BBEdit notebook files

[Johnny Ragadoo]

BBEdit is one of my front-line tools for coding. I get the allure of IDEs but can't stand simplistic text editors.

It's also a front line tool for prose and Markdown, which I get may not be everyone's cup of tea. Notebook files are ideal for certain writing tasks. Please never drop support for Notebooks!

Tonight I need to mail-merge a safety alert to a number of government offices. Alas, my favorite word processor doesn't have a mail-merge function.

Affinity Publisher does. Problem solved, except I'd rather take a sharp stick in the eye than write in Affinity Publisher.

I've written many pamphlets with BBEdit, leveraging the Notebook format to keep all my sections, articles, and sidebars in one neat bundle. BBEdit's remove blank lines feature makes text perfect for copy-and-paste into Affinity. Command-Z back in BBEdit restores my Markdown paragraphs bounded by double newlines.

Tonight, it occurred to me I can bundle a CSV file with my prose in a Notebook, keeping record of who I mail-merged to alongside my text. As the conversation progresses, replies and additional CSV mailing lists will go in collections, which are like folders in a BBEdit Notebook.

Sometimes when you have a hammer, everything really is a nail. BBEdit is like that. Impressive!