What editor do you recommend?
Dave Gatewood
Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
Dave
Neil K. Guy
Dave Gatewood (DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU) wrote:
: Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
Uh... this question has come up before, and the person asking the
question has never specified what operating system they use. However that
invariably turns out to be DOS or Windows... Nevertheless, what operating
system do you use? :) I strongly recommend BBEdit for MacOS, available
as a commercial package or as a stripped-down freeware edition, but of
course there's a good chance that won't be of any help to you.
- Neil K. Guy
--
the Vancouver CommunityNet * http://www.vcn.bc.ca/
(formerly the Vancouver Regional FreeNet)
Zachery Tigger Bir
Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> writes:
>
> Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
> dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
> processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
> oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
> I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
> freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
>
XEmacs - "There can be only one..." *Thunk* (The sound of another
editor's head falling)
> Dave
>
Tigger MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, the XEmacs-lander
--
Zachery J. Bir - zb...@indiana.edu
http://seven.ucs.indiana.edu/~zbir/index.html
Dave Gatewood
In article <20NOV96.14...@128.192.253.5> Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> writes:
>Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
>dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
>processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
>oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
>I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
>freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
>
Whoops. I forgot an important detail - I'm running a PC under DOS
and Windows.
Matthew Amster-Burton
Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
>dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
>processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
>oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
>I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
>freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
GNU Emacs is free, programmer-oriented, widely available, and there's
an Inform mode written by Gareth Rees.
Matthew
George Caswell
On 20 Nov 1996, Zachery Tigger Bir wrote:
> Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> writes:
>
> >
> > Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
> > dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
> > processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
> > oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
> > I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
> > freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
> >
>
> XEmacs - "There can be only one..." *Thunk* (The sound of another
> editor's head falling)
>
I agree, one form of Emacs or another is a great choice for programming...
automatic formatting (there's an 'inform mode' for emacs available) and
arbitrary line length are not always right in editing files, but very nice
features in editing program sources. I believe there are DOS and Windows
versions available if you're not fortunate enough to be running Unix.
-- With Unix comment spoken with tongue firmly in cheek,
________________________________________________
______________ _/> ____ | George Caswell, WPI CS 1999. Member L+L and |
<___ _________// _/<_ / | SOMA. Sometimes artist, writer, builder. Admin |
// <> ___ < > / _/ | of ADAMANT, a Linux box for the creative and |
// /> / / _/ / / <____ | productive members of the computer world. For |
// </ <<</ < _/ <______/ |_more info see http://www.wpi.edu/~timbuktu.____|
</ </
-
Dave Gatewood wrote:
>
> Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
> dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
> processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
> oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
> I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
> freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
>
The editor that comes with Turbo C++ is pretty good for programming, if
you can get your hands on it, but it colour codes words based on what
they do in C++ (ie operators one colour, variable names another, ...)
which can be pretty annoying when you're writing in other languages
(although inform is pretty similar in format to C).
I suggest you _don't_ use one which automatically word-wraps like MS
Word, or Write, ... because the word wrap can stuff up the formatting
you use to make it easy to read (indentation and so forth) (at least I
find this).
Personally, I find the DOS editor ('EDIT.COM') works pretty well.
Nicholas Daley
<mailto:dal...@ihug.co.nz>
Carl Muckenhoupt
- <-@-.-> writes:
>I suggest you _don't_ use one which automatically word-wraps like MS
>Word, or Write, ... because the word wrap can stuff up the formatting
>you use to make it easy to read (indentation and so forth) (at least I
>find this).
>Personally, I find the DOS editor ('EDIT.COM') works pretty well.
I'll second this. EDIT.COM is surprisingly good for programming: it
has arbitrary-length lines and it automatically indents to the same
degree as the previous line, which is what you want for programming
(but the opposite of what you want for writing text). I'll still
take emacs where it's available, but EDIT.COM is a better second
choice than many.
Just one warning: it expands tabs to spaces. If you use
makefiles, this can make them stop working (depending on what
"make" you use). However, this is more properly viewed as a
problem in make than a problem in edit. Treating the tab
character as different from other whitespace was a poor design
decision in Unix make, inconsistent as it is with all other
Unix utilities.
