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Arbed - The Advanced RB Editor

Arbed is a tool to work with REAL Studio projects. For OS X, Windows and Linux.

1.  Major Features

• Prepare a project for Localization by converting all strings in a project into dynamic constants with ease. See example.
• Search all projects inside a chosen folder for text. See example.
• Side-by-side comparison of projects, merging differences easily. See example.
• Can be used by SmartSVN and SmartGit as a viewer for version differences.
• Output entire project source code as formatted and colored HTML.
• Consolidate all external items (pictures, code, etc.) into the project or into a folder, e.g. for easier distribution of your source code.
• List all external items used by one or more projects. See example 1, example 2.
• Bulk deletion of project items (classes, methods, etc.) - select many items and delete them in one step.
• Some features can be controlled via CommandLine arguments for mass processing, including generating a cleaner XML output format processing project files by your own tools.
• Can be scripted to perform more complex search and replace operations or simply browse all items of a project.
• Automatically keeps backup of projects you save in Arbed (can be turned off).
• Want to see by which IDE version a .rbp was saved? Just open it in Arbed and select its "Project" item - you'll see this.

2.  Planned Features

• Code obfuscation to foil reverse engineering + cracking: Strings will be stored encoded and decoded automatically in code, and names of methods will be randomized so as not to reveal the meanings of classes and methods (will require license purchase).
• Marking and Removal of unused Classes, Modules, Windows, External Files (Pictures etc.) and similar project items.
• Need a feature that the REAL Studio IDE doesn't offer but would make your life easier? Contact me, maybe I can add it to Arbed.

3.  Caveats and Limitations

• Arbed currently only handles RBP and XML project formats, not the VCP format. However, you can easily convert them from one to the other format with the REAL Studio IDE by using Save As....
• Be careful not to edit a project file in both Arbed and the REAL Studio IDE simultaneously. If the IDE has a project open, while you modify and save the same project in Arbed, the IDE won't notice. If this happens, you need to close the project in the IDE and then re-open the project so that the IDE sees the new version.
• If you edit source code in Arbed, all breakpoints in that method are lost once you save your changes. I plan to fix that soon, too.

4.  Pricing

While many of its features are free, a license must be purchased for some of the advanced features, including all that require saving a modified project (such as: Comparison, Localization, Code Obfuscation, Bulk deletion), and source output to HTML.

Two prices are offered:

• A basic feature license at US$ 59 offers all currently available features, just without the Localization preparation feature.
• A complete feature license at US$ 195 enables all features, present and future.

See here for more information on purchasing a license for Arbed

5.  Download

Current version: 1.5.2

• Download Mac Intel Version
• Download Mac PPC Version
• Download Windows Version
• Download Linux Version (Sadly, the Linux version's UI is quite broken due to several bugs in RB I can't easily work around. But you can still use it in command line mode.)
• Previous Versions

6.  Documentation

• Manual
• Release Notes

6.1  Presentation at the ARBP Conference

The app was presented at the ARBP Summit on March 19, 2011 in Atlanta. See my Summit resources page. You can also watch a video of the session (requires paid ARBP membership).