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Monday, July 03, 2006

UltraEdit--surprisingly good text editor

I'm trialling UltraEdit (Windows text editor) and I may end up actually purchasing this puppy ($30). There's a lot I don't like about it (find options are not sticky, built-in SFTP is clunky) but I'm finding there's a lot I do like about it as well (infinite backups to a backup directory, faster than jEdit, can integrate with JavascriptLint).

I am liking this thing more and more! It's quirky, it ain't perfect (I've heard rumors that TextMate is the Perfect Editor, but I don't have a Mac), but it's got some nifty features.


posted by Jonathan at 7/03/2006 08:05:00 p.m.

9 Comments:

  • I was using this at a shop that was strictly UE back in 2001. Doing Java at the time, I got used to column mode.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/03/2006 9:06 p.m.  

  • Hi Daniel--Right on. What are you using mostly now?

    By Blogger Jonathan, at 7/03/2006 9:15 p.m.  

  • Checkout Pspad Freeware Editor.
    For a freeware it rocks...

    By Blogger Neodawn, at 7/03/2006 10:34 p.m.  

  • Currently, vim. Since I'm coding rails apps, I don't have all the getters and setters where column mode rocked :)

    UE is a sweet piece of software with lots of goodies for programmers. Too bad I had the same troubles with SFTP.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/04/2006 4:19 a.m.  

  • neodawn--I have heard good things about PSPad!

    daniel--ah alright--vi(m), one of the Great Editors. BTW I'm working around the SFTP clunkiness by avoiding it altogether and using WinSCP to handle my SFTP. It monitors the local file for changes and updates the server automatically, so it works with any editor. Unfortunately the connection seems to die after an hour or two and I need to set things up again, but it's a fairly good solution.

    By Blogger Jonathan, at 7/04/2006 9:34 a.m.  

  • Jonathan

    I admit it, I'm biased towards UE, ever since I downloaded it about 12 years ago to do some hex editing.

    I like how easy it is to do your own syntax coloring. It's got a fairly easy to use macro capability. I can edit huge files with it (though if they're over 300-400Kb it takes a while to load.

    It's not perfect, but the price is great and IDM keeps working on it.

    By Blogger Bernard, at 8/08/2006 3:54 a.m.  

  • Hi Bernard--Great to hear you are a fan of UE. I really could not get myself to switch from jEdit--there must be something about UE that I'm missing. I'd like to try it again someday--perhaps when the next version comes out.

    By Blogger Jonathan, at 8/13/2006 10:02 p.m.  

  • I'll second the PSPad votes. I was a diehard emacs user, then swore by UE, but after all that, I've found PSPad to be near perfect.
    Oh, and it's fully "portable". It doesn't require installation and can run from a USB stick just fine. Settings are stored in an INI file, not the registry. Plus it's totally free.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/31/2006 8:31 p.m.  

  • Hm! I'll need to check out PSPad again.

    By Blogger Jonathan, at 8/31/2006 8:57 p.m.  

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