Does it support those requirements?

General questions about using TextPad

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yetanotherlogin
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:46 pm

Does it support those requirements?

Post by yetanotherlogin »

Hello,

I was recommended this text editor. Before I evaluate it further, I'd appreciate it if experienced users could tell me if it supports the following must-have features:
  • Either all documents are in a single-file database, or application autosaves without prompting for filename, so I can close application easily when I need to reboot
  • Shows list of documents in Explorer-like left-hand list, with items in the tree section being the first few characters of the document (mock-up using ActionOutline; UltraEdit only displays a long list of Edit123 without information)
  • Just hit CTRL-N or INS to add a new document
  • Good regex support (UltraEdit mostly works now that they have licensed a component; Notepad++'s find/replace dialog is way too complicated)
  • Code highlighting (HTML, VB.Net, Python, etc.)
  • UE-style, no-brainer bookmarking (CTRL-F2 to set/unset, F2 to navigate)
  • Rich keyboard features (TAB/SHIFT-TAB to indent, CTRL/arrows for in-place scrolling, F3 in addition to UI button to keep searching, etc.)
Thank you.
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talleyrand
Posts: 624
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:56 pm
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
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Re: Does it support those requirements?

Post by talleyrand »

yetanotherlogin wrote:Hello,

I was recommended this text editor. Before I evaluate it further, I'd appreciate it if experienced users could tell me if it supports the following must-have features:
  • Either all documents are in a single-file database, or application autosaves without prompting for filename, so I can close application easily when I need to reboot
  • Shows list of documents in Explorer-like left-hand list, with items in the tree section being the first few characters of the document (mock-up using ActionOutline; UltraEdit only displays a long list of Edit123 without information)
  • Just hit CTRL-N or INS to add a new document
  • Good regex support (UltraEdit mostly works now that they have licensed a component; Notepad++'s find/replace dialog is way too complicated)
  • Code highlighting (HTML, VB.Net, Python, etc.)
  • UE-style, no-brainer bookmarking (CTRL-F2 to set/unset, F2 to navigate)
  • Rich keyboard features (TAB/SHIFT-TAB to indent, CTRL/arrows for in-place scrolling, F3 in addition to UI button to keep searching, etc.)
Thank you.
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes* (keystrokes are assignable)
Yes* (keystrokes are assignable)
I choose to fight with a sack of angry cats.
ben_josephs
Posts: 2461
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2003 9:22 pm

Post by ben_josephs »

I would clarify the No to Good regex support. TextPad's regex engine is outdated, and there is much that it can't do that it should be able to do. For example, it can't handle repetitions of subexpressions containing newlines, it can't handle back-references that refer back over newlines, and it knows nothing of non-lazy repetition operators or of arbitrary look-aheads. But it's good enough for most purposes.
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talleyrand
Posts: 624
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:56 pm
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
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Post by talleyrand »

Heh, I had originally had Yes there as it covers my 100 level RegEx needs but then I thought of you and flipped to No ;)
I choose to fight with a sack of angry cats.
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