--
Carl Muckenhoupt | Text Adventures are not dead!
b...@tiac.net | Read rec.[arts|games].int-fiction to see
http://www.tiac.net/users/baf | what you're missing!
John Hartnup
George Caswell (timb...@adamant.res.wpi.edu) wrote:
: I agree, one form of Emacs or another is a great choice for programming...
: automatic formatting (there's an 'inform mode' for emacs available) and
: arbitrary line length are not always right in editing files, but very nice
: features in editing program sources. I believe there are DOS and Windows
: versions available if you're not fortunate enough to be running Unix.
One advantage we UNIX users have here is that a text editor is *the*
basic tool. We use one all the time, for almost every task, so we only
need to learn one interface, and it follows us everywhere we go:
- Configuration tool? Vi
- Email writing? Vi.
- News? Vi.
- Word processing? Vi. (and LaTeX)
- Command history in the shell? Like vi. (set -o vi)
etc. etc. etc.
Substitute Emacs if you like.
DOS/Windows users often can't conceive what a text editor's *for* ("so
what if you want to do bold?"), beyond programming.
My personal experience -- I like vi. I like Vile more. I seriously to
learn Emacs on two occasions, and just couldn't get the hang of it, so
gave up.
There are hundreds more editors. Go to comp.editors for vicious flame
wars on the subject. Just *please* stop using WPs. You'll go mad.
John
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
John Hartnup | You can drink your weak lemon drink
sl...@ladle.demon.co.uk| now, or you can save it 'til later.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Eli The Bearded
John Hartnup <sl...@ladle.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>George Caswell (timb...@adamant.res.wpi.edu) wrote:
>: I agree, one form of Emacs or another is a great choice for programming...
>: automatic formatting (there's an 'inform mode' for emacs available) and
[list deleted]
And don't forget games. Even Robots for Inform uses vi movement keys.
>My personal experience -- I like vi. I like Vile more. I seriously to
>There are hundreds more editors. Go to comp.editors for vicious flame
>wars on the subject. Just *please* stop using WPs. You'll go mad.
We call 'em religion wars, and please don't start another just yet.
The peace and quite is nice.
Elijah
------
still thinking about making an inform mode for vim
John Holder
Neil K. Guy (n...@vcn.bc.ca) wrote:
: Dave Gatewood (DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU) wrote:
: : Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
: : dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
: : processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
: : oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
: : I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
: : freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
vim. On every platform I use, except on Linux I use nvi. why? vim doesn't
show ^M characters at the end of line in UNIX... and ^M breaks make and cpp.
--
John Holder (jho...@frii.com) http://www.frii.com/~jholder/
UNIX Specialist, Paranet Inc., Denver, Colorado, USA, Earth
Fail to suck.
Uncle Bob
Dave Gatewood (DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU) wrote:
: Whoops. I forgot an important detail - I'm running a PC under DOS
: and Windows.
I'd suggest freeware MicroEmacs--- there is both a DOS and Windoze version--- and I've
written both Inform and TADS development modes for it (but of course now I prefer
Linux and emacs).
Bob
Cardinal Teulbachs
Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>Whoops. I forgot an important detail - I'm running a PC under DOS
>and Windows.
I'll put in a vote for EDIT.COM as well. Sometimes the simplest turns
out to be the best.
--Cardinal T
I mean, what the hell kind of villain thwarts the hero's
progress with soup cans in the kitchen pantry?
--Russ Bryan
Are there any text games prominently featuring dinosaurs?
If not, does anyone besides me think it would be cool?
--Matthew Amster-Burton
"Cyber-Babushka"
--Bonni Mierzejewska
"Bathroom? Yeah. Go through that door, on the end
of the hall, on your left." "Pardon?" "South twice,
than east." "Ah."
