If you are one of the users who like to configure and more or less customize the tools to work with, i searched for alternatives too. A simple, but already old one i stumbled across- and i only mention it because thinBasic is supported was ConText. The Keyword-base would need a refresh since its 10 years old or more. Its a good try-out and a lightweight-experimental sandbox-editor where you can not do too much wrong and it's good to gather some success-fulfilled experience if you want to customize an advanced editor to your needs.
So for alternatives i could recommend 3 editors- the most known by everyone is Notepad++ but even i did not finish the Autocomplete.xml list yet. Also FunctionList is a hard work if you want the subitems of a class (functions of a type) properly ordered on the codetree. Also customizing the menu and to shell a thinBasic-script requires some tricks as involving clipboard. So recommend to use a macro- store clipboard-content before calling a script to run - later restore clipboard content.
Another pretty nice alternative IDE is SynWrite. While there were rumors about the programmer to have changed to join coda-editor-project he seems to have returned and obviously continued after long break to maintain Synwrite.
Very easy to configure and customize ( after configuring Notepad++ or Scite (what a hell) - this is really a walk in the park.
It needs basic knowledge of RegEx to customize and uses python-flavour. It even includes python and makes Synwrite to be able to program itself. Multiple lexers are usable at the same time. Means to thinBasic: it could split the lexers according to modules or included languages as ASM or O2 and within the code (or if Uses "UI", "TBGL") it would load lexers for O2-Basic, UI or TBGL-modules. RegEx are way eaysier to use than Notepad++ (since npp has quite a few bugs and special behaviours) or scite ( where at all could one enter it?)
And my late discovered alternate IDE suggest: RJ TextEditor.
It's - i guess a guy from northern europe who developed - and still is improving it.
It's a very sophisticated Texteditor- the first i've found out with it was that it required only a click to run a thinbasic-script.
Ok- its just starting it inside the implemented explorer- but no other editor where i've found it that easy.
It enables multiple lexers usage and some other features that i found make synwrite already stand out
- but this one stands out from the outstanding-
It provides implemented editors to almost everything - even to cusomize it (syntax, highlighting etc.menus - less RegEx in foreground but in the end it has it all.
It {includes|uses} "fastscript" - a scripting language that is one language but offers 4 different kinds of syntax to customize the editor - so as you prefer basic, java, c++ or pascal-syntax: you can choose what dialect you like to use for configuring this editor talk to it.
Rickard's Editor also provides an up-to date offline help-file separate from the download and if you have not tried it-
it's about time.
Anyway its a difficult decision:
+ Easy first time handling and automatic fool-proofness, auto-saves & backups pretty stable, just to edit scripts only and often use other kind of text too? 2 tabs at same time to edit your code serves? You're happy if creating macros is supported and you know to use them to your advantage? Then grab Notepad++
- but beginners will struggle to configure it for some mega-compatible programming language as thinBasic because we have many different rules and syntax. Notepad++ is not yet able to handle 2 keywords as 1 expression. In some boxes of the configurator the new approach to unite 2 keywords by putting them into quotes works- in the neighbouring box the same approach does not work. The count of keywords for the lexer is limited. You can choose % as a general prefix to avoid limitations and speed issues because it will have problems to handle more than 4500 numeral equates that thinBasic brings.
But it's quite usable.
+ simple to configure, much more settings and possibilities to customize than notepad++ and whatever your plans might be- there is a way to achieve it in SynWrite. Also many more tabs and tools open next to each other, you might edit- half a dozen scripts displayed at the same time and have more- self created toolbars or own features implemented to the editor.
-need some more time to find around than in npp, but after just looking at scite its like a beam of light in darkness . At a certain point you will not get further to customize it if you're not firm in python or don't know how to substitute a missing knowledge about python but there are forums with users that know. And there's google. Google knows it all.
+ RJ TextEdit - you can find all required help offline in one verbose file. And still there's the option to ask questions in the dedicated forum - about the editor itself or about the scripting language.
I did not get to count how many scripts at once can be edited. Nor how many tools, external helpfiles or ways to run a tB-Script can be implemented. Enough to serve all needs i would say. Fully customizable. As synwrite it offers to configure complete menus and toolbars including custom icons - the usage of multiple lexers at same time which will not run into a limit because its smart to load only required keyword-databases according to your setup.
- so many options and possibilities, you will never finish if your goal is perfection. Some of the menus in the provided customizer-tools-collection are bit misleading if there use is meant to a certain language only. But on the other hand - you always find new ways of using it when you customize it to do that what you thought it would do.
Scite?
- difficult in everything- no idea where to start or how to proceed- still getting surprised - but for beginners and intermediate NO WAY. Do not look for Scite if you're not a proven genius or moody sometimes. It will frustrate you and endangers your pc's health because you might throw something...
You should be better than advanced - and in that case i suggest: program your own editor.
You could extract the scintilla textcontrol only or use richtext-fields (big burden) or create own controls using openGL, DirectDraw or DirectX and start from scratch. Or try one of the above
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