TKE Text Editor

Oct 2017

Stable Version 3.4 Released

Stable version 3.4 has now been released. A brand new method of selecting text is in this release which allows you to make fine-grained selections using only the keyboard. The new selection mode packs more power than even Vim visual mode, so make sure to read about it in the User Guide and start trying it out. We also enhanced drag and drop support, included a few more handy plugins, and fixed a bunch of bugs.

Here's a full list of the new features, changes and bug fixes available in this release.

New:

  • Added new keyboard-centric, fine-grain controlled selection mode (enabled through new `Edit / Select Mode` menu option).
  • Added ability to select a sentence with mouse by holding down Control while double-clicking the sentence.
  • Added ability to select a paragraph with mouse by holding down Control while triple-clicking the paragraph.
  • Added ability to select the text between a matching set of curly brackets, square brackets, parenthesis, angled brackets, double quotes, single quotes, backtick or comment characters by holding down the Shift and Control keys while double-clicking on any character between the surrounding characters.
  • Added ability to select an HTML/XML node by holding down the Shift and Control keys while triple clicking any character within the node.
  • Added ability to right-click on checkboxes in Markdown and MultiMarkdown to toggle their completion status.
  • Added PluginTcl and PluginHeader syntax support which performs syntax features for TKE plugin Tcl and header code.
  • Added plugin framework support for new `on_drop` plugin action.
  • Added new `number_converter` plugin to allow converting numbers to other bases.
  • Added new `markdown_drop` plugin to support proper drag-and-drop of images and URLs in Markdown files.
  • Added `wmarkentry` and `tabbar` widgets to list of widgets available to be used within a plugin.
  • Added new `api::file::all_indices` plugin API call.
  • Added plugin framework support for new `on_theme_changed` plugin action.
  • Added enhancements to bubble up/down functionality where we will now bubble by sentence, paragraph or HTML node if one of these types is selected.
  • Added new `Edit / Select` menu which contains some menu shortcuts of some commonly used selection mode macros. These primarily exist to help in compatibility with other text editors.
  • Added ability within the theme bitmap editor to move, flip, rotate and export the image.
  • Added new `tab_activeclose` image to theming engine which will allow the theme to change the image used for the tabbar close buttons when a close button becomes active.
  • Added ability to change the reading time words per minute value within the preference's `Sidebar / Info Panel` pane.
  • Added ability to drag a file/directory from the sidebar to an external application.
  • Added support to the message area in the status bar to display content on a per editing buffer basis.
  • Added link and image formatting options to `Edit / Format` submenu.
  • Added ability to drag and drop URLs into an editing buffer that supports link formatting and automatically convert the URL to a link.
  • Added ability to drag and drop image files into an editing buffer that supports image formatting and automatically convert the file into image markup.
  • Added ability to drag and drop text/files into the user response field and the `In` entry field in the `Find in Files` panel.
  • Added ability to drag files out of the sidebar (these files can be copied, moved or linked to by external applications).
  • Added support for inserting dropped text/files in an editing buffer with multicursors enabled.
  • Added new `readmeta` syntax class which can be added to text that can be shown/hidden but can be given a more readable color than other meta syntax.
  • Added date support to themes and added display of theme date to theme manager table in preferences.
  • Added ability to drag a file into the license entry field in the theme editor export window.
  • Added ability to drag a website URL into the website entry field in the theme editor export window.
  • Added ability to drag a directory into the output directory entry field in the theme editor export window.
  • Added `api::theme::get_value` plugin API procedure.

Changes:

  • Added name of tag that was clicked to callback procedure when a syntax click event occurs.
  • Improved performance and accuracy of line number drawing when editing a document.
  • Auto-syntax determination algorithm is enhanced to find a best match based on matching pattern length.
  • If the `api::file::get_info` plugin API is called requesting the txt attribute the plugin architecture will allow the returned value to be used as a command.
  • Added `Directory` file type to information panel if directory information is being displayed.
  • If the `api::show_info` plugin API is called with a clear delay value set to 0, the message will be displayed indefinitely.
  • Changed `api::file::current_file_index` to `api::file::current_index`.
  • Removed `<>` virtual event support for text bindings.
  • Improved bitmap parser.
  • Changed block selection method with mouse to use just the Alt/Option modifier instead of Shift-Alt/Shift-Option modifiers.
  • Added an extra pixel of width and height to the close button used throughout the UI.
  • Adding syntax support for true/false keywords in Vala syntax.
  • Changed sentence motions to be comment block aware.
  • Changed cursor used in sidebar when moving/reordering files to indicate a move is occurring.
  • Increased width of search field in the preferences window.
  • Improved Markdown Table Beautifier plugin to correctly handle multi-column cells.
  • Changed formatting descriptors in syntax description files to use templates.
  • Changed how bottom panels are implemented which allow limited sidebar functionality, including drag and drop support while the panel is displayed.
  • Changed wording of text formatting options within the command launcher.
  • Improved text formatter to properly handle newlines within the format syntax (applying auto-indentation on insertion, if applicable).
  • Improved `current_line` plugin to colorize the current line when we enter embedded syntax areas.
  • Including embedded references to the `Language Reference` submenu and documentation search.
  • Updated and improved all themes.
  • Updated User Guide.
  • Updated Developer Guide.
  • Updated translations.

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed syntax highlighting issue in Markdown syntax.
  • Fixed apostrophe issue when creating specl release notes that could cause upload issues and character problems in user upgrade notes.
  • Fixed syntax highlighting issue with mixed syntaxes.
  • Fixed drag-and-drop support for 64-bit Windows.
  • Fixed issues where a Tcl error occurs during application exit that would keep the application from exiting.
  • Fixed issue with using tokenentry widget within a plugin.
  • Fixed issue with copying information panel values to the clipboard.
  • Fixed issues when code folding is disabled.
  • Fixed issues where Edit menu commands were not directed to the proper editing buffer when split view was enabled.
  • Fixed development API documentation to remove backslash characters in API procedure names.
  • Fixed plugin preference table widgets to allow the Add and Delete buttons to be not hidden by help documentation.
  • Fixed URLs for the PTWidgets documentation within the Developer Guide packages section.
  • Fixed issue where a tab is selected in the tabbar and the close button disappears while the cursor remains in the tab space.
  • Fixed issue where importing a bitmap would not cause updates to the theme editor.
  • Fixed issue with selecting the topmost paragraph that would cause the application to hang.
  • Fixed issue with selecting an outer paragraph range.
  • Fixed issue where a line would not properly wrap if there was a previous undo/redo operation performed on the line.
  • Fixed potential syntax highlighting issue when an undo/redo is performed.
  • Fixed issue where split view and bird's eye view were not changed properly when the theme is changed.
  • Fixed issue with importing and exporting a .tkethemz theme file within Windows.
  • Fixed issue with using drag and drop on macOS systems that don't have tkdnd installed on them.
  • Fixed issue with loading a locked file upon session start.
  • Fixed issue when installing a plugin with preferences which required an application restart.
  • Fixed drag and drop built-in support for macOS when TkDND is not previously installed.
  • Fixed GenericName attribute in the generated tke.desktop file.
  • Fixed translation issues with table header text in preference panels.
  • Fixed default theme colors for remote file viewer window.
  • Fixed issue when the license file `Browse...` button is clicked in the theme editor export window when text exists in the field.