I just mentioned macros in the Replace thread and I wanted to make another suggestion.
With almost every application I've used, I've wished I could write my macros in Ruby. (Among other things, it has great text-manipulation capabilities.)
And recently, because I have a Nokia Internet Tablet, I've been learning how to do simple things in Python.
Well, those are my languages, and I'm sure others would ask for Perl or Javascript or whatnot. So I'll put in two votes for Ruby and one for Python, if it comes to a "what'll it be?" vote.
But as you work towards the next version of XCE -- which I hope will incorporate macros -- I hope you'll be able to find some way to allow the user to specify a language installed on the local machine and let the macro be written in that language.
TextPad, of course, will let me invoke another app, and so I can write a small Ruby script, set it up as a tool, and run the script on my text, with the result fed into another window.
I don't really do that for macro-type things.
And as I write this note, I realize that half of what makes macros so easy is I turn on the recorder, then do what I want the macro to do, then turn the recorder off, name the macro and see it listed in the main macro list, and listed on the macro menu and possibly assigned a keyboard shortcut. I started this note thinking about the latter steps and how it's great to have the program manage the macros (storing each one in its own file, I don't even know where, and not making me responsible for it). That's probably manageable with what I ask above. Whether making actions in the program translatable to python, ruby or other languages is possible, I don't know.
You can't edit TextPad macros currently, and I haven't been looking forward to the day when version 5.x comes out wtih editable macros, since I'll have to learn another macro language (or rather, end up not learning it because it's too much trouble but still have to figure out how to get around in it for emergencies).
Anyway, just hoping you keep the macro setup as flexible as possible, when you get to that point.
Thanks,
Roger
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Thanks for this. I will tackle the command functionality first. This will enable script output capture, so you can use any scripting language installed on your computer and give you the following output options:
- ignore the output
- insert the output (or overwrite selection)
- create new file containing output
Macro support is possible - the editor component offers the relevant hooks out of the box - but it would require a fair amount of work, so I'm reluctant to give an ETA right now.
Best,
Gerald
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I'm going to continue to call this "tools" capability, since that's what TextPad calls it (and it's the name of the menu where such external functions get added).
I'm reminded that there may be two kinds of response -- a rewritten file but also error messages, so when you run one of these tools, TextPad opens a new document tab to display messages. It's just a regular window, but all the tools you set up feed into the same one if you've already caused it to be created. (That is, the second run of the same tool or some other tool overwrites whatever is in that document window.)
I guess this is the kind of thing you expect from a programmer's text editor, but I don't recall having the second option you mention -- insert or overwrite -- which is of course what you're doing when you run a macro. So it sounds really fantastic.
Roger
PS: Scintilla sounds like a really fun engine to be working with -- plain enough that you want to build your own app (XCE!) but powerful enough to do some real work.
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PS Yes, Scintilla is a wonderful library to work with. From my point of view the only two quibbles are that it stores the whole document in RAM (I'd prefer a disk-based system along the lines of UltraEdit) and that the XML lexer is faulty in places (but that's one for me to address: XMLSpy uses Scintilla, for example, but they must have written a custom lexer which makes it that bit more powerful).
-Gerald
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Roger, the Windows version of 1.0.9.3 is now available. I'd be interested to hear if the command pane (Tools>Command) works for you. (It's an early version and for now misses a command history, but that will be added soon.)
-Gerald
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I just mentioned macros in the Replace thread and I wanted to make another suggestion.
With almost every application I've used, I've wished I could write my macros in Ruby. (Among other things, it has great text-manipulation capabilities.)
And recently, because I have a Nokia Internet Tablet, I've been learning how to do simple things in Python.
Well, those are my languages, and I'm sure others would ask for Perl or Javascript or whatnot. So I'll put in two votes for Ruby and one for Python, if it comes to a "what'll it be?" vote.
But as you work towards the next version of XCE -- which I hope will incorporate macros -- I hope you'll be able to find some way to allow the user to specify a language installed on the local machine and let the macro be written in that language.
TextPad, of course, will let me invoke another app, and so I can write a small Ruby script, set it up as a tool, and run the script on my text, with the result fed into another window.
I don't really do that for macro-type things.
And as I write this note, I realize that half of what makes macros so easy is I turn on the recorder, then do what I want the macro to do, then turn the recorder off, name the macro and see it listed in the main macro list, and listed on the macro menu and possibly assigned a keyboard shortcut. I started this note thinking about the latter steps and how it's great to have the program manage the macros (storing each one in its own file, I don't even know where, and not making me responsible for it). That's probably manageable with what I ask above. Whether making actions in the program translatable to python, ruby or other languages is possible, I don't know.
You can't edit TextPad macros currently, and I haven't been looking forward to the day when version 5.x comes out wtih editable macros, since I'll have to learn another macro language (or rather, end up not learning it because it's too much trouble but still have to figure out how to get around in it for emergencies).
Anyway, just hoping you keep the macro setup as flexible as possible, when you get to that point.
Thanks,
Roger
Thanks for this. I will tackle the command functionality first. This will enable script output capture, so you can use any scripting language installed on your computer and give you the following output options:
- ignore the output
- insert the output (or overwrite selection)
- create new file containing output
Macro support is possible - the editor component offers the relevant hooks out of the box - but it would require a fair amount of work, so I'm reluctant to give an ETA right now.
Best,
Gerald
This sounds great!
I'm going to continue to call this "tools" capability, since that's what TextPad calls it (and it's the name of the menu where such external functions get added).
I'm reminded that there may be two kinds of response -- a rewritten file but also error messages, so when you run one of these tools, TextPad opens a new document tab to display messages. It's just a regular window, but all the tools you set up feed into the same one if you've already caused it to be created. (That is, the second run of the same tool or some other tool overwrites whatever is in that document window.)
I guess this is the kind of thing you expect from a programmer's text editor, but I don't recall having the second option you mention -- insert or overwrite -- which is of course what you're doing when you run a macro. So it sounds really fantastic.
Roger
PS: Scintilla sounds like a really fun engine to be working with -- plain enough that you want to build your own app (XCE!) but powerful enough to do some real work.
Will try hard to get it done next week...
PS Yes, Scintilla is a wonderful library to work with. From my point of view the only two quibbles are that it stores the whole document in RAM (I'd prefer a disk-based system along the lines of UltraEdit) and that the XML lexer is faulty in places (but that's one for me to address: XMLSpy uses Scintilla, for example, but they must have written a custom lexer which makes it that bit more powerful).
-Gerald
Roger, the Windows version of 1.0.9.3 is now available. I'd be interested to hear if the command pane (Tools>Command) works for you. (It's an early version and for now misses a command history, but that will be added soon.)
-Gerald