SlickEdit for macOS - two issues

[jorick]

• The Del key is bound to linewrap-delete-char and works as it should, deleting the character to the right of the cursor, or deleting a selection.  But if I bind the PadDot key to linewrap-delete-char, it will delete the selection plus one character to the right of the selection (deleting a single character works however).  If the clear key is set to NumLock and NumLock is off, PadDot works.  Unfortunately, there's no indication that I can see of the state of the NumLock key to know that I'm going to get proper operation of PadDot.
• If the cursor is placed in virtual space, it will appear one character to the right of where it should be.  If a character is typed, it will still appear at the click point.  If a selection is done in virtual space, the cursor will appear one space to the right of the selection.

SlickEdit Pro 2023 (v28.0.2.0)

Serial number: [redacted]
Licensed number of users: Single user
License file: /Library/Application Support/SlickEdit/28/slickedit.lic

Build Date: April 4, 2024
Emulation: CodeWright

OS: macOS Sonoma
OS Version: 14.4.1
Processor Architecture: Apple M1 Pro (10 cores)

Memory: 99% Load, 16243MB/16384MB Virtual
Shell Information: /bin/bash -i
Screen Size: 1728 x 1117 (0 0), 1920 x 1080 (-1920 0), 1920 x 1080 (-3840 0)

Project Type: Python
Language: .py (Python)
Encoding: UTF-8, no signature

Installation Directory: /Applications/SlickEditPro2023.app/Contents/
Configuration Directory: /Users/Richard-Bennet/Library/Application Support/SlickEdit/28.0.2/
Spill File: /tmp/slkspill.Richard-Bennet.33997

Hotfixes: None.  Any attempt to open hotfix_se2802_7_cumulative.zip downloaded from DropBox results in the following error message: "Invalid hot fix.  Could not open manifest: File not found"

[Clark]

1. this is a limitation. SlickEdit thinks you are pressing a key like the letter "." (or "a") and assumes the binding will insert some text. There are no attributes on commands to indicate if the command inserts text or not. You would have to write a custom command which did manual processing based on whether there was a selection or not and make sure you added the VSARG2_MARK to the name_info(). The VSARG2_MARK attribute turns off automatic processing that occurs before a command is executed.

2. I can't reproduce this. Maybe we need a sample file and precise instructions. Also, let us know what font you are using.

As for the hot fix issue, unzip the contents of your hot fix file. That error message means that hotfix.xml file is missing or invalid (probably missing). I suspect that all the contents are incorrect. No idea why though because the file name looks correct.

[jorick]

I'm using Menlo 10 for my SBCS/DBCS source windows.  Just place the cursor after the end of the line on any file.  Virtual space needs to be enabled ("click past end of line" is on).

Downloading the hotfix is very difficult.  Firefox (my browser of choice) sees only an empty window in DropBox.  Safari wants to unpack the file and discard the zip as soon as the download is finished.  The only way to keep the zip is to right click on the name in DropBox and select "Download Linked File As..." and use the default name.  But opening the file in SE shows that it's not a zip file but an html file.  I did manage to install the hotfix just now with these steps:

o  In Safari, go to the hotfix page at https://www.slickedit.com/hotfixes and click on the "Hotfixes for 28.0.2" link.
o  Go into the Hotfix for SlickEdit 2023 (v28.0.2) folder.
o  Right click on the name "hotfix_se2802_7_cumulative.zip" and select Copy Link.  Don't click Download.
o  Run Firefox and paste the link in the URL bar to go to the hotfix.  The page will show the hotfix in the upper left corner but the center will say "Folder empty"
o  Click the Download button to download the hotfix.  This will download the real zip file and not unpack and delete it.  The hotfix may now be installed.

This is the only way I could download the real hotfix.  Everything else I tried using just Safari would either unpack and delete the zip file or would download the web page and rename it to a zip file.  (I don't know about Chrome.  I stay away from that bad boy.)

[Clark]

Weird. Safari unzips the zip file and discards it. You can zip it back up like this (pain):

Code: [Select]

cd ~/Downloads
cd hotfix_se2802_7_cumulative
jar cvfM ../hotfix_se2802_7_cumulative.zip *

Firefox works fine for me. I just downloaded the latest version.

Chrome definitely works. I used to use Firefox. Then Firefox decided it would never sync any bookmarks no matter what and I didn't want to create a new account so I switched to chrome. I can only use multi-platform browsers for my bookmarks which support my phone, Windows, macOS, and Linux. I understand the lack of trust of Chrome for sure but in my case, chrome is my only option.

[Clark]

Please post your user.cfg.xml or email it to support.

[Graeme]

(I don't know about Chrome.  I stay away from that bad boy.)

Why do you stay away from Chrome?

[jorick]

Please post your user.cfg.xml or email it to support.

I don't see a file anywhere on my Mac with that name.

[Clark]

It's in your SlickEdit configuration directory. Go to Help>About SlickEdit to get your configuration directory location.

[jorick]

(I don't know about Chrome.  I stay away from that bad boy.)

Why do you stay away from Chrome?

• Tabs.  In my job as a software developer, it's common for me to have 50 to 100 tabs open at one time.  This can be difficult to deal with, even when putting tabs into groups.  On Firefox, I use Panorama Tab Groups which has a special screen that shows me all of the groups with each tab in the group showing a thumbnail.
• YouTube videos.  Chrome doesn't allow me to view YouTube videos while using an ad blocker.  All I get is an error message when I try to watch one.  Firefox, on the other hand, has better ad blocking so that YouTube allows me to watch videos with an ad blocker.
• Stability.  Chrome has a tendency to crash a lot on me.  Usually it's one or more tabs that crash but occasionally the entire program goes away.  I don't have that problem with Firefox.
• Privacy.  My daughter says that Chrome has privacy issues.  I don't know about that one.  But I know better than to argue with her on this so I'll just take her word for it.  She uses Firefox as well, and she was the one who got me to switch over because of the YouTube issue.

The list above is for my Windows computers at home.  I just got a new job where they issued me a MacBook so I figured I'd stick with Firefox.

[jorick]

It's in your SlickEdit configuration directory. Go to Help>About SlickEdit to get your configuration directory location.

Well, so much for Finder being able to find files.  Anyway, here it is...

[Clark]

This is a limitation. Turn off View>New Line Chars.
The New Line Char is implemented as a physical character-like insert. When you move the cursor after it and type a character the Previous New Line Char is deleted making it look like it was inserted earlier in the text. In other words, the New Line Char is not implemented as an overlay on top of virtual space (softwrap display is done this way).

[jorick]

That works!  Thanks!

[Graeme]

Thanks for the detailed reply.  For chrome, Tab Manager Plus is similar to Panorama and there's also a dropdown button to the left of all the tabs that lists all tabs for all chrome windows.  AdBlockPlus works for me on YouTube.  I'm wondering if what you see as a Chrome tab crashing is just google temporarily unloading the tab to reduce memory use - since Chrome is a memory hog - you can turn it off in settings, performance, memory saver - if that's what it is.  For privacy, I don't mind websites or google tracking me but I wish there was a way to automatically accept cookies instead of being asked all the time.