Regex Box is a Python application originally developed for the Biology department at my school. The program searches single text files or entire directories of text files containing DNA sequences for some sequence with a given variation. The program is intended to be used to locate binding sites for transcription factors in a large set of DNA sequences. Simple string matching does not work for this problem because the binding site sequence can vary among DNA strands (some location could either be Guanine or Cytosine, or two subsequences can be some length apart separated by unimportant DNA for example). To remedy this, a user can input their sequence along with easy to understand formatting to signify different types of variation, then the program uses regular expressions to find the appropriate matches.
As I was finishing this project, I realized the power Regex Box really contains. Because of how Regex Box was designed, it is basically a graphical front-end to Python regular expressions, allowing for a much greater range of use. For example, Regex Box can be used as a sandbox for developers to test a regular expression they have written for their own program. Regex Box can also be used as a complete searching program for someone who knows regular expressions and just wants to find some sequence in text files they have. I have reworked Regex Box slightly to reflect this change in generality.
Regex Box
Regex Box is a Python application originally developed for the Biology department at my school. The program searches single text files or entire directories of text files containing DNA sequences for some sequence with a given variation. The program is intended to be used to locate binding sites for transcription factors in a large set of DNA sequences. Simple string matching does not work for this problem because the binding site sequence can vary among DNA strands (some location could either be Guanine or Cytosine, or two subsequences can be some length apart separated by unimportant DNA for example). To remedy this, a user can input their sequence along with easy to understand formatting to signify different types of variation, then the program uses regular expressions to find the appropriate matches.
As I was finishing this project, I realized the power Regex Box really contains. Because of how Regex Box was designed, it is basically a graphical front-end to Python regular expressions, allowing for a much greater range of use. For example, Regex Box can be used as a sandbox for developers to test a regular expression they have written for their own program. Regex Box can also be used as a complete searching program for someone who knows regular expressions and just wants to find some sequence in text files they have. I have reworked Regex Box slightly to reflect this change in generality.
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