Can you elaborate in what way any other software from your list cannot replace notepad.exe?
Not notepad.exe, I am referring to TexPad.exe from Helios Software in the UK. It’s not free software, but very reasonably priced.
The first reason is that I am using it since 2006 in Windows. The downside of the software is that it is not ported to Linux, and their macros cannot be edited and must be recreated. But the macros are fast and accurate.
My needs are block operations on text. Each of the Linux editors have some of the features, but they are clumsily accessed and implemented. They lack the finesse and speed of a compiled software.
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Looking at a couple of screenshots, it looks like Kate with a couple of plugins enabled. Could you name specific things you try to do in Kate but are way better/easier done in TextPad?
If there is access to Kate bug forums/reports and my conversations, (always as “ineuw”) perhaps it would explain that Kate and other Linux editors are code editors, not real “text” editors. Their comparable features are complex and slow to use.
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Code is a type of text and it’s just natural that the more advanced a text editor becomes, the more it is suited for coding. If you want a faster and faster and faster car, eventually you will end up with a racing car. So you cannot just get a civilian car with top speeds, without it being a racing car.
Could you name a specific example of how TextPad can do something more efficiently or better than Kate?
@ineuw If the solution with wine works for you, that’s great, but out of curiosity, I’d like to know a bit more, if you don’t mind.
When you refer to “macros”, do you mean the addons which you install or the ability to record your own sets of commands?
When you say, “their comparable features are complex and slow to use” or “clumsily accessed and implemented”, I’d really like to know some examples of these features. You might not be the only person affected and whilst this would be a long shot, solutions could possibly be implemented at some point. This is the beauty of free software.
In several threads, I jokingly mentioned gnu/emacs, the Swiss Army Chainsaw of Editors. Despite my jokes, emacs is in fact the most powerful editor in existence. I personally just ceased to use it because I simply only need a relatively small subset of all these features.
It might be a bit much for you, but you can check it out here:
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TextPad has only dictionaries as addons or plug-ins. The keyboard macro recording and playback is integral to the software. Its playback accuracy and speed is very good. The downside is that the macros cannot be edited, so there is no accessible macro language. For such features I use AutoHotkey in Windows, and Autokey (Python) in Linux Mint.
The features I was looking for in Kate, did not exist as plugins. The discussions about which exist somewhere on Kate support pages.
It’s possible that one can find the features I was looking for, but for me time is of essence. Familiarizing on how to get the same things done with a different approach/concept, is not worth to spend the time. I know about GNU Emacs and it’s definitely not the way I want to go.
In general, Linux applications are more programmer oriented whereas Windows programs have a better user/consumer oriented approach. And I am a user/consumer.
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You keep saying the word features, but you fail to name those features other than that those features save time. I get the feeling you don’t like change and your completely comfortable with TextPad so anything else is wrong.
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It is really a pity that you keep these features a secret.
Laziness is always a good reason for not changing habits. I can personally very much relate to this. However, I’d be careful to say this isn’t good when I just didn’t spend the time and effort as with my first approach.
Let me give you an example: Several times in this forum, I mentioned that I am very happy with my current Kubuntu Linux distribution. However, I never say that it were better than any other because I lack the same experience of using one over a period of more than ten years. I am very much aware of the fact that I use it because I am an intrinsically lazy person and because it’s sufficiently adequate for my needs.
Let’s put it like this: Do you expect us programmers to take your needs seriously if you don’t even tell us what they are?
Most Windows/MacOS programs are made to make money whilst Linux/BSD programs are usually designed to enable people to do what they need: MS-Word was always (and still is) total crap when it comes to write books or scientific papers, that’s why Donald Knuth created the TeX system which still is the gold standard for these tasks in terms of usability and output quality.
Of course, the first thing a programmer does is to enable oneself to do one’s work in the most efficient way. However, the most efficient ways of automated text manipulation are sed, Perl and regular expressions. Why would we reinvent the wheel, unless someone asks very nicely or pays for it?
