What is your favorite Editor to write code in Inform6? Actually I use Notepad++ and I am quite happy. But perhaps here are some other tipps;=)
With best wishes
Thomas
I use Notepad++ exclusively. I used to use Atom, and still have it installed on one machine, but don’t use it. I just find Notepad++ to cover all my needs, it’s easy to work with and just hassle-free.
I’m currently using a dark background and the Inform 6 mode for Notepad++. I set tab to mean tab, and a tab stop to be four spaces.
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I’ve never released anything, but I’ve been writing Inform 6 code in Kate for something like 15 years.
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Thank you very much, then I’m on the right track here ;=)
I just managed to automate compiling and starting Frotz with the run command and this is really great.
How do you set Inform 6 as the language? It doesn’t appear in my menu under Settings / Languages?
Thomas
I use Kate. Has colorising for all the “big three” of the aughties, Inform 6, TADS (2 and 3) and Hugo.
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You need to install it. Inform 6 support in Notepad++
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Visual Studio Code
Syntax highlighting is good and the terminal view at the bottom of the screen facilitates compiling and other administrative tasks such as saving and backups.
I use it in Windows 11 and RPi Raspbian.
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I’m an old-school Unix nerd who has used Linux on his personal systems since the mid-90s. I went from nvi to elvis to vim and now I’m using neovim, but always in a terminal. I usually set up a Makefile so that I can just enter the :mak command from my editor and if inform6 finds a syntax error of some sort, it will take me right to that line.
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albeit I’m on the emacs side of The Divide, I have looked at this specific nvim coloring, and there’s a very interesting detail: its syntax coloring supports Inform 5 !
(notice that Nearby is handled correctly)
Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.
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For the vim/neovim users following along, the trick to the line-number thing is to run inform6 -E1 so that you use the “Microsoft” style of compiler error output (which is also the GNU standard).
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I’ve been using Textpad for years and see no reason to change. You can download a syntax colouring file for Inform 6, though I extended it a lot. I can do everything I need to do from within the editor using custom commands. All require just a single mouse click on a menu item or a keyboard shortcut. I can compile to Inform 6 or Glulx using the standard library, do all the blorb stuff, compile to z3 or z5 using PunyInform, extract Inform 6 strings to use in ZAbbevMaker, run the compiled z-code or glulx game and even open the DM4 as a chm file.
The single most valuable thing is that you can click on a compile error or warning and it takes you straight to that line of code. The whole process is extremely quick.
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Thinking on, perhaps is wise pointing that also the other side of The Divide (that is, EMACS…) supports Inform 5 in its syntax coloring:
As usual “Nearby” is the test point for inf5 support.
Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.
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This works fine for me! Thank you!
Not sure why Nearby would be a standard test point for Inform 5 support, considering it’s supported by the Inform 6 compiler.
While I did use Inform 5 for a while before Inform 6 came out, I can’t remember any of the differences.
The biggest differences were behind-the-scenes in ways that I wouldn’t expect to show up in syntax highlighting. The whole system of classes, for example, was introduced in I6; in I5, iirc, “classes” were just handled with flags (container, supporter, animate).
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Frederick, IIRC Nearby was deprecated in early 6, and dropped out around 6.3x…
Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.
No, it’s still there.
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For reasons I don’t fully understand (mostly stubbornness), I’ve resisted using IDEs for many years now. So on Windows I’ve been using Notepad++ with @johnbrown’s excellent syntax highlighting package and a couple of custom NPPExec rules so I can compile from within the editor.
Recently I realized that I was just creating my own IDE with extra steps, so I got over myself and installed VScode. It’s been a revelation. It does everything. There’s a great extension for Inform 6, although I’m not sure if/how well it handles PunyInform.
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