Syntra Small Code Editor (0.3.0 Released!)

[mediachicken]

I decided to put up an official thread for my code editor so I can get some feedback from fellow developers. I'm pretty active at development right now (two versions have been released this week), and I would love to get some feedback and feature suggestions!

You can download it from the app store here: Small Code Editor

Access the official feedback board here ->

Small supports about 50 programming languages, has full emmet.io support for HTML enabled languages, and an inline linter! You can also link your GitHub account and upload scripts to Gist.


New in 0.3.0:
Official 0.3.0 Update Post

New in 0.2.2:
Official 0.2.2 Update Post

New in 0.2.1:
Official 0.2.1 Update Post

New In 0.2.0:
• Small now has an Auto-Save feature! You can enable it from inside small's preferences (Cmd+,)
• In the previous version, there was a bug where the window title was nearly impossible to read when in dark mode. This has been fixed.
• You can now use either an opaque or blurry window title bar (changeable in preferences). This is a teaser for a feature getting ready to be released in the next version

 

[viperacr99]

Are you considering putting each file opened into a new tab rather than a new window? How about a line & column indicator for the cursor position?

 

[mediachicken]

Are you considering putting each file opened into a new tab rather than a new window? How about a line & column indicator for the cursor position?

I'm definitely considering the option of tabbed file browsing in the future. But I have an idea of a different take on tabs that might be interesting to implement. Holding off on the implementation till I put more time into designing it.

The next version, however, will be have full tree-view support. So you'll be able to open your projects as folders and navigate via a sidebar tree-view.

 

[automactic]

Nice app!

A Question: How do you enable syntax highlighting? And do you think it would be a good idea to show somewhere the current language of the code?

Oh, and I don't think the save dialogue should cover the title bar. See attached image.

 

[mediachicken]

Nice app!

A Question: How do you enable syntax highlighting? And do you think it would be a good idea to show somewhere the current language of the code?

Oh, and I don't think the save dialogue should cover the title bar. See attached image.

Syntax highlighting is enabled and selected based off the filename. I think there actually may be a bug where the syntax highlighting doesn't automatically update when you save a new file.

I have a footer toolbar planned for the next version that will feature a syntax language selector along with indicators for the current line:column.

Since this seems like a pretty fundamental issue, I'm going to push off the file-tree view for a few days and implement this bottom toolbar. I should have another version in the app store by the end of the week.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[MikhailT]

Very nicely done, I'm been using it as a default small text editor already, so quick.

There's a bug that's annoying: when you launch a new window, it'd notify you of the current theme name on the bottom. I'd prefer not seeing it if possible.

 

[mediachicken]

Very nicely done, I'm been using it as a default small text editor already, so quick.

There's a bug that's annoying: when you launch a new window, it'd notify you of the current theme name on the bottom. I'd prefer not seeing it if possible.

Thanks for the feedback! I had noticed that, and kind of brushed it off as it didn't bother me too much. But if it's a minor annoyance, it's worth removing.

As far as the mode selector goes, I've already went ahead and implemented the mode selector in a footer toolbar as demonstrated here

Going to make a few other small changes and submit a new version to Apple tonight.

 

[MikhailT]

I hope you'd consider making the footer optional via the View Menu. One reason I like small is that it's very bare but powerful at the same time.

 

[mediachicken]

I hope you'd consider making the footer optional via the View Menu. One reason I like small is that it's very bare but powerful at the same time.

Yes, I'm going to be implementing a hotkey for quickly toggling the footer bar. I'm thinking about using the same hotkey that finder uses to hide theirs (Cmd+/).

 

[drumcat]

I opened a .txt file, and had no way of changing the format highlighting. I need to be able to manually override that in most cases. No footer available?

Best of luck; good start. Keep it lightweight!

 

[mediachicken]

I opened a .txt file, and had no way of changing the format highlighting. I need to be able to manually override that in most cases. No footer available?

Best of luck; good start. Keep it lightweight!

Yes this is the main issue that I'm addressing in the next release. I'm submitting it either tonight or tomorrow, so it should be in the store by Friday.

 

[mediachicken]

Small Code Editor 0.2.1 Released!​

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Release Notes
I firmly believe in the philosophy that the user should only have to deal with the functions necessary for them. For this reason, I've enabled a plugin system for small. So far, I'm only going to be supporting proprietary plugins, but in the future I may open it up to third party developers.

