File.

> catw test.txt -n
1) line 1
2) line 2

> catw test.txt test.txt -n
1.1) line 1
1.2) line 2
2.1) line 1
2.2) line 2

--fp, --file-prefix

Shows the Path to the File in each Line prefix. This can be useful when querying for Substrings or Patterns such that only a few Lines are being displayed. Using this Argument in uppercase (--FP, --FILEPREFIX) will result in the Path being shown as the url file Protocol. This can be useful in case the Terminal supports interacting with Links such that the File can be instantly opened. Using the lowercase Argument in Combination with the -n, --number Parameter a GNU-style link format will be displayed.

> catw test.txt --fp
<Path>/test.txt line 1
<Path>/test.txt line 2

> catw test.txt --FP -n
1) file:///<Path>/test.txt line 1
2) file:///<Path>/test.txt line 2

> catw test.txt --fp -n
<Path>/test.txt:1 line 1
<Path>/test.txt:2 line 2

-e, --ends

Displays a '$' Character at the End of each Line. This can be useful to detect Whitespaces.

> catw test.txt --ends
Tab:    $
line 2$

--chr, --char

Replaces every special Character with a readable Token. Each Token starts with the '^' Character, followed by a short ASCII Descriptor. Note that the special Char ␛ will not be displayed as ^ESC because it is needed for the colored output.

> catw test.txt
�����    �

> catw test.txt --chr
^SUB^SUB^NUL^SUB^SUB^TAB^BEL

-b, --blank

Removes empty Lines from the Output. Beware that other Arguments can change a Line to be not empty beforehand.

> catw test.txt -nb
1) Empy Line follows:
3) Empty Line just got skipped!

-p, --peek

Only displays the first and last 5 Lines of each File. Between the Beginning and End of the File will be displayed how many Lines have been skipped. Useful for getting a quick impression of how data in a given File is structured. This Argument is ignored when provided alongside with Queries for Substrings of Patterns or the -M, --more Parameter. Does nothing when the File has at most 10 Lines.

> catw test.txt -p
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Line 5
  :
  10
  :
Line 16
Line 17
Line 18
Line 19
Line 20

-r, --reverse

Simply reverses the Content of all Files as well as the Ordering of all Files themselves.

> catw test1.txt test2.txt -p
Line 2 From Test2
Line 1 From Test2
Line 2 From Test1
Line 1 From Test1

-u, --unique

Suppresses repeated Lines if they occur exactly one after the other.

> catw test.txt
This is a line!
This is a line!
This is a line!
This is also a line!
This is a line!

> catw test.txt --unique
This is a line!
This is also a line!
This is a line!

--sort, --sort

Sorts the Output alphabetically without case sensitivity.

> catw test.txt --sort -n
2) A line that has been sorted to the top!
1) This line was originally at the top!

--sortl, --sortlength

Sorts the Output by Line Length.

> catw test.txt --sortl -l
[13] A short line!
[21] This line was on top!

--sf, --specific-format

Automatically format specific File Types. Currently supported are .json and .xml.

> catw --sf -E '{"person":{"name":"Alice","age":25,"employees":[{"name":"Bob"},{"name:":"David"}]}}'
{
  "person": {
    "name": "Alice",
    "age": 25,
    "employees": [
      {
        "name": "Bob"
      },
      {
        "name:": "David"
      }
    ]
  }
}

> catw --sf -E '<lib><book id="1"><title>Cats</title></book><book id="2"></book></lib>'
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<lib>
  <book id="1">
    <title>Cats</title>
  </book>
  <book id="2"/>
</lib>

-E, --echo

Everything passed in after this Argument will be handled as its own File. It is not possible to break out of this state therefor this Parameter must be used last. The Input is unicode-escaped (\n will be interpreted as an actual Newline) if the Config Option unicode_escaped_echo is set but in Case of an unicode-error the Input will simply be used literally. This way it is possible to define new lines (\n) or other special characters.

