Text editor for programming

[Willie1914]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm new to the forum, but have been programming my Ti-99/4a since the mid-80's.

 

Recently I moved to a Windows-10 based laptop, and find NotePad / WordPad a bit frustrating to use when writing assembly programs -- in particular, managing the tabs!

 

Can anyone recommend a replacement for these? I'm curious as to what others are using.

 

Thanks in advance,

Willie

[RickyDean]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm new to the forum, but have been programming my Ti-99/4a since the mid-80's.

 

Recently I moved to a Windows-10 based laptop, and find NotePad / WordPad a bit frustrating to use when writing assembly programs -- in particular, managing the tabs!

 

Can anyone recommend a replacement for these? I'm curious as to what others are using.

 

Thanks in advance,

Willie

I don't program in a non IDE environment, so I can't give you a good answer, but I would think that something like notepad++ would work. I do believe their is an added benefit to using NP++, someone here in the past has posted a plugin for NP++ to know your dealing with assembly, I believe.

Edited September 13, 2018 by RickyDean

[+OLD CS1]

I don't program in a non IDE environment, so I can't give you a good answer, but I would think that something like notepad++ would work. I do believe their is an added benefit to using NP++, someone here in the past has posted a plugin for NP++ to know your dealing with assembly, I believe.

 

in the Development Resources thread, under "Editors."

[TheMole]

I can definitely recommend Sublime Text, although it is quite expensive...

 

https://www.sublimetext.com

[Asmusr]

IntelliJ IDEA community edition with xdt99 plugins.

 

It provides syntax highlighting, jumping to labels, renaming labels, etc. And it's free.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Asmusr

[+adamantyr]

I use Textpad myself, I like it because I can set it up with a syntax file so it highlights all my assembly operands.

 

You can use Textpad for free pretty much indefinitely, it just pops up a registration reminder once in awhile, but I bought a license for $30 because it's a good product and I want them to make some money on it.

[+Lee Stewart]

Notepad++ for me! I have used it extensively to write the TMS9900 Assembler and Forth code for my fbForth 2.0 cartridge (see below).

 

...lee

[jrhodes]

Notepad++ if your on windows, if on linux, look into a program called Geany.

[+RXB]

I just use Windows Notepad, works fine.

Tried others like Notepad ++ but I do not need 3000 features I would never ever use.

[Willie1914]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

I'll follow-up on your recommendations.

 

I appreciate the help!

 

Regards,

Willie

[+OLD CS1]

I do not need 3000 features I would never ever use.

 

This is why I never got married.

[Shift838]

Notepad ++ also has a TI-99 XB and Assembly Language file so it will detect syntax for both.

[danwinslow]

Notepad++ works well, and is free. You can get gVim (vi editor) if you are old school. You could try Atom, too, it's what the cool kids use nowadays. Also Eclipse. and then there is the WUDSN project here:https://www.wudsn.com/index.php/ide/installation

 

*edit*

Err, WUDSN is Atari, not user if it has support for TI stuff.

Edited September 14, 2018 by danwinslow

[atrax27407]

If you want to program exclusively on the TI, you can use F'WEB and one of the text-to-program utilities.

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Has anyone come across an editor that doesn't treat the tab as anything but moving the cursor, like the typical TI editors? For assembly language programming I just want something simple - no using the mouse to re-position the cursor, no tab/space indentation, etc. Lately I find myself creating new files with the real hardware then moving them to the PC because all the PC editors I have tried have the same annoying traits.

[retiredqwest]

I use this https://www.webuilderapp.com/for PHP and HTML editing. This has an evaluation period.

 

May not be what you are looking for.....

Edited January 19, 2019 by retiredqwest

[mizapf]

Do you want TAB to insert 7 spaces (instead of a TAB char)? I'm using jEdit for quite a long time now, and it is highly configurable, including tabbing.

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Do you want TAB to insert 7 spaces (instead of a TAB char)? I'm using jEdit for quite a long time now, and it is highly configurable, including tabbing.

I want TAB to reposition the cursor without inserting any tabs or spaces.

[+pixelpedant]

For stuff like that, on Windows, I'd usually just use an AutoHotKey solution, possibly with a toggle to turn it on and off. Could make it window-specific (only active when Notepad++ is the active window) or heck, even file/directory specific (only active when Notepad++ is the active windows and is working in a file somewhere within one's /TI99/ directory), but might make more sense not to, just binding it to a toggle (e.g., so that when one's conception of "TI input mode" is toggled on, it works anywhere - not just in Notepad++).

[Opry99er]

Notepad++ works great for me. I use it for all my PC-side programming.

 

The TAB function in Notepad++ moves the cursor to the next pre-set tab location, but it adds spaces between the end of the current location and the tab location. In Notepad++, I don't think you can move forward on an otherwise empty line without adding spaces... Those locations don't exist until they are populated with something... either a character or a space.

 

I may be wrong, but that's my experience.

[+RXB]

Notepad ++ also has a TI-99 XB and Assembly Language file so it will detect syntax for both.

Yea but for GPL is does not really offer anything for me.

 

It attempts to use a C like syntax set up.

[+InsaneMultitasker]

The TAB function in Notepad++ moves the cursor to the next pre-set tab location, but it adds spaces between the end of the current location and the tab location. In Notepad++, I don't think you can move forward on an otherwise empty line without adding spaces... Those locations don't exist until they are populated with something... either a character or a space.

Good to know. I think I tried Notepad++ along with 5-6 others some months ago hoping one of them would suit my needs. so far no dice. I just want to use a keyboard, no mouse, while editing code.

 

 

For stuff like that, on Windows, I'd usually just use an AutoHotKey solution, possibly with a toggle to turn it on and off. Could make it window-specific (only active when Notepad++ is the active window) or heck, even file/directory specific (only active when Notepad++ is the active windows and is working in a file somewhere within one's /TI99/ directory), but might make more sense not to, just binding it to a toggle (e.g., so that when one's conception of "TI input mode" is toggled on, it works anywhere - not just in Notepad++).

This sounds interesting... Would you have any thoughts on how to create a toggle like this? Would it be something like binding tab to a specific number of 'right' arrows? I'll look into this next week. The only challenge I could see is what Opry99er brings up, in that most text editors won't move beyond the last character of the current line.

[mizapf]

I want TAB to reposition the cursor without inserting any tabs or spaces.

 

Well, there is always the option to answer: "You don't really want that." Known from various discussion forums.

[+RXB]

I have to scroll up and down often and if you have seen the GPL code for RXB you would know it is way larger than any other project for the TI99/4A just source DV80 files on my SCSI drive:

 

SRXB3 683 DV 80 (GROM3)

SRXB4 716 DV 80 (GROM4)

SRXB5 768 DV 80 (GROM5)

SRXB6 526 DV 80 (GROM6)

SRXB7 240 DV 80 (GROM7)

 

Then you have XB ROMs:

SOURCE1 821 DV 80 (ROM1)

SOURCE2 869 DV 80 (ROM2)

[cbmeeks]

Visual Studio Code is a great text editor with hints of an IDE. It's fast, open source and free. Plus it runs on Mac/Windows/Linux.

 

If you've ever used Sublime Text, it will feel at home.