Regex Hero Blog

Awhile back I began working on an HTML5 / JavaScript version of Regex Hero . However, it was a huge undertaking essentially requiring a complete rewrite of the entire application. I have not had enough time to dedicate to this lately. So I've begun again, this time rewriting Regex Hero to work in WPF. It'll be usable in Windows 10 and downloadable from the Microsoft Store. This is a much easier task that also has the advantage of running the .NET regex library from the application itself. This will allow for the same speedy experience of testing your regular expressions and getting instant feedback that Regex Hero users have always enjoyed. I expect the first release to be ready in Q4 of 2019.

I'm working on some new features for Regex Hero, focusing primarily on bringing more advanced functionality to Regex Hero Professional . New Regex Hero Professional features in the works... The analyzer will give you the option of automatically formatting your regular expression with comments. The tool will analyze your regular expression and offer suggestions to improve the performance.  For instance, there's a performance penalty in using IgnoreCase.  And it's pointless to use it when there's nothing case-sensitive in your regular expression.  There are many other things it'll look for, and this is something that will evolve and improve with time. There will be various other things I'll be working on, but these are the big 2 features.  When all of this is released, I'll also be raising the price for the Professional edition to $30.   I never make customers pay for updates.  So if you're interested in the Professional edition, I'd sugges...

This is something I've wanted to have for a long time but I simply haven't set aside the time to do it. Well, no more waiting, Regex Hero now supports logging in with Facebook and Twitter... If you already have an account with Regex Hero and want to sign in with something else (such as Facebook or Twitter) then you can add it to your account .  Or if you're a brand new user of Regex Hero, create your account here .

I've had good Regex Hero feedback slowly trickle in through GetSatisfaction, email, and a few phone calls over the past couple years. It's great to hear from you guys as I've been made aware of problems that I never knew I had. And so in the spirit of improving Regex Hero , I want to try something new. I'm inviting all Regex Hero fans to contact me via Skype for a 30 minute one-on-one screen sharing session. This will be an opportunity for me to learn about problems you're having with Regex Hero and help out any way I can. Perhaps you're having trouble figuring out how to do something very specific in Regex Hero. It could be that a feature is missing, or simply isn't as obvious as it should be. Or perhaps you're having trouble with a regular expression and just need a little help. In either case, you'll share your screen with Regex Hero open as we dive into it. Email me if you're interested and we'll set up a time. What you'...

When I released "Regex Hero for Desktop" several months ago I had named it the way I did because I was inspired by Balsamiq Mockups for Desktop . In fact Regex Hero shares a lot in common with Balsamiq the way we both started. I mean, obviously their app is a prototyping tool and mine is a regex tool. But Regex Hero is supported and maintained by just one man (me), as was Balsamiq back in the day. And they have a killer web app that thousands of people use, as do I. ;) However, I've come to realize that while I do admire Balsamiq and just about everything they do, my app is just not the same. You see, Regex Hero is actually very usable on the web. And when you buy it, you get an account and license key which then allows you to use all of the features all within the web version. You can then optionally install the desktop version and get all of those same features. So because the paid version can be run with the same feature sets inside or outside of the brow...

I spent most of my weekends in 2009 working on Regex Hero. I've enjoyed working on it more than any other project last year. Regex Hero also has the distinction of being the first product I've ever sold on my own. I gave away 105 licenses during a promotional giveaway, and then I sold one copy in December. As I promised, I gave the proceeds from December (all $14.11 of it) to the Alliance for Children Everywhere organization. They'll use it wherever it's needed most. And although it isn't much, I know every little bit helps. Of course I wish I had done better in December. But I think I know why I didn't. There still isn't enough incentive to buy Regex Hero. There are some very cool features I'm working on which should help. Some of these will only be available to licensed customers. I'm constantly trying to figure out which features should be free and which shouldn't. Those decisions can be tough. But as always, I'll blog ab...

So I've decided to give the proceeds from all sales this December to the Alliance for Children Everywhere organization.

Since I wasn't prepared to make the switch in an automated fashion, I actually gave free licenses to 105 people in total. So if you're one of those 105 who signed up for an account already you should now see a license key in your account . This whole giveaway was a way to reward the early adopters of Regex Hero that were with me from the beginning. Thanks guys! I spent this weekend making final touches to the ordering process. I chose to go with PayPal only for now. Of course it'll allow you to pay with your PayPal account. Or if you don't have a PayPal account, you can simply enter your credit card information. It works pretty nicely. The side benefit is that PayPal works well with international orders as well. And in fact only 38% of website traffic to Regex Hero comes from the U.S., so accepting orders from other countries is important. Regex Hero is not entirely free anymore, but I still want it to be a good deal. So I've set the price at $15 and t...

UPDATE: Thank you everyone for participating. I've given away 105 licenses. Read more . So I'm getting ready to sell Regex Hero. It will be priced at $15 per user license. But before I do, I'm giving away the first 100 copies for free. I figure the easiest way to handle this is to give away copies to the first 100 users who create an account on the site. If you haven't already done so, you can create an account now to ensure you get your free copy. As a registered user you'll also gain the ability to save & open your own regular expressions in the Regex Hero database. As I'm writing this, there are 12 users already signed up. Most of the applications I've created over the years I've simply given away for free. So it is a new and unfamiliar experience to sell Regex Hero. It is so different that I wasn't comfortable to completely deny people the ability to use it for free. So in fact even after it goes on sale Regex Hero will have a...