> catw -l --echo -n The last 'Parameter' does not count!\nThis is not a newline!
[57] -n The last Parameter does not count!\nThis is not a newline!

> catw -l -E -n The last 'Parameter' does not count!\nThis is a newline!
[37] -n The last Parameter does not count!
[18] This is a newline!

-, --stdin

Using this Argument allows to pass in Data via the Stdin Stream. The Stdin Pipe will be handled as its own File.

> echo Hello World! | catw - -n
1) Hello World!

-o, --oneline

Limits the Stdin Stream to the first Line. Can only be used in Combination with -, --stdin.

> catw test.txt
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3

> catw test.txt | catw - -o
Line 1

-U, --url

When using this Parameter it is possible to provide URLs as Arguments. Should an URL not have a scheme (http(s):// or fttp(s):// ...) the default scheme (https://) is being used. Provided URLs are simply curl'd and handled as its own File. When not providing a raw Data URL the Content will include the HTML Elements.

> catw -U https://github.com/SilenZcience/cat_win > cat.html

-f, --files

Displays a small Summary at the End of Code execution showing every File used and their file Size. Using this Argument in uppercase (-F, --FILES) will ONLY display the Summary and stop Code execution.

> catw test.txt -f
Line 1
Line 2

applied FILE(s):
        13.0 B   <Path>/test.txt
Sum:    13.0 B
Amount: 1

> catw test.txt --FILES
applied FILE(s):
        13.0 B   <Path>/test.txt
Sum:    13.0 B
Amount: 1

-d, --dirs

Displays a small Summary at the End of Code execution showing every Directory found. Using this Argument in uppercase (-D, --DIRS) will ONLY display the Summary and stop Code execution.

> catw ./** -d
Line 1
Line 2
...

found DIR(s):
        <Path>
        <Path>/<PathA>
        <Path>/<PathA>/<PathAA>
        <Path>/<PathB>
Amount: 4

> catw ./** -D
found DIR(s):
        <Path>
        <Path>/<PathA>
        <Path>/<PathA>/<PathAA>
        <Path>/<PathB>
Amount: 4

-s, --sum

Displays a small Message at the End of Code execution showing the Number of the Amount of all Lines received. Using this Argument in uppercase (-S, --SUM) will ONLY show this Message as well as a small Summary. This Summary will show the line Sum for each File. Duplicate Files will not be displayed multiple times within the Summary. The uppercase version of this Parameter will stop Code execution.

> catw test.txt --sum
Line 1
Line 2

Lines (Sum): 2

> catw test.txt test.txt --SUM
File             LineCount
<Path>/test.txt  2

Lines (Sum): 4

-w, --wordcount

Displays a Summary of all Tokens/Words found in the given Files and how frequent they occured. The Output will be sorted by the Frequency of Occurrence starting with the most common Word. In Addition the used Files will be displayed beforehand. Using this Argument in uppercase (-W, --WORDCOUNT) will ONLY display this Message and stop Code execution.

> catw test.txt
it is true for all that, that that 'that' which that 'that' refers to is not the same 'that' which that 'that' refers to

> catw test.txt -W
The word count includes the following files:
    <Path>

that: 9
': 8
is: 2
refers: 2
to: 2
which: 2
,: 1
all: 1
for: 1
it: 1
not: 1
same: 1
the: 1
true: 1

--cc, --charcount

Displays a Summary of all Chars/Letters found in the given Files and how frequent they occured. Whitespace Chars like Spaces and Tabs will be wrapped with quotes. The Output will be sorted by the Frequency of Occurrence starting with the most common Char. In Addition the used Files will be displayed beforehand. Using this Argument in uppercase (--CC, --CHARCOUNT) will ONLY display this Message and stop Code execution.

