This quick and dirty program removes or replaces null characters (ASCII #0) in TEXT files with another character which is not already used in each file. It can also be used to replace each occurance of a specific character with a null.
Null Replacer was written as a companion application for Add/Strip in an effort to help address a limitation of Add/Strip. Since the current Add/Strip architecture requires it to be able to temporarily insert nulls into text as it processes files, it routinely removes all nulls found in files when it starts processing them to prevent it from being confused by their presence. It also does not allow search and replace operations using nulls.
If a file that is to be processed by Add/Strip contains nulls which must be preserved, Null Replacer could be used to change them to another character, the resulting file processed with Add/Strip, and then Null Replace can be used to restore the nulls in the Add/Strip-created file. However, care must be taken when choosing Add/Strip processes so the characters that represent nulls are not inadvertantly removed by Add/Strip.
Drag and drop TEXT files onto the application’s icon or choose the “Select a TEXT File…” menu item. Hold down the option key when choosing the “Select a TEXT File…” menu item to pick any file. If the option key isn’t pressed, only TEXT files will be shown.
After a file is selected, it will be scanned to determine the whether it contains nulls and to gather a list of all characters currently in use. Only a character that is not already used in the file may be used to replace nulls. Only characters that are already used in the file may be chosen to be replaced with nulls.
This application requires System 7 or better. Balloon help is supported so use it to get more information. The entire file is read into memory when it is being snipped and it will complain if there is not enough memory to process the given file.
