In computing, the term text processing refers to the theory and practice of automating the creation or manipulation of electronic text.
''Text'' usually refers to all the alphanumeric characters specified on the keyboard of the person engaging the practice, but in general ''text'' means the
abstraction layer immediately above the standard
character encoding
Character encoding is the process of assigning numbers to graphical character (computing), characters, especially the written characters of human language, allowing them to be stored, transmitted, and transformed using computers. The numerical v ...
of the target text.
The term ''processing'' refers to automated (or mechanized) processing, as opposed to the same manipulation done manually.
Text processing involves computer commands which invoke content, content changes, and cursor movement, for example to
* search and replace
* format
* generate a processed report of the content of, or
* filter a file or report of a text file.
The text processing of a
regular expression
A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp), sometimes referred to as rational expression, is a sequence of characters that specifies a match pattern in text. Usually such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for "find" ...
is a virtual editing machine, having a primitive programming language that has named registers (identifiers), and named positions in the sequence of characters comprising the text. Using these, the "text processor" can, for example, mark a region of text, and then move it. The text processing of a ''
utility'' is a
filter program, or ''filter''. These two mechanisms comprise text processing.
Definition
Since the standardized markup such as
ANSI escape codes are generally invisible to the editor, they comprise a set of transitory properties that become at times indistinguishable from
word processing A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features.
Word processor (electronic device), Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicate ...
. But the definite distinctions from word processing are that text processing proper:
* represents "text processing utilities", not just "text editing" applications.
* is much more "the keyboard way", as opposed to "the mouse way" (e.g. drag and drop, cut and paste) of initiating an edit.
* is sequential access rather than random access in approach.
* operates directly at the
presentation layer rather than indirectly at the
application layer
An application layer is an abstraction layer that specifies the shared communication protocols and interface methods used by hosts in a communications network. An ''application layer'' abstraction is specified in both the Internet Protocol Su ...
.
* works raw data that is standardized and works more openly rather than tending towards any proprietary methods.
In this way markup such as font and color are not really a distinguishing factor, because the character sequences that affect font and color are simply standard characters inserted automatically by a ''background text processing'' mode, made to work transparently by compliant text editors, yet becoming otherwise visible as ''text processing commands'' when that mode is not in effect. So text processing is defined most basically (but not entirely) around the visual characters (or
grapheme
In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system.
The word ''grapheme'' is derived from Ancient Greek ('write'), and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other emic units. The study of graphemes ...
s) rather than the standard, yet invisible characters.
History
The development of computer text processing started in earnest with Kleene's formalizing what is a ''regular language''. Such ''
regular expressions
A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp), sometimes referred to as rational expression, is a sequence of character (computing), characters that specifies a pattern matching, match pattern in string (computer science), text. Usually ...
'' could then become a mini-program, complete with a compilation process, available to perform any edit, once that language was extended. Similarly, ''filters'' are extended by evolving particular ''
options''.
Basic concepts
An editor essentially invokes an input stream and directs it to the text processing environment, which is either a
command shell or a
text editor. The resulting output is applicable to further text processing, the final result of which is comparable to a single application of an algorithm applied ''once'' by a more sophisticated and structured computer program.
Text processing is, unlike an algorithm, a manually administered sequence of simpler macros that are the pattern-action expressions and filtering mechanisms. In either case the programmer's intention is impressed indirectly upon a given set of textual characters in the act of text processing. The results of a text processing step are sometimes only hopeful, and the attempted mechanism is often subject to multiple drafts through visual feedback, until the
regular expression
A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp), sometimes referred to as rational expression, is a sequence of characters that specifies a match pattern in text. Usually such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for "find" ...
or markup language details, or until the utility options, are fully mastered.
Text processing is concerned mostly with producing textual characters at the highest level of computing, where its activities are just below the practical uses of computing—the ''manual'' transmission of information.
Ultimately all computing is text processing, from the self-compiling textual characters of an assembler, through the automated programming language generated to handle a blob of graphical data, and finally to the metacharacters of regular expressions which groom existing text documents.
Text processing is its own automation.
Characters
Textual characters come in standardized character sets containing also control characters such as newline characters, which arrange text. Other types of control characters arrange the transmission, define the character sets, and perform other housekeeping tasks.
See also
*
Text editor
*
List of Unix commands
External links
The subject matter of the book ''Automatic Text Processing'' by
Gerard Salton
Database with Text Processing Tools (2013-10-23)
Content analysis software Software for Content Analysis.
Online Text processing tools.
{{Authority control
Text
Unix text processing utilities