> catw test.txt
it is true for all that, that that 'that' which that 'that' refers to is not the same 'that' which that 'that' refers to

> catw test.txt --CC
The char count includes the following files:
    <Path>

t: 24
' ': 23
h: 14
a: 11
': 8
e: 7
r: 6
i: 5
s: 5
o: 4
f: 3
c: 2
l: 2
w: 2
,: 1
m: 1
n: 1
u: 1

-g, --grep

Skips every Line that does not contain any matched Patterns or queried Substrings. Literals or Patterns to look for can be set using the find=X, find꞉X and match=X, match꞉X Keywords. Using this Argument in uppercase (-G, --GREP) will ONLY display the parts of each Line that matched any Pattern or Literal. Should multiple Queries be found in the same Line they will be seperated by comma. The uppercase Variant of this Parameter has priority (over the lowercase Variant as well as --nk, --nokeyword).

> catw test.txt find=cat -gn
1) cat_win!
4) one cat!& two cat!& three cat

> catw test.txt match=.cat. -Gn
4)  cat!, cat!

--nk, --nokeyword

Inverse to the -g, --grep Argument. Skips every Line that does contain any matched Patterns or queried Substrings. The Combination of --nokeyword and -g, --grep means that no Output will be displayed.

> catw test.txt find=cat -n --nk
2) This Line is boring
3) This Line also does not contain 'c a t'
5) This Line neither

--nb, --nobreak

Using this Argument will open non-plaintext Files automatically without prompting the User. In Addition the Output will not stop on queried Substrings or Patterns. This Behaviour is included by Default when using --nk, --nokeyword or -g, --grep.

-a, --attributes

Shows meta Information for each File provided and stops Code execution. The meta Information includes file Size, Time of Access, -Modified and -Created. On Windows OS Systems this Parameter will also display the classic file Attributes.

> catw test.txt -a
<Path>/test.txt
Size:           1.55 KB
ATime:          YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
MTime:          YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
CTime:          YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
+Archive, Indexed
-System, Hidden, Readonly, Compressed, Encrypted

-m, --checksum

Shows different Checksums for each File provided and stops Code execution. The displayed Checksums include CRC32, MD5, SHA1, SHA256 and SHA512.

> catw test.txt -m
Checksum of '<Path>/test.txt':
        CRC32:   F67C071D
        MD5:     95de18c87649e804c15ccdd73ae6eddc
        SHA1:    cecdcba1cd12a9fdfdb32a1aa1bc40bdb9b1261c
        SHA256:  1d4bf9f69b9d1529a5f6231b4edeba61a86deeebf00060c4de6f67f0c4e3b711
        SHA512:  db9a71ef22360f171daa4e4aed033337f4f97812baf38a51bdd6ed64b5c2a0d4a5c4152e20b68f881df9e5f1087c1293853eac13f928b845b9b71c3ce517c9e3

--strings, --strings

Only displays Sequences of printable Characters that exceed a certain Length. This Length can be configured using the strings_minimum_sequence_length element in the config menu (--config, --config). The Delimeter of different Sequences on the same Line can be configured using the strings_delimeter element in the config menu.

> catw --strings test.bin
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
__cxa_finalize
__libc_start_main
puts
libc.so.6
GLIBC_2.2.5
GLIBC_2.34
...

--b64d, --b64d

Decodes a Base64 encoded Input and continues Code execution with the decoded Text. This Parameter will be used before most other Arguments such that other Parameters will be used on the decoded Text. This means a Base64 encoded Input is expected and neccessary.

> echo SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ= | catw - --b64d
Hello World

--b64e, --b64e

Encodes a given Text in Base64. This Parameter will be used after most other Arguments such that other Parameter will be used on the plain Text beforehand.

> echo Hello World | catw - --b64e
SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=

--eval, --EVAL

Evaluates simple mathematical Expressions within any given Text. The mathematical Expressions may consist of paranthesis, Operators including Modulo (%) and Exponential (**), as well as any Number in Hexadecimal, Decimal, Octal or Binary. The evaluated Value of the Expression will by default be inserted back into the Position of the Text where the Expression was found. In the uppercase Variant of the Parameter any non-mathematical Text will be stripped thus only evaluated Expressions will remain. On Error The Expression will evaluate to '???'.

