Lexing Plugin version 3.5

Hello,

A new version of the Lexing Plugin from VanHoek Software is available and supports 32- and 64-bit platforms for Windows 7 and up, MacOSX 10.7 and up and Xojo 2013 and up. The plugin does not support the carbon flavor anymore, unless someone really wants that flavor; in that case please inform us. Lexing plugin sits on top of the Scintilla library, version 3.6.1, released earlier this month. It is a text editor, particularly suited for programmers, because text/code is colored according to syntax rules. Scintilla, and therefore the Lexing plugin, supports over a hundred different languages (HTML, XML, PHP, Perl, Lua, Python, C/C++, ObjC, BASIC, to name few), while it is also possible to support your own coding language. This plugin will be maintained and further developed, particularly when the next release of Xojo will have XojoScript available in the 64-bit flavor. In addition, another plugin from us, ScriptThreadSafeGUIGlue, will then become available in a 64-bit flavor, because it depends on XojoScript. Note that the plugin also comes in demo mode, which is identical to the pro-plugin but will throw a nagging window in a build configuration. For those who do not have a Xojo license, go for the demo version, which is free.

As you know the Lexing Plugin is part of the XJBundle that runs until the end of this month; you might want to consider XJBundle, giving you bang for the buck. Lastly, those of you who purchased XJBundle, update the Lexing plugin with your license key/serial number that was provided to you.

Version 3.5.5 of the LexingControl has been released today (December 6, 2015) with numerous fixes and additions. The plugin comes with updated documentation and updated and new sample projects (MySQL). As a reminder, for those who purchased the XJBundle, your valid (one year) license key/serial number is your friend as it is for those who purchased a license directly from our website. And again, the demo version is identical to the pro version (see above), so nothing would stop anybody to try out this plugin.

The site www.vanhoekplugins.com no longer exists. If the Plugin still being developed and sold?

O … since I use this control in a project, I am curious too. First place, what about @Alfred Van Hoek ?
Hope he is doing well.
Second, since I have the last version implemented, with support from Alfred, I don’t have the need for updating it now. It works great but is not an easy one to configure and there is still a lot to get documented yet.

I am fine, very busy with other things. The site should be up soon.

Alfred
Is there some documentation to go with the demo files on your website to explain how to get Lexing working?

Not completely sure if the documentation is really helpful. Your question suggests that you can’t find any info? There is however. In the IDE (Xojo), navigate into the help menu. You should see Plugin References. If you already have tried that, then there is a link mentioned that directs you to the Scintilla website. I agree setting up the Lexing Control can be complicated. We have tried to expose many features in the IDE, but this only comprises 10% of all that are available at runtime. Scintilla is used throughout the developer field; we have exposed a global method (actually two) that resembles the Windows messaging API to allow full access to all of the Scintilla features. The sample projects enclosed are particularly focussed on what to do in the open event to set up the language, the definition of keywords, your choosing of the coloring (based on a Lexer/language). We have tried to put as much info in the help files that come with the plugin, but to get a better feel for it, the scintilla website is likely necessary for better understanding (but there is a learning curve involved). This is what we had to do to implement the plugin for Xojo.

If you have specific questions, then do not hesitate to list them here or to email me personally. I’ll try to answer them, and hopefully in next versions of the plugin (Scintilla is a moving target) we can come up with easier ways to set up the Lexing control. We have had great help from current users of this plugin, based on setting up features Scintilla provides us with, and also from previous users of VB acquainted with Scintilla.

Alfred, working now thanks (I had put the plugin into the wrong version of Xojo (duh!)). The Plugin Reference is useful - perhaps other plug-in providers could adopt the same method.