ast-grep Free plan 9.1 Visit Semantic Designs Source Code Search Engine
semanticdesigns.com
What it is
Semantic Designs Source Code Search Engine searches and inspects indexed code using language structure, so queries can target constructs and complex statements as well as text patterns. It supports regular expressions and numeric values or ranges, and searches can disregard whitespace, line breaks, and comments. The maker says it can search millions of lines across tens of thousands of source files. Results include surrounding code and highlighted matches; users can open source text or launch an editor on the matching file. The engine also calculates Cyclomatic and Halstead complexity metrics and counts source, code, comment, and blank lines. Listed scanners include ABAP, C, C++, COBOL, Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, SQL dialects, and XML, with beta scanners and custom options. Files are collected, scanned, and indexed on a recurring schedule. Results can be produced in XML for other graphical interfaces. The free evaluation covers 10,000 lines and requires registration; its license ends 90 days after download. Pricing for a production license is available on request.
Spec sheet
- Purpose
- The product interactively searches large source-code bases using language structure instead of only literal text matching.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Support
- The maker provides [email protected] for inquiries and says custom scanners can be built for unusual languages, dialects, or structured text.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas, USARead 28 Sep 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Character sets
- Supported character encodings include ASCII, ISO-8859-1, Unicode, Shift-JIS, EBCDIC and Microsoft code pages.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Company profile on LinkedIn
- LinkedIn identifies Semantic Designs as a privately held Austin software-development company founded in 1995 with 11–50 employees.Read 14 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
- Cross-language search
- Generic identifiers and literals can be searched across multiple programming languages in one session.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Custom scanners
- Semantic Designs offers configurable scanners for unusual languages, dialects and structured text.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Developer API
- Semantic Designs front ends expose procedural APIs to visit, query, update, construct and print syntax trees, with support for custom attribute-grammar analyses.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Evaluation limitations
- The evaluation is limited to 10,000 lines; the maker says a production license can enable full capability but does not state its price on the page.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Evaluation restrictions
- The evaluation agreement prohibits copying, modification, decompilation, reverse engineering and redistribution, and supplies the software without warranties.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Evaluation terms
- The evaluation requires completing a registration form; the maker emails a download link, and the evaluation agreement says the license ends 90 days after download.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Extensibility
- Front-end source code is available for customization, and the Source Code Search Engine is shown as a sample tool using the front-end technology.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Federal contract history
- The U.S. SBIR profile records Semantic Designs Inc. as receiving nine Phase I and one Phase II awards totaling about $1.8 million.Read 14 Oct 2026 · sbir.gov
- Independent legal record
- Justia lists Semantic Designs, Inc. as the corporation owning the registered SEMANTIC DESIGNS mark for computer consulting and custom software design services.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trademarks.justia.com
- Independent research reference
- A PLDI 2020 paper describes Semantic Designs' Sequoia tool as using graph-pattern matching and having helped migrate control software for dozens of chemical plants.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jameskoppel.com
- Indexing workflow
- Source files are collected, scanned and indexed periodically, with daily or weekly indexing suggested by the product page.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Integration
- Search results can be produced in XML for communication with other graphical user interfaces; the page illustrates an interface developed for IBM Rational Development for System Z.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Integration output
- Search results can be emitted as XML for use by other graphical interfaces, including an interface shown for IBM Rational Development for System Z.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Language coverage
- The maker lists scanners for languages including ABAP, C, C++, COBOL, Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, SQL dialects, and XML, with additional beta scanners and custom scanner options.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Language-aware queries
- Queries can target identifiers, literals, operators, strings, comments and statements through language-specific scanners.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- License type
- The software is proprietary object-code software distributed under a revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable and nonsublicensable license.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- LinkedIn specialties
- LinkedIn describes the company as providing source-code analysis, software migration, source-to-source transformation, test coverage and profiling tools across languages including C/C++, Java, C#, SQL, COBOL, JavaScript and PHP.Read 14 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
- Metrics
- The engine calculates Cyclomatic and Halstead complexity and counts source, code, comment and blank lines per indexed file.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Money-back policy
- The downloads page advertises a 60-day full-refund guarantee for tools that users buy and then decide not to keep.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Normalization
- Search processing can ignore whitespace, line breaks and comments and normalize escaped characters.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Notable news
- Semantic Designs announced in October 2020 that two COBOL migration projects achieved fully automated C# conversion including embedded SQL.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Numeric queries
- Queries can compare numeric values and ranges.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Operating systems
- Semantic Designs lists Windows compatibility and says many tools can run on Linux through Wine; installed documentation specifies product-specific support.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Performance example
- A product benchmark reports a 7.3-million-line Linux kernel search completing in 2.8 seconds versus 56.6 seconds for grep.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Platform
- The product page lists Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 as supported; the downloads page says many company tools can also run on Linux, without specifying that for this product.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Privacy statement
- The evaluation registration page says submitted information is used to understand users and improve products, and will not be shared with third parties.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Queries
- Queries can match language constructs, complex statements, regular expressions, and numeric values or ranges; searches can ignore whitespace, line breaks, and comments.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Regular expressions
- Optional grep-like regular-expression queries are available alongside language-aware searches.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Result navigation
- Results show highlighted matches with surrounding context, can open the complete source file and can launch an editor on the match.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Results and navigation
- Search results include surrounding context and highlighted matches, and users can open the matching source text or launch an editor on the file.Read 8 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- SBIR company size
- The SBIR profile lists Semantic Designs Inc. in Austin and reports eight employees in its company information.Read 14 Oct 2026 · sbir.gov
- Scale
- Semantic Designs says the engine can search millions of lines across tens of thousands of files.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Scanner coverage
- Listed scanners include C, C++, C#, COBOL, Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, PL/SQL, SQL-related languages, XML and many legacy languages.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Security deployment
- Semantic Designs' modernization practice says its systems can run on premises so source and generated output remain inside a customer's network, with component audits for regulated work.Read 14 Oct 2026 · modernizesoftware.com
- Structural patterns
- The engine supports searches for complex statement patterns rather than only individual words.Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
- Trademark dates
- The SEMANTIC DESIGNS mark was filed on July 9, 1996, registered on May 19, 1998 and shown as renewed.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trademarks.justia.com
Plans and prices
Evaluation version Free 10,000 lines of code · Java, COBOL, C++ and pseudo-code · registration required · license ends 90 days after download Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
Production license Priced on request full-capability engine · production licensing required Read 14 Oct 2026 · semanticdesigns.com
Every Semantic Designs Source Code Search Engine plan and price →
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- Searches language constructs, patterns, and numeric ranges.
- Provides code context and highlighted matches.
- Calculates complexity metrics and line counts.
- Supports XML results for other interfaces.
Limits
- Free evaluation is limited to 10,000 lines.
- Registration is required for evaluation.
- Evaluation license ends 90 days after download.
- Production pricing is available on request.
Who it suits
This tool suits teams that need structured searches and code metrics across indexed source repositories. Its self-hosted deployment and evaluation limits are relevant for organizations assessing it.
Verdict
The engine offers structured source search, navigation, and code metrics, with a broad listed scanner set. Confirm platform fit and evaluation limits: the product page lists older Windows versions, while Linux support is not specifically stated for this product.
Where Specifiction places it
- Code Search Tools#4 of 428.3
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