> echo Calculate: (5 * 0x10 * -0b101) % (0o5 ** 2) ! | catw - --eval
Calculate: 0 !

> echo Calculate: (5 * 0x10 * -0b101) % (0o5 ** 2) ! | catw - --EVAL
0

--hex, --HEX

If a Line only contains a hexadecimal Number this Parameter will append the equivalent Value in Binary, Octal and Decimal. Negative Numbers are allowed. Numbers are allowed to start with the Prefix 0x. When using the uppercase Variant (--HEX) the Numbers will not include their Prefixes (like 0x, 0b or 0o).

> catw test.txt --hex
FF [Bin: 0b11111111, Oct: 0o377, Dec: 255]
0x610 [Bin: 0b11000010000, Oct: 0o3020, Dec: 1552]

> catw test.txt --HEX
FF [Bin: 11111111, Oct: 377, Dec: 255]
0x610 [Bin: 11000010000, Oct: 3020, Dec: 1552]

--dec, --DEC

If a Line only contains a decimal Number this Parameter will append the equivalent Value in Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal. Negative Numbers are allowed. When using the uppercase Variant (--DEC) the Numbers will not include their Prefixes (like 0x, 0b or 0o).

> catw test.txt --dec
255 [Bin: 0b11111111, Oct: 0o377, Hex: 0xff]
1552 [Bin: 0b11000010000, Oct: 0o3020, Hex: 0x610]

> catw test.txt --DEC
255 [Bin: 11111111, Oct: 377, Hex: ff]
1552 [Bin: 11000010000, Oct: 3020, Hex: 610]

--oct, --OCT

If a Line only contains an octal Number this Parameter will append the equivalent Value in Binary, Decimal and Hexadecimal. Negative Numbers are allowed. Numbers are allowed to start with the Prefix 0o. When using the uppercase Variant (--OCT) the Numbers will not include their Prefixes (like 0x, 0b or 0o).

> catw test.txt --oct
0o377 [Bin: 0b11111111, Dec: 255, Hex: 0xff]
3020 [Bin: 0b11000010000, Dec: 1552, Hex: 0x610]

> catw test.txt --OCT
0o377 [Bin: 11111111, Dec: 255, Hex: ff]
3020 [Bin: 11000010000, Dec: 1552, Hex: 610]

--bin, --BIN

If a Line only contains a binary Number this Parameter will append the equivalent Value in Octal, Decimal and Hexadecimal. Negative Numbers are allowed. Numbers are allowed to start with the Prefix 0b. When using the uppercase Variant (--BIN) the Numbers will not include their Prefixes (like 0x, 0b or 0o).

> catw test.txt --bin
11111111 [Oct: 0o377, Dec: 255, Hex: 0xff]
0b11000010000 [Oct: 0o3020, Dec: 1552, Hex: 0x610]

> catw test.txt --BIN
11111111 [Oct: 377, Dec: 255, Hex: ff]
0b11000010000 [Oct: 3020, Dec: 1552, Hex: 610]

--binview, --binview

Displays a BinaryViewer for each File passed in. Special Characters like NewLine or BackSpace will be displayed as specific readable Chars if the Font and the Encoding do support that Behaviour.

> catw test.txt --binview
<Path>\test.txt:
Address  00       01       02       03       04       05       06       07       08       ... # Decoded Text
00000000 01000011 01100001 01110100 01011111 01010111 01101001 01101110 00100001 00001010 ... # C a t _ W i n ! ␤

--hexview, --HEXVIEW

Displays a Hexviewer for each File passed in. Special Characters like NewLine or BackSpace will be displayed as specific readable Chars if the Font and the Encoding do support that Behaviour. When using the uppercase Variant of this Parameter (--HEXVIEW) the hexadecimal Numbers within the Hexviewer will also be uppercase.

