Blender Python API Code Autocomplete Notepad++ or Scite?

Coding Python Support
1

There was a project back in 2011 for Notepad++ (only Windows) for Blender 2.5.
Should be there a new version (2.6x) for Notepad++ and / or Scite(crossplatform)

2

I use Programmer’s Notepad.

3

I use Eclipse with pydev, the only working solution for me to debug python scripts in blender.

4

Hm, no more opinions about this? I think Scite is best for some reasons
Also Notepad++ uses Scintilla and is made with it but has even more featurss (ftp, …)

5

I am using Scite already a long time, but do not know about completion of Python
now reading its help more carefully it seems to be very very much customizable …
Will see if it works too with Python32 … :wink:

X3DModels, do you have already a completeion file for (blender) python? Share it please.

6

Currently not, but I will write a file for Scite if there is enoguh interest of Scite users for this.

Also please vote for Scite if yo want the completion file later for Scite

7

if you ask me
the auto completion stuff should be integrated in the blender text editor itself

chances are big that you didn’t ask me :slight_smile:

btw: i am also using eclipse and pydev
see http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?228734

8

The Api-generator for Python 3.2 works nicely and in the (newest) Scite too :wink:
Now generating the analogue stuff for Blender Python Api … will see.

EDIT
And auto-completion works too very nice

9

Do not forget to vote =) I am investigating currently what can be done also directly with the blender text editor as an additional alternative.

10

I used to be a notepad++ fan, but after reading enough rave review I started using Sublime Text 2. I will never go back. It’s so powerful, you can write scripts in python, Mac/PC/Linux. Nettuts has a good review of the some of the powerful tools (Multi-select, Vi command, etc). It’s not free, but has an unlimited evaluation period that just reminds you now and then. After awhile I didn’t hesitate to buy it.

I’ve thought about trying to put together a plugin for it that pulls info from the API docs with the intention of using it for Autocomplete and snippets. If I only had more time in the day to do the stuff I want!

I wonder if it’s possible to create a generic updated library of API commands(pulled from the online api docs), formatted to make it easy to import autocomplete/snippets for multiple packages? Like an XML doc or google docs excel sheet. Does that make any sense?

11

Blender’s text editor is a piece of garbage. vim+exhuberant-c-tags is great. And, yes, the API docs nearby.

12

I also use Notepad++. This is just perfect because it is absolutely free. It has many features that assist in editing and building prgrams. Notepad plus plus support many language like Java, PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C/C++ etc which is the most exciting feature.

13

Well, no more opinions?

14

This is exactly the point:

I am also exclusively an Emacs user, and not just out of habit. It’s simply that powerful, and I always return to it after dabbling in other disappointing text editors (of which Notepad++ is one of many).

Too bad there hasn’t been much response here. Maybe most people haven’t been exposed to a truly good text editor to care. But when you find one, it’s like night and day!

15

Opinions and polls don’t write code (or whatever is needed to get this to work).

16

if you ask me
the auto completion stuff should be integrated in the blender text editor itself
+1

Opinions and polls don’t write code (or whatever is needed to get this to work).
+1

i think the focus should be to get blender’s text editor to a good state where one can use it.

ah, and i use ms visual studio 2010 shell and python tools to do the coding, much much better solution.

17

That’s a lot of development for something that will almost certainly be done better by third party software. Think about how many programs only try to be a text editor and nothing more, and yet still do a miserable job at it. It’s hard to design even a satisfactory text editor! Are Blender’s developers, who are trying to develop a hugely diverse computer animation code, going to do better at designing a text editor?

I actually think the built-in version is decent. But the difference between a decent text editor and a really good one is an ungodly amount of development time. And in the end, I think that most people working on large Blender coding projects will probably still want to use a really powerful standalone text editor anyway.

18

So you mean it makes no sense to write an extension for some text editors or even further develop the blender editor?

19

Probably a small degree of miscommunication all round. :slight_smile:

There’s a finite amount of time, and it’s good to try to think about getting the most bang for your developer buck. I think it would be reasonable for:

  1. The Blender developers to spend a modest amount of effort improving the Blender editor to help people who are working on small projects.

  2. Someone to write an extension to a powerful existing text editor to to help people who are working on large projects.

What I don’t think is a good idea: Expecting Blender’s editor to ever be at the level of a truly powerful standalone text editor.

20

So yes, I love your idea of writing an extension to an existing text editor. But I think you’ll have to work hard to get wide acceptance, because it will require everyone to use a particular editor (of your choice).

The benefits of having Blender API autocomplete are far outweighed by all the other aspects of a text editor. Autocomplete would be like the cherry on top of a sundae (i.e. a top-notch text editor). No one is going to eat a stale piece of bread (most text editors), just because it has a cherry on top.

I wonder if there is a standard way of doing this that could support lots of text editors at once, for minimal extra development effort? Or are the methods for developing extensions so disparate between the best text editors as to make it infeasible?