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I must say that I, like ineuw, have a particular set of uses for TextPad which I have been using since BEFORE 1997. I bought 10 licenses back then for a small group of folks I worked with.
I am now “attempting to be” Linux only and run Win7 in a virtual machine only when I have to, but it is a bit of a pain to do that.
I can very easily describe the feature set which I need and have not found, especially not in an easy to use format like TexdPad. Until I converted to Linux, that was my GOTO editor for just about anything except a few specific IDE’s. (I have been a programmer since 1968).
FEATURES THAT TEXPAD HAS:
They call them book marks..
You can search for a word for example and mark every line that has it in the file with a book mark.
Now you can select all bookmarked lines and then do all the things you normally can do with selected text: cut or copy, delete, sort, etc.
Another valuable feature is the “block select mode”. But I eventually found FeatherPad which has that feature.
I now use Featherpad and Kate almost exclusively, but I still FREQUENTLY need the “bookmarked” lines which are in essence “selected”.
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I you had programmed in Unix rather than Win, you would have learnt the vi editor. Vi has marks, which seem to be similar to your bookmarks.
I would not for a moment suggest you should now try to master vi… you are too wedded go your style of editors. I know what it is like as a programmer… you want an editor that is available everywhere and is second nature to you, so you can concentrate on code.
but,
look around… there are many editors available in Linux
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Another way to describe the “feature” set, is that it allows MULTIPLE SECTIONS.
So again, Mark all lines containing “this string”.
Now I can:
- Reverse selection getting all lines without that text,
- “goto” the next marked line
- alter the marked lines (to uppercase for example)
- Cut/Copy/Delete
- Write out selected (lines) to a new file,
- etc.
The power of multiple selected pieces of text that can be manipulated is actually quite good.
BTW, I have been interested in “Editors” my entire programming career that started with papertape and punched cards. The editing BETWEEN magnetic tapes, etc.
I wrote, documented and marketed an editor for CP/M, MP/M back in the IMSAI/Altair 8080 days,
call “Mr. Ed” (and yes I had a talking horse head on the notebook cover of the manual.)
It was actually very powerful at the time, with the ability to do things I have not seen since, like set up 10 search and replace strings and apply them simultaneously as you “scrolled through the file on the floppy”. This was necessary because the entire file could not be held in the limited memory, so this saved you from going through the file (read/write) 10 times.
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Maybe SciTE editor… it has marks.
I used punched cards with Fortran for years.
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Thanks for the reply Neville, and yes if I hadn’t been wedded (by jobs) to using only the accursed Windoze, I know that I would have gone totally different directions. For example, I would probably be so good at Python that I would write a quick program to do whatever I liked - if I had not just written my own editor and enhanced it each time I needed a feature.
But it is getting more difficult to teach mid-70’s dog’s new tricks.
I have written quite elaborate “filling” programs to sort though, produce elaborate checksums and maintain on a database (PostgreSQL) the lists. It is quite easy when doing backup, especially over "years or decades” to have a LOT of files. In my case as an amateur photographer, I have 11TB of photographic files.
And the ability to KNOW that you have backed up a good copy or that this copy is not in your collection - without even mounting the disks is great.
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Nevillle,
You are a gentleman and a scholar!
I downloaded, called SciTE up and in less than 1 minute, accomplished EXACTLY what I needed.
Sir,
Have a GREAT New Year!
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Hi Steve,
That is great.
I do know one programmer who favours SkiTE, so I thought it might be right for you.
Regards
Neville
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Neville,
Just for grins, you are now officially smarter than AI.
I presume you knew that …
But I had asked, before I found this forums, the question about which Linux editor would do what TextPad would do, and I asked in SEVERAL different variations trying to get a suitable answer.
Never did.
So, given your comment about FORTRAN, you can tell your grandkids, if any, that you are smarter than AI.
Steve
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Sooooo… have you tried notepad++? It’s FOSS, is for Windows, and has loads of plugins.
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This was the first tool I installed whenever I was setting up a new Winbox.
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Thank you for the compliment.
I am not sure it is generally true… I may have fluked it in your case.
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