> catw test.txt --hexview
<Path>\test.txt:
Address  00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F # Decoded Text
00000000 48 65 6c 6c 6f 20 57 6f 72 6c 64 20 46 72 6f 6d # H e l l o   W o r l d   F r o m
00000010 20 43 61 74 21 0a                               #   C a t ! ␤

> catw test.txt --HEXVIEW
<Path>\test.txt:
Address  00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F # Decoded Text
00000000 48 65 6C 6C 6F 20 57 6F 72 6C 64 20 46 72 6F 6D # H e l l o   W o r l d   F r o m
00000010 20 43 61 74 21 0A                               #   C a t ! ␤

-!, --edit

Opens a simple Editor to write/edit the Content of any provided File one by one. Not-existing Files will be opened first and existing Ones will be able to be edited after that. The Editor will not save Changes automatically. Files will be saved with the text Encoding defined by enc=X, enc꞉X. Note that ^c (Ctrl-c) is reserved for the KeyboardInterrupt meaning that it will stop the entire Program instantly. The Auto-Indendation Feature can be turned on in the config menu using the editor_auto_indent element. The Indendation when using Auto-Indendation can be configured in the config menu (--config, --config) using editor_indentation. On Windows this Feature uses the windows-curses Module. The currently supported Key bindings are as follows:

Key(s)	default behaviour	shift click	control click	alt click
`Arrows`	move cursor by char	move cursor by char	move cursor by word	scroll window by char
`Page Up/Down`	move cursor by page	move cursor by page	move cursor by page	scroll window by page
`Home/Pos`	move cursor to start of line	move cursor to start of line	move cursor to start of file	scroll window to start of file
`End`	move cursor to end of line	move cursor to end of line	move cursor to end of file	scroll window to end of file
`Tab`	insert a tab or indent on empty line	decrease indent	-	-

`Enter`	write newline	write newline	write newline	-
`Backspace`	delete char on the left	delete char on the left	delete word on the left	delete char on the left
`Delete`	delete char on the right	delete char on the right	delete word on the right	delete char on the right

`Undo/^Z`	-	-	undo an action	-
`Redo/^Y`	-	-	redo an action	-

`Save/^S`	-	-	save changes	save changes
`Jump/^E`	-	-	prompt to jump to specific line	-
`Find/^F`	-	-	prompt to search in the file	-
`Background/^B`	-	-	put the editor in the background (UNIX only)	-
`Reload/^R`	-	-	prompt to reload the file	-
`Insert/^I`	-	-	Insert a Byte Sequence	-
`Quit/^Q`	-	-	close editor (prompt to save, if neccessary)	-
`Interrupt/^C`	-	-	interrupt program	-

-#, --hexedit

Opens a simple Hex-Editor to write/edit the Content of any provided File one by one. Not-existing Files will be opened first and existing Ones will be able to be edited after that. The Editor will not save Changes automatically. Note that ^c (Ctrl-c) is reserved for the KeyboardInterrupt meaning that it will stop the entire Program instantly. The displayed Columns per Row can be configured in the config menu (--config, --config) using hex_editor_columns. On Windows this Feature uses the windows-curses Module. The currently supported Key bindings are as follows:

Key(s)	default behaviour	shift click	control click	alt click
`Arrows`	move cursor by byte	move cursor by byte	move cursor multiple bytes	-
`Page Up/Down`	move cursor by page	move cursor by page	move cursor by page	-
`Home/Pos`	move cursor to start of line	move cursor to start of line	move cursor to start of file	-
`End`	move cursor to end of line	move cursor to end of line	move cursor to end of file	-

`0-9 & A-F`	edit the current byte	-	-	-
`<`	insert a new byte to the left	-	-	-
`> & ␣`	insert a new byte to the right	-	-	-
`Backspace`	reset current byte	reset current byte	remove current byte	reset current byte
`Delete`	reset current byte	reset current byte	remove current byte	reset current byte