--Clyde "Fred" Sloniker
Cyber-Babushka
On 20 NOV 96 13:42:19 EST, Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU>
wrote:
>Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
>dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
>processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
>oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
>I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
>freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
Be a little more specific. Which platform? I would assume you're running
an MSDOS machine? Do you want to run it from DOS or Windoze? Take a look
at Simtelnet. Both the msdos and win* directories have editor
subdirectories. When I had MSDOS on my machine (I'm 100% Linux now! HAR
HAR!!! THE WORLD IS MINE!!!!!!!) I ran Multi-Edit Lite, a programmer's
editor which was very configurable. (I believe the filename was something
like melite.zip.)
hope this helps,
bonni
C++ Turbo Vision archive: http://brooks.wvn.wvnet.edu/tvhome
__ __
IC | XC | bonni mierzejewska "The Lone Quilter"
---+--- | u6...@wvnvm.wvnet.edu
NI | KA | Kelly's Creek Homestead, Maidsville, WV
Roger Plowman
Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>In article <20NOV96.14...@128.192.253.5> Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> writes:
>>Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
>>dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
>>processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
>>oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
>>I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
>>freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
>>
>>Dave
>
>Whoops. I forgot an important detail - I'm running a PC under DOS
>and Windows.
>
I like E!, it's a programmer's colorizing editor. Here's the last
address/phone number I have for the distributor, you can probably get
a shareware evaluation copy from them...
BTW, I have the highlighting (colorizing) files for TADS, Inform,
Alan, and Hugo.
HomeBrew Software
807 Davis Street
Suite E
USA & CANADA Vacaville, CA 95687
(707) 451-9653 Voice
(707) 451-2500 FAX
Wolf (wo...@one.net)
Dan Dalton
try aurora its one of the best, though its freeware it hasn't been crippled
as far as i can tell and it is certainly alot cheaper than the semware(or
whatever)editor and can handle a huge amount (about a gig I believe)
its main problem is the fact that it is about 2 mb in size (not really alot
unless you got less then 30mb left in your hard drive) but its one
of my favs.
you can get aurora at:
http://www.netspace.net.au/~sla/aurora/
I don't know if this link is active (will work if clicked) so try typing
this
in.
ps: if your using windows 95 then look no further it's dos editor can
handle a program of about any size (unlike the older version of dos
whosse editor barely covered 60k) I tested mine and found it could handle
about 2mb of text (most text adventures barely go above
800k and that real large...no wait thats huge).......I talk too much
--
Dan Dalton
<rim...@shadetree.com>
Aww...I didn't want an old signature anyway
Gareth Rees
Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? [for writing
> Inform]
I use Emacs together with `inform-mode' which automatically indents
Inform 5 code (and much Inform 6 code too) and contains useful
navigational features like "show me where the object White_House is
defined".
Inform mode is available at
<URL:ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/programming/editors/inform-mode.el>.
Emacs is a complex program; if you don't want to spend a day or so
learning to use it, and six months becoming competent in it, then use a
different editor.
Is there anyone out there trying to use Inform mode with Inform 6? If
there are lots of you, I might try to find the time to bring the mode up
to date.
--
Gareth Rees
John Hartnup
Carl Muckenhoupt (b...@max.tiac.net) wrote:
: - <-@-.-> writes:
: >I suggest you _don't_ use one which automatically word-wraps like MS
: >Word, or Write, ... because the word wrap can stuff up the formatting
: >you use to make it easy to read (indentation and so forth) (at least I
: >find this).
: >Personally, I find the DOS editor ('EDIT.COM') works pretty well.
: I'll second this. EDIT.COM is surprisingly good for programming: it
: has arbitrary-length lines and it automatically indents to the same
: degree as the previous line, which is what you want for programming
: (but the opposite of what you want for writing text). I'll still
: take emacs where it's available, but EDIT.COM is a better second
: choice than many.
And hey! It's got a built in BASIC interpreter. (hint: try renaming
QBASIC.EXE, then running EDIT.COM...)
George Caswell
On Thu, 21 Nov 1996, John Hartnup wrote:
> George Caswell (timb...@adamant.res.wpi.edu) wrote:
>
> : I agree, one form of Emacs or another is a great choice for programming...
> : automatic formatting (there's an 'inform mode' for emacs available) and
> : arbitrary line length are not always right in editing files, but very nice
> : features in editing program sources. I believe there are DOS and Windows
> : versions available if you're not fortunate enough to be running Unix.
