Modernizing the Blender Text Editor - a list of ideas

Archive User Feedback
1

Header:

  • Documents/text-blocks in tabs instead of drop down. When too many tabs/text-blocks exist, maybe make the last one an overflow/dropdown tab.

Text:

  • Better save/load of multi-file add-ons ex. open folder/save all tabs.

  • ‘project’ style system for single or multi-file add-ons, with easy addon loading/unloading (run and register/unregister)

  • Open Recent Files.

  • Add snippets/templates.

View:

  • Show whitespaces - tabs & spaces.

  • Show indentation lines.

  • Show highlight similar to current selection.

  • API highlighting.

  • Add bold, italics and underline(for ex. screenplays).

  • Add optional leading(distance between lines).

Edit:

  • Various bookmark functions.

  • Various folding functions.

  • Find/Replace in horizontal panel. All in current document/All in all documents.

  • Separate hotkey for search (Ctrl + F) from showing the toolbar (Ctrl + T maybe?)

  • Add ‘whole word’ option to search

  • Ctrl + F auto inserts selection in search box.

  • After Ctrl-F, press enter to find next target, repeatedly pressing enter will repeat find next.

  • Add search direction.

  • Text Auto Complete using API, and not just in current document strings.

  • Insert selected variable in new line: ’ print("Variable name: "+variable)’

  • Insert: Current timecode in frames or in SMPTE - for making notes.

Format:

  • Auto insert/remove start/end brackets.

  • Trim trailing/leading Whitespaces.

  • Convert to various cases like upper case, CamelCase or snake_case.

  • Join/split lines.

Templates:

  • Organize templates in sub-folders which are translated into sub-menus, to avoid a very long menu.

  • Templates should be updated to use blender’s class naming requirements (panels and operators)

  • Handler example is missing.

  • Basic add-on essentials template - well-commented showing bl_info, register/unregister, proper way to register classes, naming conventions for classes, maybe shortcut registrations are also missing.

  • Could the Python API be exposed somehow in the UI? And could the functions be linked to the templates utilizing those functions?

  • Many templates could benefit from more detailed comments, especially describing in detail the function the template performs.

Python Console:

  • Show all messages from System Console in Python Console.

  • Better error messages ex. in what line is the indentation error?

Tools:

  • Pep8 check.
  • API/Python auto complete/suggestions.

Text editor add-ons:
https://blenderartists.org/t/how-would-you-show-some-love-for-the-blender-text-editor/1163857

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