`Save/^S`	-	-	save changes	save changes
`Jump/^E`	-	-	prompt to jump to a specific byte	-
`Find/^F`	-	-	prompt to search a byte(-sequence) in the file	-
`Background/^B`	-	-	put the hex-editor in the background (UNIX only)	-
`Reload/^R`	-	-	prompt to reload the file	-
`Insert/^I`	-	-	Insert a Text Sequence	-
`Quit/^Q`	-	-	close hex-editor (prompt to save, if neccessary)	-
`Interrupt/^C`	-	-	interrupt program	-

-M, --more

Page through the File Contents Step by Step. Each Step the Output is paused until User Interaction. The first Step always fills the entire Screen. The following Steps have the Size as defined by the config Element more_step_length. Display the available Commands by entering ? or h or help.

> catw file -M
line 1
line 2
...
line 29
> -- More ( 6%) --
line 30
...
> -- More (11%) --
...

> catw file -M
...
> --More (10%) -- ?
H HELP       display this help message
Q QUIT       quit
N NEXT       skip to next file
L LINE       display current line number
D DOWN <x>   step x lines down
S SKIP <x>   skip x lines
J JUMP <x>   jump to line x
...

-B, --raw

Opens the given Files in Binary Mode. Prints the Output as Raw Binary to the stdout-Stream. The only valid Parameters in Combination to -b, --raw are --b64e, --b64e, --b64d, --b64d and --strings, --strings.

> catw img.png > copy.png
UnicodeEncodeError: 'charmap' codec can't encode character '\ufffd' in position 0: character maps to <undefined>
...
> catw img.png -R > copy.png
(works but copy.png is corrupted)

> catw img.png --raw > copy.png
⇕
> catw img.png --b64e --raw | catw - --b64d --raw > copy.png

-c, --clip

Copies the entire Output to the Clipboard additionally to printing it to the Stdout Stream.

--dot, --dotfiles

When providing file Patterns or entire Directories cat_win will find every File including those set to hidden (e.g. on Windows OS). However Dotfiles, meaning Files that start with a literal Dot, will not be found by Default. Using this Parameter cat_win will also include Dotfiles.

> catw * -F
found FILE(s):
        12.35 KB   <Path>/CHANGELOG.md
        1.06 KB    <Path>/LICENSE
        15.07 KB   <Path>/README.md
...

> catw * -F --dot
found FILE(s):
        969.0 B    <Path>/.gitignore
        12.35 KB   <Path>/CHANGELOG.md
        1.06 KB    <Path>/LICENSE
        15.07 KB   <Path>/README.md
...

--plain, --plain-only

By default the User is being prompted when a non-plaintext File is being encountered as to if the File should be opened in Binary or not. Using --plain-only these Files will be automaticaly skipped. Note that these Prompts are not descriptive enough to say that a File can only be opened in Binary. Often the Problem is being fixed by providing another Codepage using the enc=X, enc꞉X Parameter.

--nc, --nocolor

By default different Colors will be used to better highlight specific Parts of the Output or make original and changed Parts of a Line more distinguishable. Using --nocolor will disable all Colors and only display the Output in plain monochrome Text.

--config, --config

Displays a user interactive config Menu allowing the User to change specific default parameters. Stops Code execution after finishing the Configuration. The config File will be saved to the installation Directory of cat_win which is by Default the Python directory. This means that uninstalling cat_win may result in the config File being left over. When using the Windows Executables this Parameter will have no (long term) Effect. Valid Options are:

