Diamond Editor, multi-platform successor to Crimson Editor

[rjbull]

From a post in the Crimson Editor Yahoo! Group:

Since development of the Crimson Editor ceased several years ago, I decided it was time to create a new project with similar features and functionality.

I am officially announcing the Diamond Editor.

Diamond is a full editor capable of running on Windows, X11, and OS X. Diamond was designed and developed in C++ and is available for the following platforms:

Windows 32 bit Windows 64 bit
Debian (Wheezy) Fedora 20 Ubuntu 14.04
OS X 10.7

Windows installers, binaries for X11, and a dmg for OS X can be downloaded from: http://sourceforge.net/projects/copperspice/files/diamond/binary/

Diamond is open source and released under the GPL. Any questions and comments can be posted on the discussion area on the SourceForge  forum: http://sourceforge.net/p/copperspice/discussion-diamond https://sourceforge.net/p/copperspice/discussion-diamond/?source=navbar ;
Thank you,

Barbara

[MilesAhead]

I'm playing around with it on Windows 8.  I clicked Column Mode in edit menu.  But I sure can't figure out how to select a column.  Most seem to work by holding Alt while dragging the mouse from the bottom up.  No matter what I do it selects by line.

The basic editor window looks interesting.  But also I notice no RegEx support in search.

I'm always on the lookout for good plain text editors.  If there's a killer feature I hope someone will tip me off to it. 

[rjbull]

I clicked Column Mode in edit menu.  But I sure can't figure out how to select a column.
The basic editor window looks interesting.  But also I notice no RegEx support in search.

Quoting part of another message in the Yahoo! Group for Crimson Editor:

By column mode I am guessing you are referring to column copy, cut, and paste. Yes, this is in Diamond however right now it works by using the keyboard, not the mouse. The mouse of course works everywhere else. This task is a bit complicated but it will get there. I wanted to announce Diamond and see how it is received.

Please feel free to download and give Diamond a spin. If you just want to read some  documentation here is a link:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/copperspice/files/diamond/binary/diamond_doc.zip/download 
https://sourceforge.net/projects/copperspice/files/diamond/binary/ Thanks for your interest.

Barbara

I tried Diamond 1.1 on Vista Home Premium last night, and found that it currently only does Unix line ends, not Windows CR/LF.  I immediately uninstalled it...  a bit unkind, perhaps, especially as it's a very young project.  I wish they'd make it no-install, so testing new versions didn't involve Windows installation tedium.

But also I notice no RegEx support in search.

Later versions of Crimson Editor (since 2002!) do have regexps; see the What's New listing on Homepage of Crimson Editor.

I had good service from Crimson Editor at work a few years back, and therefore have an affection for it.  However, I'd guess most people will point you to Notepad++.  NPP is, after all, a genuinely active project.

[MilesAhead]

Thanks for the info. I uninstalled too.  Maybe I'll check it out again later. 

[Edvard]

Interested because I can't find one damn editor on Linux that will do what Notepad++ or TextPad will do.  They each do bits and pieces of what I need, and the rest can be accomplished with sed and whatnot, but dammit, I just want one text editor that is more than a notepad, and less than an IDE.  I'd heard that Sublime Text can do everything I need, but the price of admission is a bit steep for me.  Diamond won't compile for me, so trying the binary...

[MilesAhead]

Have you looked at Vim?  I thought it was a Windows port of vi but apparently it is multiplatform

]

portability

Vi is only available on Unix. Vim works on MS-Windows, Macintosh, Amiga, OS/2, VMS, QNX and other systems. And also on every Unix system.

[Tuxman]

Have you looked at Vim?  I thought it was a Windows port of vi but apparently it is multiplatform

Actually it started as an Amiga port.

I just want one text editor that is more than a notepad, and less than an IDE. 

+1 for Vim then.

[Edvard]

+1 for Vim then.

No.
If I wanted suggestions for a text-mode editor, I already have it in Nano.  Vim and Emacs both drive me nuts.  Vim more.  I'm talking about a nice graphical text editor with bookmarking, regex search, column edit mode, and some other things I miss from the above-mentioned windows editors.  I'm told that Kate does all I need, but !@#$%&* if I'm going to download over half of KDE just to run the flippin' editor.

Anyways, the Diamond binary ran here, looks ok, but Crimson Editor it ain't (yet).  I'll keep an eye on it.

[Tuxman]

I'm talking about a nice graphical text editor with bookmarking, regex search, column edit mode, and some other things I miss from the above-mentioned windows editors.

... which is what Vim provides.

[Jibz]

The thing with Vim is that it requires you are willing to spend the time and effort to learn to work entirely differently than you are used to. It may be able to do most anything you need, but actually doing it may be pretty hard until you spend the time learning how (which can be said about all editors, but in Vims case there is more learning involved).

I would try installing Sublime Text 3 if I were you. The trial does not have a time limit, all you get is a popup every now and then when saving. It works just the same on Linux as it does on Windows, and it is a very good text editor.

I probably wouldn't buy it though, before you feel confident development is still ongoing.

[mwb1100]

Interested because I can't find one damn editor on Linux that will do what Notepad++ or TextPad will do.

I haven't used it, but someone I work with uses UltraEdit for Linux (UEx) and seems to like it.  My understanding is that now an UltraEdit license allows you to use it for Windows, Mac or Linux, so if you already have an UltraEdit license, you can use UEx (maybe after paying for an upgrade).

