SciTE

SciTE is a Scintilla based text editor. Originally built to demonstrate the Scintilla text editor library, it has grown to be a general-purpose editor with facilities for building and running programs. It is best used for jobs with simple configurations.

Installation

Install the scite package.

Configuration

SciTE has a lot of configuration settings, which are read from ~/.SciTEUser.properties (user-specific) and /usr/share/scite/SciTEGlobal.properties (global). Both of these files can be accessed from the Options menu. The Frequently Asked Questions page also has some tips that may be useful.

Example configuration

# Show "<filename> in <path>" instead of just "<filename>"
title.full.path=2

# Show toolbar and statusbar
#toolbar.visible=0
#statusbar.visible=0

# Maximum number of tabs
#buffers=40

# Hide tab bar if there is only one tab
#tabbar.hide.one=0

# Split code and output (F8) panes vertically
split.vertical=0

# Ask to reload a file that has been modified externally
load.on.activate=1
are.you.sure.on.reload=1

# Save the session
save.position=1
save.recent=1
#save.session=0
#save.find=0

# Set all code styles to use monospaced font of the same size
font.monospace=font:!DejaVu Sans Mono,size:10
font.base=$(font.monospace)
font.small=$(font.monospace)
font.comment=$(font.monospace)
font.text=$(font.monospace)
font.text.comment=$(font.monospace)
font.embedded.base=$(font.monospace)
font.embedded.comment=$(font.monospace)
font.vbs=$(font.monospace)

# Show line numbers, pad if fewer than 4 digits
line.margin.visible=1
line.margin.width=4+
margin.width=0

# Indentation style (Shift+Ctrl+I)
#indent.size=8
#use.tabs=1
#tabsize=8

# Indicate tab and space characters (Shift+Ctrl+A)
#view.whitespace=0
#whitespace.fore=#000000

# Column guide, indicates long lines
edge.mode=1
edge.column=80

# Make Python quotes foldable (useful for docstrings)
fold.quotes.python=1

Tips

go on to html.properties file; to get the advantages you need the php.api and the phpfunctions.properties from HERE. You also find api files for ASP.

#replace netscape with mozilla-firefox again
if PLAT_GTK
	command.go.$(file.patterns.web)=mozilla-firefox "file:///$(FilePath)"

# load the .api file which I downloaded from the web; it contains, per line,
# a short explanation of each command
# $file.patterns.php is defined for *.php and friends by file extensions
api.$(file.patterns.php)=$(SciteDefaultHome)/php.api
# the calltips for the hypertext lexer shall not be case sensitive
calltip.hypertext.ignorecase=1
# define how the calltipps should be parsed, the following is the same as
# the standard anyway, but might be overwritten by some people in SciTEGlobal
calltip.hypertext.parameters.start=(
calltip.hypertext.parameters.end=)
calltip.hypertext.parameters.separators=,
# some calltips have an additionally explanation after the final ")"
#   -this makes display them in a second line
calltip.hypertext.end.definition=)

# autocopleter stuff
# defines which type of characters let the autocompletion pop up
autocomplete.hypertext.start.characters=_$(chars.alpha)
# also the autocompletion should not be case sensitive since, grrr php and html
autocomplete.html.ignorecase=1

There can be defined 10 commands file.pattern, these are some for html and one for php files. Actually Scite is capable of parsing the output of commands for line and column like it does for the php -l command further down or the already defined perl checker. Unfortunately it does not work for tidy, it always open a blank new tab on clicking instead of placing the cursor at the correct position :/

Show error messages of tidy, does not change the file

# extend the "Extras" menu with some commands
# Tidy Checking
command.name.1.$(file.patterns.web)=HTML Tidy Validate
command.1.$(file.patterns.web)=tidy -quiet -errors $(FilePath)
error.select.line=1

Use Tidy to format(indent and wrap at line 80) and clean your code. This command is defined this way: - save file to disk - have tidy parsing it and rewrite the output directly back to the file - re-read in the file and show in editor -> consequence: !!! THERE IS NO UNDO ON THIS COMMAND !!! Since we set 'activate are.you.sure.on.reload=1' a warning will popup, if we really wanna reload it. So you can decide based on the output in message pane.

# Tidy Cleanup and indent
command.name.2.$(file.patterns.web)=HTML Tidy Cleanup
command.2.$(file.patterns.web)=tidy -i -wrap 80 -m $(FilePath)
command.save.before.1.$(file.patterns.web)=1
command.is.filter.2.$(file.patterns.web)=1

This activates the php linter which finds parsing errors like missing line ends or braces. A click on the error message highlights the error in editor and places the cursor there.

# activate a lint checker for php files
command.name.1.$(file.patterns.php)=Check PHP syntax
command.1.$(file.patterns.php)=php -l $(FilePath)

To open files in a new tab of the current instance, rather than a new instance (window)

# Checking
check.if.already.open=1