Your Visual LISP editor of choice.

[mid-awe]

Hi all,

I've been using the built in VLIDE ever since I discovered that notepad was a bad idea 😉

Now I'm finding that the VLIDE leaves a lot to be desired (Mostly the code formatting anoys me).

I'm just curious if anyone is using anything else that does a good job of code highlighting and formats the code in a more intelligent way.

Or, does anyone know how to extend the lines so that they don't break in rediculous places

Trailing
     the code
          unecessarily
               down the
               page and
forcing me to manually 
                  piece each
      line back together
                  for readability?

 Thank you.

[dgorsman]

Use the Environment options to set things like line lengths.  I also turn off "Insert tabs" (uses spaces instead of \t), since tab widths can vary between editors.

[dbroad]

There is no requirement to use the formatter.  You can also adjust the code format settings if they offend.  Vlide is the only editor I use for AutoLISP. It could be a lot better but....

[mid-awe]

I like the formatter except for the line lengths.

The only other editor that I found this far is PSPAD. But; you have to set up your own color highlighting.

[hmsilva]

mid-awe,
I tried other editors, like Notepad++ or Ultraedit, but the best for debugging is Vlide, and currently is the only I use...

Henrique

[martti.halminen]

---

@mid-awe wrote:

I've been using the built in VLIDE ever since I discovered that notepad was a bad idea 😉

Now I'm finding that the VLIDE leaves a lot to be desired (Mostly the code formatting anoys me).

I'm just curious if anyone is using anything else that does a good job of code highlighting and formats the code in a more intelligent way.

---

I am only using VLIDE for running the debugger and compiling the programs, all editing I do using GNU Emacs.

It has the best support for Lisp programming I know of, and I'm not alone: in the Common Lisp culture at least 80 % of programmers use some variant of Emacs.

- code highlighting

- syntax-based formatting

- counts and higlights parentheses

- syntax-based movement commands

etc.

And if something is missing, you can add it: it is programmed in Lisp.

- In my setup I also use Slime running a Common Lisp compiler behind Emacs, so I can also get cross-reference information even for AutoLISP programs

--

[AlessiMarc'Antonio]

---

martti.halminen wrote

I am only using VLIDE for running the debugger and compiling the programs, all editing I do using GNU Emacs.

It has the best support for Lisp programming I know of, and I'm not alone: in the Common Lisp culture at least 80 % of programmers use some variant of Emacs.

- code highlighting

- syntax-based formatting

- counts and higlights parentheses

- syntax-based movement commands

etc.

And if something is missing, you can add it: it is programmed in Lisp.

- In my setup I also use Slime running a Common Lisp compiler behind Emacs, so I can also get cross-reference information even for AutoLISP programs

--

---

---

I use TextPad, does GNU Emacs support Autolisp/VisualLisp syntax?

Thanks. 

[martti.halminen]

---

@AlessiMarc'Antonio wrote:

---

martti.halminen wrote

I am only using VLIDE for running the debugger and compiling the programs, all editing I do using GNU Emacs.

It has the best support for Lisp programming I know of, and I'm not alone: in the Common Lisp culture at least 80 % of programmers use some variant of Emacs.

- code highlighting

- syntax-based formatting

- counts and higlights parentheses

- syntax-based movement commands

etc.

And if something is missing, you can add it: it is programmed in Lisp.

- In my setup I also use Slime running a Common Lisp compiler behind Emacs, so I can also get cross-reference information even for AutoLISP programs

--

---

---

I use TextPad, does GNU Emacs support Autolisp/VisualLisp syntax?

Thanks. 

---

It supports Emacs Lisp and Common Lisp, which are syntactically essentially supersets of AutoLISP, so everything works.

- You can even compile AutoLISP with a CL compiler with minor tweaks, so the syntaxes are close enough. The semantics differ slightly, and the AutoCAD-specific function definitions are missing, so the result isn't a runnable program, but enough to let Emacs know the location of every function definition etc.

[anim8er3]

I use TextPad to code my AutoLISP.

[mid-awe]

I like the Emacs idea. I only use windows at work because I have to. I prefer GNU/Linux and I use it at home as my primary OS. The idea of utilizing GNU Emacs is very interesting to me.

Thank you.

[AlessiMarc'Antonio]

Thanks Martti, I will try.

[lgabriel]

I use NOTEPAD++. Simplicity of NOTEPAD but includes automatic tabbing when writng code and it has an automatic parenthesis finder. Simply move the mouse to any parenthesis, it will change to red and the matching parenthesis (if it exists) will turn red as well.

Never used the debugger in Vlisp. Most of my code can be tested one line at a time and I rarely write something so complicated, that a debugger is needed.

Got to http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ for latest version.

[navoy]

I would say Editplus is the best text editor for all language I've ever tried.

• Easiest to create Syntax highlight file (.stx) and Autocomplete file (*.ctl or *.acp for user file). You can define single char (such as q) to type double quotes by define code below in auto complete file

#T=q
"^!"
#T=vlss
vl-string-search
#=def
(defun c:^! ()
    (princ)
)

- when you type q and press enter or spacebar will complete "|" with cursor in between.

- when you type vlss and press enter or spacebar will complete vl-string-search

- when you type def and press enter or spacebar will complete as below

(defun c:| ()
    (princ)
) 

[john.uhden]

I use TextPad.  You can install a syntax formatter contributed by Michael Puckett and set your own foreground, background, and highlight colors, plus you can match parentheses and search and replace and open multiple files so you can cut'n'paste.

All in all, it's really just a matter of getting comfortable.

Then again, I'm a ZTree addict, where I can set the file spec, search by name and content and view and gather lines of text to the clipboard.  Of course you can log multiple drives and can copy, move, delete, rename, and tag to perform activities on multiple files even over multiple folders and drives. And you can open files associated with an app.  There is virtually no size limitation.

[dbroad]

I would use another editor other than vlide if I was a genius and could spout off the correct function name and be sure of the arguments to it and know the return values every time but I end up writing and loading a line at a time and use the console to continually test the values.  The help files on functions are directly accessible as is access to the database.  No third party editors are that linked in. Since I am a full time architect and professor and only a part time programmer, I need the testing and documentation access while writing and editing.  Pretty text colorizers and syntax monitors aren't generally enough for me.

[john.uhden]

What we could all use is a vlax-ReadMyMind function, which in my case would
always return nil.

[EricStiles]

Navoy,

Could it be possible to have EditPlus show you what arguments are needed for a function after you type in a function?  

That's what I'm looking for.  I need an editor I can work on at home, where I don't have autocad, and it would be nice if I could set it up to let me know what arguments I need to add to the function that I just typed. Because I can never remember.  Also giving you a list of function names would be nice to, because I can't ever remember that either. 

Eric

[mid-awe]

I used Aptana for a while too.