>
> One advantage we UNIX users have here is that a text editor is *the*
> basic tool. We use one all the time, for almost every task, so we only
> need to learn one interface, and it follows us everywhere we go:
>
I do tend to feel that different editors are better for different jobs...
Emacs' infinite line length and 'modes' make it great for writing neat,
well-formatted code.. Pico's quick and using it is very simple... I never
totally learned vi, but it's got its advantages if you've got the patience to
learn about them.. esp. complicated commands... I don't use Emacs much, I
just installed it because, seeing some friends working on a CS project I was
reminded of what a convenience auto-indentation and the lack of line breaking
can be... But, to each their own, really.
Louise Huskins
card...@earthlink.net (Cardinal Teulbachs) wrote:
>Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>>Whoops. I forgot an important detail - I'm running a PC under DOS
>>and Windows.
>I'll put in a vote for EDIT.COM as well. Sometimes the simplest turns
>out to be the best.
I wrote a MDI version of the Windows Notepad some years back which I
expand from time to time with features. I use almost no feature
unique to the program other than a menu toggle between fixed and
proportional fonts. IOW, consider using Windows Notepad. It lets you
type ASCII text and allows cut & paste. What more are you looking
for?
Doug
Kenneth Fair
>I strongly recommend BBEdit for MacOS, available as a commercial package
>or as a stripped-down freeware edition, but of course there's a good chance
>that won't be of any help to you.
Agreed. If you're on a Mac, BBEdit is the way to go. (And when you buy
BBEdit 4.0, they send you a "BBEdit doesn't suck" T-shirt!) It is also
the best HTML editor, for any platform, bar none.
I like the new syntax coloring that they just added in BBEdit 4.0.1 -
it makes editing HTML and TeX and C so much easier. I'm now trying to
get BareBones to add Inform syntax coloring. Neil, would you mind also
sending some email to BareBones to request Inform/TADS syntax coloring?
Or at least to figure out a way for us users to add that coloring ourselves?
--
KEN FAIR - U. Chicago Law | <http://student-www.uchicago.edu/users/kjfair>
Of Counsel, U. of Ediacara | Power Mac! | CABAL(tm) | I'm w/in McQ - R U?
Better not take a dog on the Space Shuttle, because if he sticks his
head out when you're coming home his face might burn up.
Trevor Barrie
Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>Whoops. I forgot an important detail - I'm running a PC under DOS
>and Windows.
Haven't shopped around much, but Programmer's File Editor (PFE) has always
worked well for me. It has at least rudimentary autoformatting, and menu
buttons to launch a DOS application (like your compiler) and capture output
into new window.
Werner Punz
b...@max.tiac.net (Carl Muckenhoupt) wrote:
>I'll second this. EDIT.COM is surprisingly good for programming: it
>has arbitrary-length lines and it automatically indents to the same
>degree as the previous line, which is what you want for programming
>(but the opposite of what you want for writing text).
But if you want to get real headaches then use Edlin.Its from the same
company which brought you Visual Basic, and command.com :-).
Werner
we...@inflab.uni-linz.ac.at
http://witiko.ifs.uni-linz.ac.at/~werpu
----------------------------------------------
Check out ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive for something
which has been forgotten years ago.
Bill Hoggett
On 21-Nov-96 Nicholas Daley wrote:
>The editor that comes with Turbo C++ is pretty good for programming, if
>you can get your hands on it, but it colour codes words based on what
>they do in C++ (ie operators one colour, variable names another, ...)
>which can be pretty annoying when you're writing in other languages
>(although inform is pretty similar in format to C).
I assume you're talking about the DOS version, although the Windows
version behaves in a similar manner. The colour coding can be turned
off in the Windows version, and you can edit the used colours in the
DOS version so that all coloured text appears in the same colour.
Incidentally, on a vaguely related note, does any Amiga user out there
have any idea how to do an Inform (or TADS) .parser configuration file
for GoldED 4 ? GoldED uses the same colur coding as the Turbo C editor
but allows you to configure it depending on the programming language
you use. Unfortunately, no one has written a .parser file for Inform
yet.
