Sanitize Writing Script

A Perl script that processes text files to replace specified patterns.

Description

This script applies word-based pattern replacements defined in a configuration file

Prerequisites

• Perl 5
• Required Perl modules:
  • File::Copy
  • File::Basename
  • Cwd
  • Getopt::Long

Usage

./sanitize-writing.pl --template=CONFIG_FILE [options] text_file

Options

--template=CONFIG_FILE

Path to the configuration file containing replacement patterns

-b, --backup

Create a backup of the original file before processing

--backup-file=FILENAME

Specify custom backup filename (optional, requires -b)

text_file

Path to the text file to be processed

Configuration File Format

The configuration file should contain replacement patterns in the following format:

search=replace

Each line defines a single replacement rule:

• Empty lines are ignored
• Lines starting with # are treated as comments
• Patterns are case-insensitive
• Words are matched with word boundaries

Example configuration:

# Replace common abbreviations
govt=government
dept=department

Features

• Optional backup creation with -b flag
  • Default backup uses .bak extension
  • Custom backup filename supported
• Word boundary matching to prevent partial word replacements
• assumes UTF-8 encoding
• Preserves original file on error

Error Handling

The script will exit with an error message if:

• Required files are missing
• Command-line arguments are incorrect
• File operations fail

Output

• Reports each successful pattern replacement with count
• Creates backup files when requested
• Displays completion message

Examples

Process a document using a custom template:

./sanitize-writing.pl --template=my_rules.conf document.txt

Create backup with default name (.bak extension):

./sanitize-writing.pl --template=my_rules.conf -b document.txt

Create backup with custom filename:

./sanitize-writing.pl --template=my_rules.conf -b --backup-file=document.backup.txt document.txt

Files

sanitize-writing.pl

Main script

CONFIG_FILE

User-provided replacement patterns

• See words-uk-to-us.txt and words-us-to-uk.txt as examples (British to American and American to British English word replacements)