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KarlJohanKleist1-Visitor
1-Visitor
October 13, 2011
Question

A tip: Code editor for ACL

  • October 13, 2011
  • 24 replies
  • 7016 views

A developer's most important tool is without doubt the code editor. When I ditched Linux on the desktop two years ago (the tipping point was when a buggy X driver fried my graphic adapter), and started to enjoy Windows 7, I needed a replacement for Emacs. In my earlier life in Sweden I'd been using Textpad from Helios Software for a decade, but this product seemed to have reached "maintenance mode" (esp. regarding handling of Unicode).


So I spent several days searching a commercial code editor suitable for ACL. Finally i decided to buy Zeus (http://zeusedit.com).


Don't let the somewhat unprofessionally crafted website fool you. Or the slightly old-fashioned looks of the GUI. This is an extremely powerful, mature and stable product. It doesn't aim to be an all-purpose texteditor (like UltraEdit). The target audience is programmers.


I'm attaching a "keyword information file" defining the "document type" ACL (see http://www.zeusedit.com/zforum/viewtopic.php?t=176). It defines not only highlighting, but also the "function navigator", see the attached screen dump.


How to enable "code folding" is described here: http://www.zeusedit.com/zforum/viewtopic.php?t=6191


Have fun!


K J

    24 replies

    G
    GarethOakes16-Pearl
    16-Pearl
    October 13, 2011
    Most of the guys here are using Notepad++ but this Zeus thing looks kind of
    interesting, thanks for sharing!



    I'm still using vi on Windows (well, gvim to be precise). If anyone wants
    ACL "doctype" for Vim similar to this one for Zeus let me know J



    -G


    L
    LynnHales1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    October 14, 2011
    I've been a long time user of CodeWright. Unfortunately, it is no longer supported (it is still sold for FULL list price though) by Borland.

    I love that app. Great programming tool, reg ex searches, file grep, and numerous other nice features. Borland really screwed up with that one.

    Lynn


    ---- Gareth Oakes <goakes@gpslsolutions.com> wrote:
    > Most of the guys here are using Notepad++ but this Zeus thing looks kind of
    > interesting, thanks for sharing!
    >
    >
    >
    > I'm still using vi on Windows (well, gvim to be precise). If anyone wants
    > ACL "doctype" for Vim similar to this one for Zeus let me know J
    >
    >
    >
    > -G
    >
    >
    >
    C
    ClayHelberg18-Opal
    18-Opal
    October 14, 2011
    OK, I'll throw my $0.02 in on the subject.

    I do 99% of my Arbortext development in jEdit (www.jedit.org). It's open source, it has a wide variety of excellent plug-ins (including XML and XSLT), and is easily extensible. It supports multi-file search with regex, code folding, syntax highlighting, version control system integration, and all the usual developer goodies.

    I have developed some add-ons to support ACL development in jEdit. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll send them to you.

    --Clay

    Clay Helberg
    Senior Consultant
    TerraXML

    J
    jsulak1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    October 18, 2011
    I'm a bit late to the thread, but since Gareth chimed in with vi, I'm contractually obligated to mention that I've been using Emacs on Windows for several years with good results. It's a little bit of a hassle to set up on Windows - you have to install Cygwin to get all the commands (like rgrep) that punt out to the shell - but great once you get there.

    There's a good ACL mode at
    S
    steve.thompson41-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    October 18, 2011
    Software installation rules preclude me using this here, but I'd definitely appreciate further info that I could forward home.

    Thanks!
    Steve Thompson
    +1(316)977-0515
    G
    GarethOakes16-Pearl
    16-Pearl
    October 26, 2011
    .. and I'm contractually obligated to heap scorn upon Emacs users!! 🙂

    -G
    K
    KarlJohanKleist1-VisitorAuthor
    1-Visitor
    October 26, 2011

    You all know what emacs actually means, don't you?


     escape meta alt control shift

    P.S. I'm a great fan of emacs. On linux. 

    In Reply to Gareth Oakes:

    .. and I'm contractually obligated to heap scorn upon Emacs users!! 🙂

    -G


    C
    ClayHelberg18-Opal
    18-Opal
    October 26, 2011
    Yeah, I used Emacs for a while, until I started getting carpal tunnel syndrome from all the chording....

    FWIW, jEdit is also the same across platforms, including convenient access to the plug-in repository.

    --C
    E
    ebenton1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    October 26, 2011
    That sort of reminds me of the Dilbert "Demons of Stupidity" strip where the software developer says, "I'll make the command easy to remember, like 'CTRL-ALT-F4-DEL'."
    J
    jsillari1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    October 26, 2011
    That is easy. Remember, emacs has a lisp mode too.

    John Sillari
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