Open 'folder' in BBEdit

[Carpii]

Hi All,

I'm evaluating BBEdit at the moment.
I tried BBEdit some time ago, but TextMate seemed better at the time.
However after buying TextMate, I realised that it performs abysmally
over an nfs share, so I'm back to trying the BBEdit demo.

The NFS issue is working very well in BBEdit, but I've a few questions
I hope someone can help with...

1) Theres a way to open a folder in BBEdit, so that it appears as a
filelist on the left.
I know this because I've somehow managed to do it at some point, and
it appears in my Recently Opened list as <Foldername> (and this is the
only way I can open that folder currently)

But I cant for the life of me figure out how to just open BBEdit, and
then open a folder, so I see all files in that folder.
This is how I like to develop, by just using a directory listing, not
with project files or anything complicated.

Ive tried Open, but the mac Open File dialog doesnt let you select a
directory just a file.
Any advice please? Im guessing its simple, and Im just being a bit
blind :-(

2) Im a bit confused what sort of editor BBEdit aims to be, if Im
honest?

Most of the features seem to suggest its just a rich text/document
editor, since it has lots of paragraph and text related reformatting
options, and whilst it does have some neat options for coders, they
seem to take back stage and are tucked away.

Then again, whilst coding PHP, it does seem to recognise functions,
provides autocomplete for them etc.
I'd love to hear how other people are using BBEdit, are there any
hardcore developers using it in preference to textmate?

3) Ive read BBEdit has SVN support, but the guide I read suggested
enabling it in the options.
I couldnt find any mentiond of SVN in the options, and I see no
mention of SVN in the software itself.
Could you tell me what Im missing please? Does this only appear once
I've bought the software?
Im perfectly willing to buy, just Ive spent money already on TextMate
which wasnt suitable, so naturally Im a bit more keen to fully test
things before parting with yet more money.

Thanks for any advice. Im not advocating TextMate over BBEdit, ann I
hope my thread doesnt come across that way. If anything, Id NOT
recommend it, at least for my purposes and way of working

Thanks

[Maarten Sneep]

On 10 jan 2010, at 08:08, Carpii wrote:

> I'm evaluating BBEdit at the moment.
> I tried BBEdit some time ago, but TextMate seemed better at the time.
> However after buying TextMate, I realised that it performs abysmally
> over an nfs share, so I'm back to trying the BBEdit demo.
>
> The NFS issue is working very well in BBEdit, but I've a few questions
> I hope someone can help with...
>
> 1) Theres a way to open a folder in BBEdit, so that it appears as a
> filelist on the left.
> I know this because I've somehow managed to do it at some point, and
> it appears in my Recently Opened list as <Foldername> (and this is the
> only way I can open that folder currently)
>
> But I cant for the life of me figure out how to just open BBEdit, and
> then open a folder, so I see all files in that folder.
> This is how I like to develop, by just using a directory listing, not
> with project files or anything complicated.

New > Disk Browser (cmd-opt-N).

> 2) Im a bit confused what sort of editor BBEdit aims to be, if Im
> honest?
>
> Most of the features seem to suggest its just a rich text/document
> editor, since it has lots of paragraph and text related reformatting
> options, and whilst it does have some neat options for coders, they
> seem to take back stage and are tucked away.
>
> Then again, whilst coding PHP, it does seem to recognise functions,
> provides autocomplete for them etc.
> I'd love to hear how other people are using BBEdit, are there any
> hardcore developers using it in preference to textmate?

There are a lot of HTML tools in BBEdit, and they work rather nicely. That (large) part is aimed at web developers (not just HTML, but server side scripting as well).

Another part is integration with the shell, SCM systems, and Xcode to development in a (wide) variety of programming languages. And everything can be extend with AppleScript (you can attach scripts to menu-items, and have them run before and/or after executing the command to extend the functionality of the command).

So text (content) writing, programming, anything to so with plain text.

I've only briefly used textmate, but found it unpolished for my use (LaTeX writing, and python programming).

> 3) Ive read BBEdit has SVN support, but the guide I read suggested
> enabling it in the options.

- Help > Search: "svn" > Preferences.
So open the Preferences (BBEdit > Preferences) and expand the drawer. Type svn at the top. Ouch: nothing. Try again: Type subversion at the top. Nothing (again). Oops.

OK. Select "Menus" at the left of the preferences window. Place a checkmark at the Subversion item. This will add the subversion menu to BBEdit.

> I couldnt find any mentiond of SVN in the options, and I see no
> mention of SVN in the software itself.
> Could you tell me what Im missing please? Does this only appear once
> I've bought the software?

The demo version is fully functional, AFAIK. I think the absence of svn or subversion in the preferences search function is an oversight I think. It is a good opportunity to test out the BareBones helpdesk though ;-) See the address at the bottom of this message.

Best,

Maarten

[Jim Correia]

On Jan 10, 2010, at 2:08 AM, Carpii wrote:

> 1) Theres a way to open a folder in BBEdit, so that it appears as a
> filelist on the left.
> I know this because I've somehow managed to do it at some point, and
> it appears in my Recently Opened list as <Foldername> (and this is the
> only way I can open that folder currently)
>
> But I cant for the life of me figure out how to just open BBEdit, and
> then open a folder, so I see all files in that folder.
> This is how I like to develop, by just using a directory listing, not
> with project files or anything complicated.

If you drag a folder onto the BBEdit icon in the Dock, it will create a window that allows you to work this way.

> 3) Ive read BBEdit has SVN support, but the guide I read suggested
> enabling it in the options.
> I couldnt find any mentiond of SVN in the options, and I see no
> mention of SVN in the software itself.

There is a top level Subversion (

[Bull]

Create a new project, drag the folder to the project list panel.

On Jan 10, 2:08 am, Carpii <p.chapman...@gmail.com> wrote:

> 1) Theres a way to open a folder in BBEdit, so that it appears as a
> filelist on the left.

> Thanks

[Carpii]

Hi all, thanks for all the responses.

Ive got the hang of opening a directory now, and starting to quite
like BBEdit as its quick and isnt a hindrance working over an NFS
share like textmate is.

Ive another questions, but maybe best suited for a new thread

Thanks