Option	Description	Example	Default
default_command_line	custom Command Line containing Parameters used additionally to the specific Parameters of the Program Call	-n 'find= '
default_file_encoding	the File Encoding used by Default	utf-16	utf-8
large_file_size	the Size (Bytes) at which a Warning occurs	1024	104857600 (100Mb)
strip_color_on_pipe	indicate if the Output should be stripped of any Color	false	true
ignore_unknown_bytes	ignore unknown bytes instead of replacing them with �	true	false
peek_size	define the amount of lines shown by -p, --peek	10	5
strings_minimum_sequence_length	set the minimum Length of a String (for the --strings, --strings Parameter)	2	4
strings_delimeter	set the Delimeter for Strings found on the same Line (for the --strings, --strings Parameter)	\|	\n
editor_indentation	set the Indentation used in the Editor (-!, --edit) when pressing ↹ on an empty Line	␣ ␣ ␣ ␣	↹
editor_auto_indent	set whether the Editor (-!, --edit) should auto indent or not	true	false
hex_editor_columns	set the amount of columns per row in the HexEditor (-#, --hexedit)	8	16
more_step_length	define the Step Length used by -M, --more a Value of 0 is equivalent to the Size/Height of the Terminal Window	5	0
unicode_escaped_echo	unicode-escape the input when using -E, --echo	false	true
unicode_escaped_editor_search	unicode-escape the Search in the Editor (-!, --edit)	false	true
unicode_escaped_find	unicode-escape the queried Substring when using find=X, find꞉X	false	true
unicode_escaped_replace	unicode-escape a and b when using [a,b]	false	true

Accepted Input for enabling a Setting: true, yes, y, 1
Accepted Input for disabling a Setting: false, no, n, 0
(Input is not case sensitive)

--cconfig, --cconfig

Displays a user interactive config Menu allowing the User to change the Colors for specific Elements and Arguments. Stops Code execution after finishing the Configuration. The config File will be saved to the installation Directory of cat_win which is by Default the Python directory. This means that uninstalling cat_win may result in the config File being left over. When using the Windows Executables this Parameter will have no (long term) Effect. Valid Options are:

Option	Description
line_length	the display of each line length using -l, --linelength
line_numbers	the numbering of each line using -n, --number
file_prefix	the file prefix using --fp, --file-prefix
line_ends	the end of line marker using -e, --ends
special_chars	special chars using --chr, --char
summary_message	the message displayed using -f, --files/-d, --dirs/-s, --sum/-w, --wordcount/--cc, --charcount
number_evaluation	the evaluated value using --eval, --EVAL
number_conversion	the converted values using --bin/--oct/--dec/--hex
file_attribute_message	the message containing time stamps and file size using -a, --attributes
active_file_attributes	the attributes a file has set using -a, --attributes
missing_file_attributes	the attributes a file has not set using -a, --attributes
checksum_message	the calculated checksum of a given file using -m, --checksum
raw_viewer	the output using --hexview, --HEXVIEW/--binview, --binview
found_keyword	the found substring using find=X, find꞉X
found_keyword_message	the message displayed when using find=X, find꞉X
matched_pattern	the matched pattern using match=X, match꞉X
matched_pattern_message	the message displayed when using match=X, match꞉X
substring_replacement	the replaced string using [a,b]
message_information	any informational message like update information
message_important	any important message like large file sizes
message_warning	any warning message like overwriting a file with itself

--config-clear, --config-reset

Reset the Configuration (of --config, --config) to their Default Values.

> catw --config-clear
Successfully updated config file:
   <Path>\cat.config

--cconfig-clear, --cconfig-reset

Reset the Configuration (of --cconfig, --cconfig) to their Default Values.

> catw --config-clear
Successfully updated config file:
   <Path>\cat.config

--config-remove, --cconfig-remove

Delete the Config File. This will reset both --config, --config and --cconfig, --cconfig Configurations to their Default Values. The cat.config File will be erased from the System.

> catw --config-remove
The config file has successfully been removed!
> catw --config-remove
No active config file has been found.

-R, --R<stream>

Python uses Utf-8 to encode the Streams by default. On Windows OS the Encoding may even be Cp1252. The Encoding can be influenced externally by setting the environment Variable PYTHONIOENCODING to the desired Encoding, or setting the environment Variable PYTHONUTF8 to 1. In any case it is often useful to have the stream Encoding variable if a File for example is written in another Codepage like Utf-16. Using this Parameter allows for specific Stream Reconfiguration meaning setting the Encoding for interpreting the Streams. The Encoding used is defined by the enc=X, enc꞉X Argument. By Default Stdout and Stderr are reconfigured. Valid Streams are Stdout (--Rout), Stdin (--Rin) and Stderr (--Rerr). When encountering UnicodeErrors the Problem is most likely being fixed by using -R (or --Rout).