The first plugin is a feature already shipped inside small, GitHub Gist integration. Since I realized not all people are going to want or use this feature, why clutter the preferences up with an extra menu item? If you don't use GitHub Gist, just disable the plugin and you'll never have to be bothered by the useless menu items.

Other New Things:

• You can now change the language of the open document via the language drop down on the window's footer.
• You can toggle the view of the window's footer from either inside the View menu or the keyboard shortcut Cmd+[
• You can now quickly comment the currently selected text / current line via the keyboard shortcut Cmd+/ (or the menu item Format > Selection > Toggle Comments)
• When changing the theme, the alert dialog is now only displayed in the main window.
• Opening a new window no longer displays the current theme name.
• Improvements to the syntax mode detection.
• New app icon

 

[mediachicken]

Syntra Small 0.2.2 Released!​

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Release Notes

• Name change from Small to Syntra Small (small is now part of the syntra.io project)
• Added the option to hide/show the 80 character ruler [ Command + R ]
• Added the option to hide/show code indentation guides [ Command + Shift + I ]
• The Undo/Redo menu items now work (undo and redo was working via hotkeys, but not the menu items)
• A bug has been fixed that was causing the language to revert back to the auto-detected language upon saving the file, even when a custom language was selected (bug report: https://help.mediachicken.com/topic/saving-file-resets-syntax-highlighting-colors)

 

[mediachicken]

Syntra Small 0.2.5 Released!​

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Release Notes
Some new and exciting bug fixes and improvements have been made in this release of Syntra Small! But before listing them, I'd like to thank everybody who has given their feedback, submitted bugs, and shared their gratitude via the feedback forums on help.mediachicken.com. You guys inspire me to keep working hard to deliver the best product I can to Syntra Small's now 5,000+ user base!

Without further ado, here's what's new:

• The Find panel has been fixed. You can now find, replace, and quickly navigate to the next/previous occurrence using the menu items or hotkeys.
• When you open a script in a language that Syntra Small supports, it will automatically select the correct language in the language selector located in the bottom the app's window.
• Added a font selector in the general preferences. Currently there are only two fonts available, but many more fonts are coming in the next update!

 

[mediachicken]

I'm also currently hosting a one question survey to decide on the way font settings will be expanded in the next version. Please consider taking part in it if you wish to help shape the future of Syntra Small

 

[mediachicken]

Syntra Small 0.3.0 Released!​

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Release Notes
If you follow me (@garetmckinley) on twitter, I'm sure you know by now how excited I am to be finally releasing this update!

0.3.0 Adds Exciting Features Like:
• Brand new SIDEBAR! This is an area where third party plugins can be rendered, details regarding the Plugin SDK coming soon!
• The first official plugin for Syntra Small: Project Tree-View. This is a tree-view that can be used to navigate projects and is enabled inside the sidebar by default. Open up a folder inside Syntra Small to start using the sidebar!
• Added a visor for catching errors. All major errors that happen inside Syntra Small will get routed to the visor. This is a colored notification bar that's visible on the bottom of the editor panel.
• The sidebar is fully compatible with OS X's blurry transparency. Enable the "blurry" Visual Effects from inside Syntra Small's preferences to take advantage.
• You can now interface with Syntra Small from Terminal! Click `Syntra Small -> Install CLI Tools` to find out more!
• New app icon features a sharp blue border around the icon.

0.3.0 Fixes a few nagging issues like:
• Window size/position is now fully restorable. This means new windows will default to the same size and position as your last window had.
• You'll no longer get nagged with an error dialog about files being saved "by an external application" when switching files.
• The Find/Replace dialogs no longer make the current document get flagged as edited.

 

[briloronmacrumo]

I donate support to a group that uses a hybrid BASIC language and wondered if your editor could be helpful. First big hurdle is for any editor to recognize the language grammar. It's possible your documentation or product answers my question but didn't want to spend a lot of time if there is no way to supply an external grammar description to the editor. Thanks for the product and good luck!

 

[X--X]

What happened to Syntra? Is it dead?

I really like it, been using it for a few months now. I would love a custom font option.