Using external Text Editor

[Simon]

I didn't want to turn this thread into a wishlist for the HISE code editor, especially as I wanted to contribute fixes for some of these once I finish this library, but since we went there anyway...

For me the main issue is the low contrast, both just the color palette and lack of differentiation between functions, parameters, variables, control statements, and operators. I realize now looking at screenshots that the whole interface is blue tinted as well.

Sublime Text set to Javascript is quite usable, I haven't really compared with this. The bracket and parenthesis highlighting is far more visible in Sublime, and highlights from either side of the character. In HISE you have to put the cursor after the character, and the highlight is barely visible.

When typing (, HISE sometimes inserts () when it's not helpful to do so. Haven't quite figured out the logic, but I run into it a lot.

Sublime includes autocomplete for structures like, if, if else, for, which I use far more often than the API autocomplete and are huge time savers.

Usually if I'm looking in the API for a function I also need to browse the docs anyway. Sublime also autocompletes functions you have used already, the only thing missing is that tab to next parameter, the highlight state for which I find difficult to distinguish from the usual text selection highlight. This makes me not use it much.

In one of these screenshots, typing appends to the end. In the other, it clears and overwrites.

I use ctrl + left and right arrow a lot to jump through functions. In Sublime one press usually takes you to the next token, in HISE it takes you to the next token or separator, which takes longer and usually isn't what I want.

For keybindings, in Sublime I also have bindings for things like go to next sub-token in a string.

For search, in HISE it defaults to case sensitive every time it's run, and pressing ctrl+f sometimes does not highlight the search field if a search is already open (can't quite track this down atm)

I use code folding quite a lot, which makes it much easier to jump between files without losing my place.

In short, I really just prefer using an external editor, especially as I assume a "reload from file" button would be less work to implement than maintaining a code editor and all the edge cases and user preferences that can go along with that.

[d.healey]

@Simon said in Using external Text Editor:

When typing (, HISE sometimes inserts ()

Yeah that one gets me, same goes for square brackets, sometimes you want it, sometimes you don't.

@Simon said in Using external Text Editor:

Sublime includes autocomplete for structures like, if, if else, for,

HISE has it for loops, not sure I'd find it that helpful for if statements though.

@Simon said in Using external Text Editor:

use code folding quite a lot

HISE has code folding.

[Simon]

@d-healey I actually did not realize HISE had it for loops, would be nice if it appeared without pressing escape and with the same fluidity as in Sublime. The autocomplete in Sublime feels goood, it's instantaneous as you type. I'm not sure if the delay in HISE is intentional, maybe that's something we can tweak.

In Sublime you can code fold any line based on indentation. I use this quite a lot for folding away control declarations under a comment.

[d.healey]

@Simon said in Using external Text Editor:

would be nice if it appeared without pressing escape

It does. Right click and enable Autoshow Autocomplete (this is enabled by default).

@Simon said in Using external Text Editor:

In Sublime you can code fold any line based on indentation. I use this quite a lot for folding away control declarations under a comment.

When writing KSP I'd use code folding all the time. I pretty much never need it now because HISE scripts are generally so short. It's very rare I have a single script that is more than 500 lines (laf heavy scripts being a notable exception).

Do you use the code editor bookmarks in HISE? I find those make it really easy to navigate longer scripts.

[dxmachina]

I strongly agree that there should be a little better support for external editors. Similar to @Simon and @oskarsh I have really fought the built in editor when it comes to just getting code written. I seem to gravitate back to the built in when debugging and working in UI.

The auto-autocomplete is also extremely unreliable for me. It feels like it stops working completely pretty often.

Honestly, being able to avoid overwrite-on-compile and watching for script changes / auto compile would be enough for me. The regular JS syntax highlighting in Sublime, Atom, VS Code are all much better for me but could easily be community addressed if someone wanted something more robust.

[Simon]

@d-healey I posted that comment because (in my memory anyway) I typed for and nothing happened, which led me to believe it doesn't appear for "for". The delay in autocomplete makes me much less likely to use it, while I use the instant popup in Sublime all the time.

How you fold code is of course user preference. I would quite like to be able to fold each control declaration along with its settings, callback assignment, and callback function, so when I'm looking for a control I can get an overview of all of them, and jump straight to the one I need without ctrl + f or the re-contextualization of bookmarks.

[d.healey]

@Simon said in Using external Text Editor:

I can get an overview of all of them, and jump straight to the one I need without ctrl + f or the re-contextualization of bookmarks.

Yeah this is what I use bookmarks for, middle click and there's a list of all components.

[clevername27]

@oskarsh Be aware that there are issues with using an external text editor—namely, that HISE will sometimes overwrite your original file. Usually, this happens when HISE opens the same file in HISE, like if you click on an error report in the Console. But sometimes it just happens. My workaround its to use an external editor that tells me when a file that it has open was overwritten by HISE, and gives me the option to reject HISE's changes, or keep my own. (Though HISE hasn't actually made any changes; it's simply overwritten my last changes in the external editor, though it's more nuanced than that, which is another of saying I'm too lazy to be more specific.) There was a bug about this which was fixed a while back, which improved the situation a lot. But problems remain, so be careful so you don't lose any code. I know @Christoph-Hart has put a lot of work into HISE's built-in editor, and after two years, I'm still finding about cool stuff in it that I wasn't aware of. If do decide to go with an external editor, I can send you my list of HISE Script keywords for your editor. (If you're using BBEdit, I went so far as creating a HISE Script language module.)

[oskarsh]

@clevername27 Yes I am aware that HISE will overwrite the changes. I am suggesting a button or just a function that we can bind to a shortcut "reload and compile" which basically uses the file on Disc and not from the memory.

I believe this should be easy to implement since we already have Load XML which basically does the same, reload all scripts, xml and compile them.
If we could only get a shortcut or button for this functionality...

I think the HISE editor is great for what it is but it will always lack against other editors which main job is to edit text. I am a big fan of removing dependencies and having a editor which I can style, use plugins (heck even VIM bindings) and have a very reliable and fast editing experience would be my biggest Christmas wish.

Many IDE's have moved away from this baked in editor style approach, just less dependencies and maintenance.

@Christoph-Hart can you play Santa and look into this? Mainly just a "reload and compile" function that we can bind to a shortcut?

[clevername27]

@oskarsh I love your idea.

[d.healey]

@oskarsh said in Using external Text Editor:

Mainly just a "reload and compile" function that we can bind to a shortcut?

I think a file watcher would be better, no need to hit a button manually. Just save the external file and the changes will be there in HISE.

[clevername27]

@d-healey I love that idea, too.

[clevername27]

@oskarsh @d-healey My keyword list only the HISE Script keywords—a list of API keywords would be fantastic. How are you handling that when using an external editor?

[oskarsh]

@d-healey you are right!

I am trying to get my Christmas Presents in time tho. Not sure Christoph has the prime delivery for a file watcher :D

So a button would do for the beginning. A file watcher would be the better solution but more work to get it right.

This one is the industry standard btw:
https://facebook.github.io/watchman/

[ustk]

For those who might have missed it, a code template has been introduced recently:

https://docs.hise.audio/glossary/code_snippets.html

https://forum.hise.audio/topic/10434/new-feature-code-templates?_=1734545220760

[d.healey]

@ustk I completely forgot about that already!

[ulrik]

@ustk thanks for the reminder!