> catw ./CHANGELOG.md > test.txt
UnicodeEncodeError: 'charmap' codec can't encode character ...

> catw ./CHANGELOG.md --Rout > test.txt

enc=X, enc꞉X

Sets the text Encoding that is being used to read and write Files. Valid Options are defined by the Python Interpreter used (e.g. for Python3.10). The default Encoding is Utf-8. The default Encoding can be configured using the default_file_encoding element in the config menu (--config, --config).

> catw test.txt
Failed to open: <Path>\test.txt
Do you want to open the file as a binary, without parameters?
[Y/⏎] Yes, Continue       [N] No, Abort :

> catw test.txt enc=utf-16
This Text is written in Utf-16!

find=X, find꞉X

Defines a Literal to search for within the Text of any provided File. The Substring is unicode-escaped (\n will be interpreted as an actual Newline) if the Config Option unicode_escaped_find is set but in Case of an unicode-error the Substring will simply be used literally. When the Literal contains Whitespaces it is neccessary to encase the entire Parameter with Quotes as defined by the Terminal used. It is possible to define multiple Substrings to search for by simply providing the Parameter find=X multiple times. When using this Parameter in Uppercase the Case of the Substring will be ignored.

> catw test.txt "find=cats and"
It's raining cats and dogs!
--------------- Found [('cats and', [13, 21])] ---------------

> catw test.txt "find=CATS and"
It's raining cats and dogs!

> catw test.txt "FIND=CATS and"
It's raining cats and dogs!
--------------- Found [('CATS and', [13, 21])] ---------------

match=X, match꞉X

Defines a Pattern to search for within the Text of any provided File. It is possible to define multiple Patterns to match for by simply providing the Parameter match=X multiple times. The given Patterns is simply treated as a regular Expression. When using this Parameter in Uppercase the Case of the Pattern will be ignored.

> catw test.txt "match=cat.\s.{3,}"
It's raining cats and dogs!
--------------- Matched [('cat.\\s.{3,}', [13, 27])] ---------------

> catw test.txt "match=CAT.\s.{3,}"
It's raining cats and dogs!

> catw test.txt "MATCH=CAT.\s.{3,}"
It's raining cats and dogs!
--------------- Matched [('CAT.\\s.{3,}', [13, 27])] ---------------

trunc=X꞉Y, trunc꞉X꞉Y

Truncates every File by the Specifics defined. This Parameter uses the default Python slicing Mechanic and uses it on the Lines of each File. The Argument is valid by defining trunc=<start>:<stop> or trunc=<start>:<stop>:<step>

> catw test.txt trunc=5:-5:2
 6) Line 6
 8) Line 8
10) there are 5 more Lines following this one

[a,b]

Replaces the Substring defined by a with the Substring b in every Line of Every File. The Substrings a and b are unicode-escaped (\n will be interpreted as an actual Newline) if the Config Option unicode_escaped_replace is set but in Case of an unicode-error the Substrings will simply be used literally. Comma (,) can be escaped using \, despite it not being a valid unicode-escape Sequence. When one of the Substrings contains Whitespaces it is neccessary to encase the entire Parameter with Quotes as defined by the Terminal used.

> catw test.txt "[\,,X]" "[\\,/]"
This is a comma: X
This is a Backslash: /

[a꞉b꞉c]

Similiar to the trunc=X꞉Y, trunc꞉X꞉Y parameter this Argument is used on each Line individually. Every Line is being cut down as specified by the Elements within the Argument [<start>:<stop>:<step>].

> catw test.txt [2::2]
2468acegikmoqsuwy

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