[xtabber]

According to the developer, the 32 bit version of EditPad Pro runs quite well on Linux under WINE.  Details here.

[MilesAhead]

The thing with Vim is that it requires you are willing to spend the time and effort to learn to work entirely differently than you are used to.

The learning curve is what puts people off.  I used vi just enough to start doing repetitive tasks programmatically.  But it requires a commitment to keep your head into it.  I'm sure now there are many more Windows style editors for use in Linux.  It's easier to dodge learning vi or emacs or whatever. 

[Tuxman]

Good luck using a Windows style editor when your X won't start and you'll have to fix config files on the terminal when you never dug into vi/Vim or similar editors.

[MilesAhead]

Good luck using a Windows style editor when your X won't start and you'll have to fix config files on the terminal when you never dug into vi/Vim or similar editors.

I agree.  Sometimes those little x applets that configure stuff don't work.  Even if x runs it's good if you can remember how to fix the startup scripts under /etc with a console editor.  I bet many newer Linux users just reinstall when it gets hosed.  If you mention a directory named /etc or the fstab file they give you a vacant stare. 

[Tuxman]

This kind of "evolution" is actively encouraged by distributors though.

[MilesAhead]

This kind of "evolution" is actively encouraged by distributors though.

Now if they just made Windows so it worked without having to know anything. 

[Cuffy]

Interested because I can't find one damn editor on Linux that will do what Notepad++ or TextPad will do.  They each do bits and pieces of what I need, and the rest can be accomplished with sed and whatnot, but dammit, I just want one text editor that is more than a notepad, and less than an IDE.  I'd heard that Sublime Text can do everything I need, but the price of admission is a bit steep for me.  Diamond won't compile for me, so trying the binary...

My needs for an editor, I'm sure, vary greatly from yours, but I have tried most of the ones mentioned.
I used Notepad++ for awhile but dropped it for Notepad2. Customize the menu bar (I like the X for delete at the very end)
Notepad handles html, highlights, etc., but it sure would be nice to highlight javascript and delete it ALL!
Yea, and fix lazyload.!

[Edvard]

Good luck using a Windows style editor when your X won't start and you'll have to fix config files on the terminal when you never dug into vi/Vim or similar editors.

Very true, which is why I use Nano for quick config file editing.  I only use a graphic editor when I'm intending to work graphically.  The best way to put it is, I use a text-mode editor when I mean business, and a GUI editor when I'm crafting art (scripting, programming without an IDE, hand-coding SVGs, cleaning up mp3 playlists, etc).  Two different mentalities, two different tools.

[Tuxman]

Geany? 

I talked to a Linux freshman once. He complained that geany doesn't work on his ssh. 

[Edvard]

It wouldn't, unless he did X session forwarding over SSH.  Geany is graphical, so you'd either do that or VNC.  You want text editing in a SSH session?  That's what vim/emacs/pico/nano/ed are for.  Maybe that was the point; he's a freshman, so he wouldn't know. 

[Cuffy]

I installed it. It works!
There ain't no Delete button on the tool bar!
For a two-fingered it ain't!

That's not why I called.
If the amount of information flowing, in all media, is any indication, the world will survive without another text editor.
A web page may run to 125kb and deliver a whopping 5 or 6kb of useable information.

So, the real reason I called.
With your talent and experience, I would suggest that your time would be better spent developing a tool to reduce that 125kb byte count back to 5 or 6kb.
I realize, of course, that the 125kb is necessary because there are many people to be paid and that pay is generated by that extra 120kb.
BUT, once I've read the page, subscribed to several sites, a couple of newsletters and purchased a tube of wrinkle remover, that extra 120kb has done it's job. And, I want to save the page! Tutorials are nice! Any information of enlightenment about the registry I rathole too. Now, my question is???
To save a 5 or 6kb tutorial to disk, must I also save that 120kb of glitzey, flashing, glowing, and sometimes offense, material?
I say not!
And then think about the cloud. Ninety percent of the material going to the various cloud storage facilities is wasting space.
Does the cloud have infinite stage available? And the time to retrieve stuff from the cloud that's 90% worthless.

In lieu of inserting ads, etc., in web pages that will self destruct upon download, I'm suggesting that you, yes you, develop a reverse engineering tool! A reverse editor? Take out everything meant for FB, Twitter, and all the others and the CSS, .js, and php stuff. Meta data gotta go too!
A selective tool...... highlight a meta data insertion and allow me to delete it. Jump to the next insertion, another choice, jump again. Finished with meta data, move to javascript.... same drill. php start at the top and use the same drill. Always a choice to delete left to the user.
Seems like a piece of cake to me but you have to remember, I don't know nothing and it's taken years to prove it!

There's no hurry. It's the weekend. Wait until tomorrow to start!


(Please don't thank me, it was nothing!)

[rjbull]

With your talent and experience, I would suggest that your time would be better spent developing a tool to reduce that 125kb byte count back to 5 or 6kb.

Edlin

[Cuffy]

You scoff but I wrote some of the finest batch files I ever wrote on Edlin!

and, it's not well known, but Finnegan reported the biggest train derailment ever using Edlin.
Off again...
On again...
Gone again...
Finnegan

Edlin was simple and effective.
It was a vast improvement over the leaky, ballpoint pen, that many of had to endure.