TextEditee

A professional vim-style terminal code editor built with Python 3.12+

Features

✨ Modal Editing - Full vim-style modal editing (Normal, Insert, Visual, Command modes)
⌨️ Vim Keybindings - Comprehensive vim keybindings for efficient text editing
🎨 Syntax Highlighting - Multi-language syntax highlighting powered by Pygments
↩️ Undo/Redo - Unlimited undo/redo with action grouping
🔍 Search & Replace - Powerful search with regex support
📋 Clipboard Integration - Seamless system clipboard integration
🎯 Line Numbers - Optional line number display
⚡ Fast & Lightweight - Efficient gap buffer implementation
🌈 Themes - Multiple color schemes
📦 Cross-Platform - Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Installation

From Binary (Recommended)

Download the latest release for your platform:

• Windows: Download and run TextEditee-Setup.exe
• macOS: Download and open TextEditee.dmg
• Linux: Download texteditee binary or install via package manager

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/texteditee.git
cd texteditee

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run the editor
python -m src.texteditee.main [filename]

Install as Python Package

pip install -e .
texteditee [filename]

Usage

Basic Commands

# Open a file
texteditee myfile.txt

# Open editor without a file
texteditee

Vim Keybindings

Normal Mode

Navigation:

• h, j, k, l - Move left, down, up, right
• w, b, e - Word forward, backward, end
• 0, $, ^ - Line start, end, first non-blank
• gg, G - First line, last line
• {number}G - Go to line number

Editing:

• i, a - Insert before/after cursor
• I, A - Insert at line start/end
• o, O - Open line below/above
• x - Delete character
• dd - Delete line
• D - Delete to line end
• yy - Yank (copy) line
• p, P - Paste after/before

Undo/Redo:

• u - Undo
• Ctrl+r - Redo

Search:

• / - Search forward
• ? - Search backward
• n, N - Next/previous match

Visual Mode:

• v - Character-wise visual mode
• V - Line-wise visual mode

Command Mode

Press : to enter command mode:

• :w - Save file
• :w filename - Save as filename
• :q - Quit (fails if unsaved changes)
• :q! - Force quit (discard changes)
• :wq or :x - Save and quit
• :e filename - Open file
• :{number} - Go to line number
• :s/pattern/replacement/ - Substitute on current line
• :{start},{end}s/pattern/replacement/ - Substitute on range

Insert Mode

• Esc - Return to normal mode
• Backspace - Delete previous character
• Enter - New line
• Tab - Insert 4 spaces

Configuration

Settings

Use :set commands:

• :set number - Show line numbers
• :set nonumber - Hide line numbers

Themes

Available themes:

• default - Classic terminal colors
• monokai - Monokai color scheme

Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+
• pip
• PyInstaller (for building binaries)
• NSIS (Windows, for installer)
• dpkg-deb (Linux, for DEB packages)
• rpmbuild (Linux, for RPM packages)
• hdiutil (macOS, for DMG)

Build Instructions

Windows

cd installers
build_windows.bat

Output: dist\TextEditee-Setup.exe

Linux

cd installers
chmod +x build_linux.sh
./build_linux.sh

Output: dist/texteditee

macOS

cd installers
chmod +x build_macos.sh
./build_macos.sh

Output: dist/texteditee

Architecture

TextEditee follows clean architecture principles:

• Core - Buffer management, cursor, modes, viewport
• Input - Keyboard handling, command parsing, key bindings
• UI - Terminal rendering, themes, status line
• Features - Syntax highlighting, search, undo/redo, clipboard
• FS - File operations, buffer management

Key Design Patterns

• Gap Buffer - Efficient text editing with O(1) insertions
• Command Pattern - Undo/redo and key bindings
• Strategy Pattern - Different editing modes
• Singleton Pattern - Clipboard and configuration

Development

Running Tests

pytest tests/

Code Quality

# Format code
black src/

# Type checking
mypy src/

# Linting
ruff check src/

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by Vim and Neovim
• Built with Blessed for terminal handling
• Syntax highlighting by Pygments

Why TextEditee?

Because Python can be a great choice for almost any use case, including building professional-grade terminal editors. TextEditee proves that Python's ecosystem and modern language features make it suitable for creating fast, efficient, and user-friendly development tools.