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Semantic Designs Source Code Search Engine
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What Semantic Designs Source Code Search Engine is
Semantic Designs Source Code Search Engine is a self-hosted tool for searching and inspecting indexed code by language structure. Queries can match language constructs, complex statements, regular expressions, or numeric values and ranges, and can ignore whitespace, line breaks, and comments. The maker says it can search millions of lines across tens of thousands of source files. Results show context and highlighted matches; users can open the source or launch an editor on the matching file. The engine calculates Cyclomatic and Halstead complexity metrics and counts source, code, comment, and blank lines. Listed scanners cover languages including ABAP, C, C++, COBOL, Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, SQL dialects, and XML, with beta scanners and custom options also listed. Files are collected, scanned, and indexed periodically, such as daily or weekly. Results can be produced in XML for other graphical interfaces. The free Evaluation version costs nothing and is limited to 10,000 lines; registration is required, and its license ends 90 days after download. The maker lists Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 for this product. A production license is available, with pricing on request.
Who it suits
It suits developers or teams that need to search and inspect indexed source code using language-aware queries and code metrics. The evaluation is limited to 10,000 lines and requires registration.
What it does well
- Searches can ignore whitespace, line breaks, and comments.
- Results include context and highlighted matches.
- Calculates Cyclomatic and Halstead complexity metrics.
- Supports XML output for other graphical interfaces.
- Free evaluation covers 10,000 lines of code.
What to know first
- Evaluation license ends 90 days after download.
- Evaluation requires completing a registration form.
- Production license price is available only on request.
- Listed Windows support is limited to older versions.
Limits
The free Evaluation version is limited to 10,000 lines of code and lists Java, COBOL, C++, and pseudo-code. Its license ends 90 days after download. A production license can enable full capability, with pricing on request.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation version | 10,000 lines of code · Java, COBOL, C++ and pseudo-code · registration required · license ends 90 days after download | Free |
| Production license | full-capability engine · production licensing required | On request |
As semanticdesigns.com lists them, read 14 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Visit the Semantic Designs product page.
- Complete the registration form for the evaluation.
- Receive the download link by email.
- Install and index source files on a supported platform.
- Request a production license for full capability.
Verdict
The engine offers language-aware search, navigation, and metrics for indexed codebases. Its evaluation has a 10,000-line limit and expires 90 days after download.
Questions
Is there a free version?
Yes. The Evaluation version costs nothing and is limited to 10,000 lines of code; it lists Java, COBOL, C++, and pseudo-code.
How long does the evaluation last?
The evaluation license ends 90 days after download. Registration is required, and the maker emails a download link.
What platforms are listed?
The product facts list Linux and Windows. The product page names Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7; the downloads page says many company tools can run on Linux without specifying this product.
How is production licensing priced?
A production license can enable full capability, and pricing is available on request.
What languages does it support?
The maker lists scanners including ABAP, C, C++, COBOL, Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, SQL dialects, and XML, along with beta scanners and custom scanner options.
Can results connect to another interface?
Search results can be produced in XML for communication with other graphical user interfaces. The product page illustrates an interface developed for IBM Rational Development for System Z.
Facts from Semantic Designs Source Code Search Engine's own pages
- Character sets
- Supported character encodings include ASCII, ISO-8859-1, Unicode, Shift-JIS, EBCDIC and Microsoft code pages. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Company profile on LinkedIn
- LinkedIn identifies Semantic Designs as a privately held Austin software-development company founded in 1995 with 11–50 employees. · linkedin.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Cross-language search
- Generic identifiers and literals can be searched across multiple programming languages in one session. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Custom scanners
- Semantic Designs offers configurable scanners for unusual languages, dialects and structured text. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · semanticdesigns.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Evaluation restrictions
- The evaluation agreement prohibits copying, modification, decompilation, reverse engineering and redistribution, and supplies the software without warranties. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · semanticdesigns.com, 8 Oct 2026
- 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. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · sbir.gov, 14 Oct 2026
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas, USA · semanticdesigns.com, 28 Sept 2026
- 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. · trademarks.justia.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · jameskoppel.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Indexing workflow
- Source files are collected, scanned and indexed periodically, with daily or weekly indexing suggested by the product page. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · semanticdesigns.com, 8 Oct 2026
- 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. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Language-aware queries
- Queries can target identifiers, literals, operators, strings, comments and statements through language-specific scanners. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · semanticdesigns.com, 8 Oct 2026
- License type
- The software is proprietary object-code software distributed under a revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable and nonsublicensable license. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- 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. · linkedin.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Metrics
- The engine calculates Cyclomatic and Halstead complexity and counts source, code, comment and blank lines per indexed file. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Money-back policy
- The downloads page advertises a 60-day full-refund guarantee for tools that users buy and then decide not to keep. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Normalization
- Search processing can ignore whitespace, line breaks and comments and normalize escaped characters. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
- Notable news
- Semantic Designs announced in October 2020 that two COBOL migration projects achieved fully automated C# conversion including embedded SQL. · semanticdesigns.com, 14 Oct 2026
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