Good day, TextPad-developers. Really, I don't see text (code) editor more powerfull in chars manipulating and smart indenting then TextPad. But there is one deficiency, and it make working with editor and mood bad. It is old engine of syntax highlighting. In all modern code editors words looks such:
I use an XSLT tool called XSelerator (sadly it has not been updated in years and does not support XSLT 2.0), and the native XML and XSLT syntax coloring there is so readable, I've adopted it and use it here in TextPad.
Except that XSelerator makes the text stand out from the markup by bolding it. I've often wished I could do the same here.
Another syntax modification request --
I'd like to be able to pick out entities and highlight them as well. They always begin with an ampersand and end with a semi-colon (eg, — or ܔ) so they can be picked out unambiguously.
I too would like to see other options. I would like to see syntax distinguished by font, font style, and perhaps size too.
Colors are actually the worst first choice. Apple had extensive guidelines on the use of color in their Macintosh programming guides. The general rule: if the effect is not attractive in black and white, then adding color is not an improvement. A significant population is color blind or, after aging, sight impaired.
Steven Harrod
Assistant Professor
University of Dayton