Simple Text Transformation Tool is an extensible, Eclipse-RCP (rich client platform)-based tool that allows you to perform transformations to text data. This tool has several built-in features for processing text files:

• Translation of a file using Java™ translation bundles: Most Java applications use National Language (NL) bundles to create logs and any user-readable output. This feature allows a user to load bundles and translate a text file between locales using these entries. You choose a folder where NL bundles (.properties files) are available. The feature will scan for available locales. You then choose the source locale (location of the text file) and the target locale (for the translation). The file can then be translated. This is a particularly useful step before performing log analysis; it eliminates the need for a manual translation.
• Translation of a file using the Tivoli® Message Standard: All Tivoli products have a standard message format, which is called the "Tivoli Message Standard." These messages are in the form of XML or HTML, which come as a part of the installation. This feature will pick up "search and replace" entries of two different locales from the message files and perform a translation on a text file.
• Analysis of a file using an HTML page: This feature uses regular expressions to mine information from HTML pages. This information can be used to analyze the contents of text files or logs. The text content on the HTML page is treated as a set of records. You can specify a regular expression that will identify the record key. The text between one occurrence of the record key and the next is considered a record. From each record, a message can be extracted using the message pattern. When HTML report output is specified and run, the record keys in the file are highlighted and have a pop-up tool tip, which displays the text extracted by the message pattern for that record.
• Analysis using the Java highlighter: Using the Java highlighter, you can locate and highlight instances of Java class and package names in a text file. This can be particularly useful while analyzing log files containing stack traces. You can specify a JAR (Java Archive) file, from which individual classes or entire packages can be selected for highlighting. Or you can also type in class or package names to be highlighted. Text for a tool tip can be associated with each entry for the Java highlighter.
• Use of the analyzer for searching and replacing: At present, most "search and replace" features provide only the option of searching for a single string; that is, you can search for only one string and replace it with another. This feature overcomes that limitation: You can give multiple strings for which to search in a file and replace each with different string. In addition, you can highlight each replaced string with a different color.

How does it work?

The tool uses an Eclipse RCP GUI (graphical user interface) in which you can provide input to the various transformation features (NL bundles, search/replace text, etc.) and specify a file on which to perform the transformations. Because the tool is based on an Eclipse plug-in, you can, through extension points, extend processing functionality to perform any kind of transformation.

Rohit Shetty is a staff software engineer focusing on the Log Analyzer for Autonomic Computing. A Sun Certified Java Programmer, Mr. Shetty holds a bachelor""s degree in information science and engineering from VT University, Belgaum, India. He is currently involved with the Autonomic Computing team in the design and development of several features. Mr. Shetty is an active contributor to the Eclipse TPTP open-source project. He can be reached through e-mail.

Saurabh Dravid is a staff software engineer in IBM""s India Software Lab (ISL). He holds a bachelor""s degree in computer science engineering from Rajiv Gandhi University, Madhya Pradesh, India. His work focuses on specialized Eclipse-based editors for integrated tools centered around the WSDM specification and autonomic computing. Mr. Dravid is currently working on initiatives related to Apache MUSE, an open-source implementation of the WSDM (Web Services Distributed Management) specification. He can be reached through e-mail.

Krishna C. Shastry is a software engineer at IBM focusing on the Log Analyzer for Autonomic Computing. Mr. Shastry holds a bachelor""s degree in electronics and communication engineering from VT University, Belgaum, India. His work experience includes Eclipse-based editor development for tools integrated around the WSDM specification, as well as adapter development for the Generic Log Adapter. Mr. Shastry currently works on the Eclipse RCP-based Log Analyzer. He can be reached through e-mail.

Arun Ramakrishnan is a software engineer at IBM focusing on the Log Analyzer for Autonomic Computing. He holds a post-graduate diploma in information technology from S P Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, India. Mr. Ramakrishnan""s work experience includes Eclipse development for the Symptom Editor and Log Analyzer, and he has contributed to the Apache Muse open-source project. He can be reached through e-mail.