A few users have asked about the mechanics of submitting a macro script to our Downloads area. The easiest way to do this is to go to the Add download page of the Downloads area and fill out the form. If you want to upload your macro to the jEdit Community server instead of supplying your own link, leave the URL empty and send your source file as an email attachment to John Gellene. Now you have no excuse, so let's see your macros!

The changes are as follows:

• The EditBus plugin has been dissolved, and all classes have been moved to the ErrorList plugin. So you must remove any dependencies on "EditBusPlugin" from your plugin's property file.
  
• All ErrorSource API classes have been moved to the "errorlist" package; so you will need to add "import errorlist.*;" where necessary.
  
• To register an error source, you must now call:
  ErrorSource.registerErrorSource(errorSource);
  Instead of
  EditBus.addToBus(errorSource);
EditBus.addToNamedList(ErrorSource.ERROR_SOURCES_LIST,errorSource);

New Features

• MacOS plugin bundled (Kris Kopicki)
  
  
  
  • jEdit exits cleanly when Command+Q is pressed
    
  • Files created or associated with jEdit can now be opened from the Finder by double-clicking on them, or dragging them to the jEdit icon
    
  • jEdit is assigned as the creator of new files
    
  
  
• A few Alt-key shortcuts added for commonly-used commands so that you don't have to move your fingers all over the keyboard:
  
  
  
  • A+i, A+k: prev, next line
    
  • A+j, A+l: prev, next character

• Run_Script.bsh - Runs script using interpreter based upon buffer's editing mode (by default, determined using file extension). This macro was recently revised to handle paths containing spaces correctly under Windows.


• Add_Import.bsh - Adds an import statement to the beginning of a Java source file and returns the editing caret to the starting location.


• Clip_Get_and_Set.bsh - Creates get() and set() methods from variables contained in selected text. This macro works by grabbing text on the lines of the selected text and parsing it to get the first two tokens that are not contained in the macro's global string variable 'modifiers'. It then copies simple get() and set() methods to the clipboard.

First, I decided that I would do without the help documentation and the "Tip of the day" feature. Opening jedit.jar with a zip file utility, I removed all of the files in the /doc directory and all of the HTML tip files. The resulting jedit.jar shrunk to 986KB. Not bad for a start.

Next, I looked at the edit modes in the /modes directory. What would I really need on the road? I narrowed the selection down to the following: beanshell, c, cplusplus, html, java, javascript, perl, php, python, text, xml and xsl. The largest price paid was for the php mode: the file was 97KB, over four times the size of the next largest. Maybe someday we'll have a php-lite mode, but I decided to keep it in.

Some of the databases have been uploaded to the jEdit Community server, while others are available through download links posted by the person who compiled the database. Because the databases are not the conventional `type` of compiled binary, issues regarding licensing and distribution could be raised by the authors of the code base. We do not offer any view on whether those issues actually exist or how they might be resolved, but we have decided to take a conservative, practical approach to the uploading of CodeAid databases.

• We will accept for uploading CodeAid databases derived from software issued under an Open Source license.
• We will accept download links to other servers for CodeAid databases where the code base is subject a "community" `type` license or some other license that permits distribution of source code by parties other than the copyright holder.
• Ultimately It is the responsibility of the person mantaining the download link (and, of course, anyone downloading the database) to make sure that use of a database is permitted.

Please note that it's a bit difficult to describe the behaviour if you are not that used to it. Just install it into your system and try it out (see below).

The plugin is available in source form in jEdit's CVS repository.
A pre-compiled binary can be found at the IQ Computing web site or in the beta plugins download area on the jEdit Community web site.

To install the binary Jar file, just copy it into jEdit's "jars" directory, then restart jEdit.

• Under jEdit 3.2.2 and prior versions, the QuickNotepad plugin had a separate class, QuickNotepadDockable, implementing the DockableWindow interface. The class's methods delegated actions to the plugin's top-level visible component, a class derived from JPanel called QuickNotepad. The DockableWindow interface is deprecated in jEdit 4.0, so this class was eliminated. If the top-level component had implemented the DockableWindow interface, it would have been necessary to remove the implements statement and eliminate the getName() and getComponent() methods of that in the plugin class (unless, of course, the plugin itself requires them).

Because they are already available with jEdit 3.2.2, these macros will not be featured in the "Latest Downlaods" report. They have been revised to work with jEdit 4.0 where necessary and contain their own documentation. A group of six search macros from version 3.2.2 that work together are available in a single archive as the "Find Occurence" macro package.

These additions bring the current number of macros in our Downlaods database to 82 (not counting multiple macros bundled in packages).

• BeanShell_Scratch_Pad.bsh - this macro provides a multi-line text area for entering and testing BeanShell scripts.


