Code Snippet Storage/Library/Catalog/Organizer/GinzuSwissArmyKnife

[tinjaw]

What do you use to keep your code snippets organized so you can easily find and reuse them? I realized, that in the over 15 years I have been in the software business, I have never seen or heard anybody mention a tool the used specifically used for this purpose.

I haven't really thought about it much, but as far as my wants go, it would need to be independent of any particular IDE, so I could use it with any IDE. It would be easily searchable in all the ways you would expect it to be. Preferably portable, so I could carry it on a USB stick, but need not be cross-platform. Windows-only would be fine, but cross-platform would be a plus.

I will start the usual Google search, and will report what I find, but I am curious to know if any of you already have something in mind that you use or has been recommended to you by someone.

[Target]

dunno if this is of use, but I ran across this one in the last week or so

http://www.garybeene.com/gbware/gbcodelib.htm

free for personal use, $30 for commercial use

portable version available

snippets can be downloaded as well

sadly, I've never been disciplined enough to make myself use anything like this 

[app103]

My huge quest for such a tool was how I found DC. I ended up following a link from Google to the famous note taking discussion.

I never did find exactly what I wanted, but Developer's Tips & Tricks is about as close as I have come.

I believe it is portable and can be run from a usb thumbdrive. He has both an installer version and a .zip version available.

What I like about DTT is that it doesn't store the snippets in an actual database, and it creates files within its folders with the same directory structure as in the application, with the proper file extension for the particular language of each snippet.

This makes it easy to manage your collection either manually or through the application's GUI, and I can even share the files with others quite easily from my web server. I also don't have to worry about a corrupted database destroying my entire collection. And I can copy a code file easily and drop it into a project's folder for use.

It is donationware, the author is FSL, he is a DC member, and donating does have its perks. He gives you access to the privileged users area of his site where you can download versions of any of his applications with some extra features added. (his way of thanking you) You also get to beta test new stuff before he releases it to the rest of the world.

The big bonuses you get with DTT when you become a privileged user is the ability to search, code folding for some of the languages it supports, some export options (like HTML, rtf), and an extra hotkey to restore the application from the tray.

This application has evolved quite a bit in the last year and keeps getting better & better. I have a feeling I may never find exactly what I am looking for (whatever that is) but if I wait a little longer FSL may surprise me and turn DTT into it and I can finally stop looking.

[mitzevo]

Hey tinjaw, very good topic and I hope a good discussion follows (I'm sure ).

Well for me, I use AceText, I wrote a review of it just over a year ago now.. It's basically a program that stores plain text in collections, which you can further organize into folders.

AceText is not completely aimed at code storage/snippets/templates/etc. - that is, it's not made specifically for development. But it is more than capable of being used for that purpose.

For your other questions.. AceText uses xml files for data storage, which makes parsing them easy (as Allen pointed out) if needed and AceText also has a portable version (which comes with the regular version) which installs nicely to removable media.

AceText has a lot of really cool features, such as AceType. Let's say your typing in a document and want to insert a snippet, just press your AceType hotkey, AceType will then pop up with a search box which you type your label/tag/abbreviation, when typing AceType filters out the closet match to your typed text.. then just press enter and the snippet gets inserted into the previous application.

Like I said, AceText has some really nice features, I urge you to take a look at it and decide for yourself.

Mind you, there are tons of tools for snippet/code/etc. storage, each with their own pros and cons...


You can search your collections easily, using regular expressions if need, and AceText also doubles as a good clipboard manager/extender.

[iphigenie]

I used to have a tool called webgal which was for storing snippets of web code, way back when...

It doesnt work anymore and they stopped doing it, but I wouldnt mind finding another.

I used clipcache for the same kind of usage for a while, and that worked well for a few months, but then the clipcache database got corrupted (that's a bug it had back then, quite a show stopper!) and i lost it all.

Have put some clips in my editors's collection, and in winorganizer and firefox add ons and opera notes and recenlty evernote, and online examples in local website archive... but never stuck with any long enough to reap benefits

Really ought to find one and stick with one...

[justice]

I've used Evernote in the past, then Onenote but because of this thread I checked DirectAccess and it should be possible to use this too.

It can do live-searches for any word in your snippets, invoke them by typing an abbreviation (direct access after all), and organise them by folders. It's easier than pasting. It doesn't have source code highlighters although if you need that you can always request it.

I'll copy over the snippets i have and see how it works.

[phillfri]

Try AM-Notebook. There's a freeware and pro version. This is a notebook ala Treepad. I use the pro version that allows for multiple trees of notes, which you can switch back and forth from. I use it for everything. I have separate trees for my major areas of business/interests, including program code. Each page in the notebook is either (1) an RTF document (with tables capability) or (2) a simple spreadsheet (some formulas capabilities). You can also insert links to local and network files and folders, websites, etc. Pages are saved to your hard drive or network as individual files. Can be installed on an external USB drive. Minimizes/closes to system tray if desired. Runs on Vista. I paid 30 Euros for the pro version, but its been the handiest program I've ever owned. Check out the freeware version - albeit, it doesn't have any source code specific capabilities.

[tinjaw]

It sounds like most people don't use anything, and those who do use something use a generic tool. With app being the exception, but she is not most people. I'm going to check out Developer's Tips & Tricks and gbCodeLib.

[Jammo the OrganizedFellow]

I never did find exactly what I wanted, but Developer's Tips & Tricks is about as close as I have come.

It looks like this would be the app for me as well. Just downloaded. Going to play with it this week.
Let's see how it goes?!

[wuwei23]

Some IDEs have support for snippets...but there isn't generally a way to port them between IDEs, so I tend to avoid using that functionality.

For those few here who can stomach web apps, I recommend Snipplr  .

[urlwolf]

I like synTree. Based on synPlus (so tiny), portable, open, works as a plugin for TC. You can add language files.

[kartal]

Developer's Tips & Tricks is about as close as I have come.

Looks great but no drag-drop support

[kartal]

Btw I generally use Vim+Nerdtree for browsing and studying code. For snippets I use Eclipse`s internal snippet browser and project browser.

[justice]

Just an update - I have a shared include now per language that I link in (serverside languages) in any project. That way when the shared code is updated all projects are being updated as well. see http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=14088.0 I would now recommend not to use snippets. If you plan on reusing code wrap it in a function so you can properly maintain it - write once.

Obviously this doesn't work with something like javascript because it would increase the filesize too much. Codinghorror was suggesting using hashtags for snippets but i think really they're unsustainable - if a year down the line you find a bug in your snippet then you manually will have to replace it.

[timns]

Developer's Tips & Tricks is about as close as I have come.

Looks great but no drag-drop support

It does have DnD now... just found this thread and that Dev's Tips & Tricks looks pretty good.