Give it a ZIP archive and it returns a single text file containing every text file in that archive, joined in the order the archive lists them. Each one starts with a line naming it - ===== path/in/zip ===== - followed by its text and a blank line. Pictures, PDFs and other binary files are skipped rather than turned into noise, and listed by name at the end under ===== Skipped (binary, not text) =====. It is aimed at a folder of text or data files you want to read or search as one document rather than opening one at a time.
This is one of two tools here that do not run locally (Math Drills is the other), and the only one that uploads a file: the archive is uploaded, combined on the server and sent straight back to you. It is held only while it is processed - briefly in a temporary file for larger uploads - and deleted straight after; nothing is kept. Even so, do not send anything confidential through it. The limit is 25 MB per archive.
- What is this actually for?
- Reading or searching a folder of text or data files as one document instead of opening them one at a time - a directory of logs, a code export, a set of notes.
- Does it work on a folder of PDFs or Word documents?
- No. A file with a NUL byte in its first 8 KB - which covers PDFs, images, and Word and Excel files - is treated as binary and skipped, and its name listed at the end. What is left is decoded as UTF-8, so give it .txt, .md, .csv, source code or similar.
- Where does the work happen?
- On the server. This is one of two tools here that use it (Math Drills is the other), and the only one that uploads a file. The archive is sent to an API on johnmcm.com and held only while it is processed - briefly in a temporary file for larger uploads - then deleted straight after. The combined text is built in memory and sent back as a download, and nothing is kept. Even so, do not send anything confidential through it.
- What are the limits?
- 25 MB for the archive you upload, at most 2,000 files inside it, 20 MB for any one file once unpacked, 50 MB for all of them together, and 60 MB for the combined text that comes back. The page checks the 25 MB limit before sending anything; the others are checked on the server, which says which one was hit.
- Can it build a ZIP as well?
- No, it only takes them apart. The Archive Toolkit on this site creates ZIP files, and does it locally.