• Build_CDBB_Database.bsh - this macro from Tom Gutwin automates the building of a CodeAid database file.


• ChangeUIFonts.bsh - based on code written by Dirk Moebius, this macro changes display fonts used by jEdit and most dockable plugins.


• EditBus_Components.bsh - this macro writes a list of EditBus components to the current editing buffer.


• EditBus_Viewer.bsh - adapted from a deprecated plugin, this macro provides a graphical list of components attached to the EditBus.

• CharacterMap 1.0.4: 1.0.3 was broken: fixed "Character Map" menu item; requires jEdit 3.0final and JDK 1.1
• Tags 1.0.1: fixed bug with reordering a newly added tag index file; tag file list is now stored as a set of numbered properties; requires jEdit 3.2final and JDK 1.1

Notable changes from jEdit 3.2.2 include the new Buffer class (which is no longer derived from the Swing Document class) and changes in the Plugin API that will simplify the writing and maintenance of plugins.

The javadocs distribution will be updated with successive developement release of jEdit 4.0.

This release has a lot of new features, but is also likely to be very buggy, and the documentation has not been updated for any of the new goodies yet. Also, a number of plugins (including mine) are broken by this release. Take care and have fun.

I would like to release jEdit 4.0pre2 two weeks from now, along with an updated set of plugins at the same time. There will then be a pre3 release at the start of December, right before I move back to New Zealand, where I will buy a new computer and switch to Java 1.3 as my primary JDK. 4.0pre4 will follow soon after, and this release will finally drop 1.1 compatibility.

• CharacterMap 1.0.3: fixes an incompatibility with the upcoming jEdit 4.0pre1; requires jEdit 3.0final and JDK 1.1



• HartMathPlugin 0.7.pre17: initial Plugin Central release; Fold() function added; new symbol attributes NHoldAll, NHoldRest, NHoldFirst added in com\hartmath\expression\HSymbol.java; requires jEdit 3.2.1, Console 3.0, EditBus 1.1, ErrorList 1.1, and JDK 1.2



• InfoViewer 1.0: no longer dependent on EditBus plugin (plugins that used the message org.gjt.sp.jedit.msg.ViewURL from the EditBus plugin should now use public static void InfoViewerPlugin.openURL(View,String) directly); the internal (Java/Swing driven) browser is now dockable into jEdit's view (Use this to create a HTML preview pane, when editing HTML files); new options for automatic update of the current page of the internal browser: update on buffer switch, on buffer save, periodically (Use this to watch a stock ticker, or to sync your edit buffer with the preview pane automatically); some other minor enhancements; bugfix: "Edit current URL" didn't work if URL had an anchor; requires jEdit 3.1final and JDK 1.1

To register, you need only supply an email address for receipt of the newsletter. You may register more than once to send copies of the newsletter to multiple addresses. You can select whether to receive the newsletter in HTML or plain text format. You can also customize the contents of your own copy of the newsletter by specifying the `type`s and number of postings contained in your email.

This new feature is available only to registered members of jEdit Community. Registration at jEdit Community is free and also allows you to specify the display theme of the web site and leave messages for other members.

Like nearly every software project, jEdit is built from its source code using what is called a "make" or "makefile" system. These terms come from the original "make" utility that was created for use on the UNIX operating system; there are now a variety of makefile utilities available for all operating systems. Besides the source code and related resources, a makefile system has two main elements. The first is a "makefile", a plain text file that specifies the steps necessary to build the application, such as the invocation of a compiler, an object code linker or an archiving program. The makefile also describes the dependencies among the final product, intermediate files and the underlying source code. This file will be written in a special format designed to satisfy the requirements of the second major element, the "make" utility.

The jEdit Community web site now has a moderated, Interactive FAQ facility where you can post questions about installing and using jEdit and submit answers to your own questions or to questions submitted by others. This new feature, developed especially for jEdit Community, will allow users to help develop a question and answer base for a static FAQ document as well as for general reference. We hope you will take advantage of this new service and let us know any comments or suggestions you have about it.

Based on the recent survey regarding message boards and mailing lists, and a review of message board traffic, we have made a few small changes to the message boards.

As our base of users increases, we hope to receive more contributions of news items, articles and downloads to share with everyone. There is an enormous amount of knowledge and sophistication among so many of our users. It would be terrrfic if you could spend a little time sharing it with others online. That's why we called it "jEdit Community".

As always, let us know if there is something you want to see added (or subtracted!) from the site, and especially if you would like to contribute content.

A new beta plugin from Calvin Yu awaits you in the Downloads section. The Docker plugin will automatically expand and collapse a view's tabbed panes based on mouse and focus movements.