>I suggest you _don't_ use one which automatically word-wraps like MS
>Word, or Write, ... because the word wrap can stuff up the formatting
>you use to make it easy to read (indentation and so forth) (at least I
>find this).
>Personally, I find the DOS editor ('EDIT.COM') works pretty well.
If you must! Either way, don't use word-processors as text editors.
They will just give you extra headaches.
Bill Hoggett (aka BeeJay) <mas.su...@easynet.co.uk>
IF GOD IS LIFE'S SERVICE PROVIDER WHY HAVEN'T I GOT HIS I.P. NUMBER ?
Bill Hoggett
On 20-Nov-96 Dave Gatewood <DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> wrote:
>Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
>dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
>processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
>oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
>I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
>freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
I'm changing this message from my original reply berating you for
not mentioning your platform, and so I will just recommend a fairly
simple text editor for Windows called PFE (Programmers File Editor).
I've found it quite useful, although I often use the Amiga for most
of my source files.
Andrew D. Pontious
In article <20NOV96.14...@128.192.253.5> Dave Gatewood,
DGAT...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU writes:
>Can anyone recommend a good programming-oriented editor? I've been
>dabbling in Inform programming, and have tried a number of word
>processors, which are, not entirely surprisingly, word-processing-
>oriented. They work fine, but each is a nuisance in its own way.
>I'm sure there's something more appropriate out there, preferably
>freeware or cheap shareware. What do you folks use?
I've been following this thread and don't recognize any of the programs
mentioned--I can assume they're for the PC, not the Mac?
Somebody else wrote:
>I like E!, it's a programmer's colorizing editor.
For me, I've already been spoiled with MetroWerks C/Pascal compiler, that
uses three different colors for different kinds of keywords. I'd love to
have a *simple* text editor for the Mac which someone could make program
keyword lists for Inform and TADS.
Another item on my wish list is an improvement on the MetroWerks editor.
You see, while it has fixed lists for, say, comments and program
keywords, and then a user-modifiable list in another color, I'd rather
have *ten* different lists of user words. So that my words from a certain
file are all in yellow, and from another file are all in brown, etc.
Having only *one* list I can set myself means for complicated, multifile
programs (which can exist in IF--say if for example in TADS you used
yellow for all the ADV.T words and brown for your own) means the editor
isn't helping me out as much as it could.
I've heard BBEdit, the expensive commercial version, might have this
capacity.
Would anyone be interested in such a Mac utility? Or is there one already
out there? I've already been told about Alpha, but it seems dreadfully
complicated.
There's two other features I would add to such a program:
1) a "bookmarks" feature, which if the editor saw a certain letter or
combination of characters, it would start highlighting in a certain
color, and only stop when it saw the corresponding "end bookmark." This
would automate not only C and C++ style comments (begin /* end */
Andrew D. Pontious
Sorry, for some reason that last post got cut off. Here's the rest of it
(I hope)
Andrew D. Pontious
Okay, I'm going to try one more time to finish this message. After this I
give up for now, so if this doesn't seem finished, please e-mail me if
you're interested.
...or... begin {double-slash} end {return}) but also allow you to
highlight, say, Inform-style comments, which use different characters
than C++ or TADS. And with a exceptions feature, you could say begin "
end "-not-preceded-by-\, which would allow you to highlight quotes
without an embedded quote screwing it up. Do these sound like good ideas
to anybody?
2) a special brackets/braces/parens mode (though it wouldn't be limited
to them) where, instead of highlighting key words, it would highlight
each depth of brackets/braces/parens or any pair of character/s you
desire in a different color. So say the first depth, the main section of
your program, would be in black. Then the second depths, the outermost
for/next loops or whatever, would be in red, the next in blue, etc. I
don't know of any editor that does this, but of course I haven't seen too
many of them. But it would help me, I think, to be sure all the loops are
the way I want them, even if I've cut and pasted etc. etc.
Anybody know of a program like this? Or want one? If you want one, I'll
probably be starting to work on one like that soon (which would also have
other features I could delineate later). I would be working in C++ on the
Mac, but I'd be very glad to collaborate with someone so as much of the
code for the utility would be portable as possible, maybe into a PC
version or Amiga or whatever. So let me know.