# &app; Manual V&manrevision;

## Introduction

&app; is an extensible text editor that is simple and powerful. You can use &app; to create, view and edit text files. &app; provides powerful functions to manipulate text easily and a plugin system to extend the capabilities of the editor.

Scribes is Free Software. However, writing software is time-consuming, painstaking and costly. Kindly support the project by donating. Your donation will help advance the development of the project. Thank you.

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## Getting Started

### Starting &app;

You can start &app; in the following ways:

Applications menu

- Choose Accessories Scribes Text Editor .

Command line

- Execute the following command: `scribes`

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### Text Editor Window

When you start &app;, the following window is displayed.

#### &app; Window

Shows the text editor window. Contains toolbar, editing area and statusbar.

The &app; window contains the following element:

Toolbar

- The toolbar provides access to the most used operations of the text editor. Point to a toolbar button to activate the tooltip for the toolbar button. The tooltip provides information on what operation the toolbar button can perform.

  The operations on the toolbar only represent some of the operations that the editor can perform. See shortcut keys for all the operations that can be performed by the editor.

Editing Area

- Use the editing area to view and type text. The editing area contains a line margin. The line margin displays line numbers. The editing area also contains a line highlight. The line highlight is a visual aid that shows the line the cursor is on.

Statusbar

- The statusbar displays information about the operations of the editor. The statusbar contains four sections. The first one shows an image that changes corresponding to the operations carried out by the editor. The second section usually shows the full path of the document shown in the editing area. It also shows text representing operations performed. The third sections shows the current position of the cursor in the editing area. The last sections shows the mode the editor is in. The editor has two main modes: the insert mode; and the overwrite mode.

### Popup Menu

Some advanced text editing functions are displayed in the popup menu. Right-click on the editing area to display the popup menu. You can also display the popup menu by pressing Shift-F10. Or by pressing the Menu key.

#### &app; Popup Menu

Shows the text editor's popup menu.

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### Command Line

You can run &app; from a command line and open a single file or multiple files. To open multiple files from a command line, type the following command, then press Return:

`scribes `file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt``

When the application starts, the files that you specify are displayed in separate &app; windows.

## Usage

Most operations discussed in this section can be found in &app; popup menu.

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### File Operations

This section shows you how to perform file operations.

#### To Open An Existing File

To open a file, click on the Open toolbar button to show an Open File dialog. You can also press Ctrl-O to show the Open File dialog. Use the Open File dialog to select the file you wish to view or edit. Press Enter to load the file into the editing area of the editor.

#### To Open An Existing File at a Remote Location

To open a file at a remote location, press Ctrl-L to show the Open Location dialog. Enter the location of the file in the entry field. Press Enter to load the file into the editing area of the editor.

#### To Save a File

Press Ctrl-S to save your file.

##### Automatic Saving

&app; automatically saves your files. There is no need to manually save files.

#### To Rename a File

To rename a file, press Ctrl-Shift-S to display the Save Document dialog. Type the new name of the file in the entry field. Press Enter to change the name of the file.

You can also click on the Save As toolbar button to display the Save Document dialog.

### Common Operations

This section shows you how to perform common text operations with the text editor.

#### To Undo Edits

To undo an action, click on the Undo toolbar button. You can also press Ctrl-Z shortcut key to undo an edit.

#### To Redo Edits

To redo an action, click on the Redo toolbar button. You can also press Ctrl-Shift-Z shortcut key to redo an edit.

#### To Cut Text

Press Ctrl-X to cut a selected text.

#### To Copy Text

Press Ctrl-C to copy a selected text.

#### To Paste Text

Press Ctrl-V to paste cut text or copied text.

#### To Search for Text

To search for text in the editing area, click on the Search toolbar button to display the Search bar. You can also press Ctrl-F to display the Search bar. The Search bar appears right above the statusbar. Type the text you wish to search for in the text entry field. Press Enter to start searching.

Found matches are highlighted in the editing area. Selected matches are highlighted in a different color. Click on the Next button to select the next match. Click on the Previous button to select the previous match.

Press Esc to hide the search bar. Clicking on the editing area also hides the search bar. Hiding the search bar removes all highlights in the editing area.

#### To Search for Text Incrementally

To incrementally search for text in the editing area, press Ctrl-K to display the incremental search bar. The incremental search bar works just like the search bar.

#### To Replace Text

To replace text in the editing area, click on the Replace toolbar button to display the Replace bar. The Replace bar appears right above the statusbar. Type the text you wish to replace in the search entry field.

Type the text you wish to insert in the editing area in the replace entry field. Then press Enter to find all occurences of the text. You can also click the Replace button to replace the occurrence of the string with the text in the Replace with field. Click Replace All to replace all occurrences of the string.

Found matches are highlighted. Replaced text are highlighted in a different color. Use the Next and Previous button to navigate between found matches.

Click on the display area to hide the Replace bar. You can also press Esc to hide the Replace bar.

#### To Position the Cursor on a Specific Line

To position the cursor on a specific line in the current file, click on the GOTO toolbar button to show the GOTO bar. The GOTO bar appears right above the statusbar. Enter the the specific line you wish to position the cursor on in the text entry field. Press Enter. Alternatively, you can use the spin button to scroll the specific line you wish to position the cursor on.

## Advanced Usage

This sections discusses some advanced features of the text editor.

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### Automatic Word Operations

This section shows you how to use automatic word completion.

#### Introduction

When typing text in the editing area, a suggestion box displaying a list of words may appear periodically. The suggestion box lists words found in the editing area. Only words longer than 3 characters appear in the suggestion box.

##### &app; Suggestion Box

Shows the text editor's editing area with a word completion window or suggestion box.

#### Usage

As you type, the editor tries to guess text that is likely to be entered into the editing area. It shows a suggestion box containing possible words for completion. The list of words in the suggestion box is filtered as you type to remove unlikely words for completion.

Press Up or Down to select words in the suggestion box. Press Enter to insert selected words into the editing area. Press Esc to hide the suggestion box at any time.

To improve workflow, learn to filter the list of words in the suggestion box until the right word is the first in the box. The goal is use the Enter key to insert text into the editing area without using the Up or Down key to select words in the suggestion box. This skill takes a little practice, but it is worth learning.

#### Purpose

The purpose of automatic word completion is to improve workflow and reduce typing and errors.

The process of showing and hiding the suggestion box is handled automatically by &app;. However, pressing Esc will hide the suggestion box at any time.

### Automatic Pair Character Completion

This section shows you how to use automatic pair character completion.

#### Introduction

Scribes supports automatic completion for pair characters. Supported pair characters include, `''`, `""`, `<>`, `()`, `{}`, `[]`, and quote characters for different locales and languages.

#### Usage

Type the opening character of any pair character and the closing character is automatically inserted into the editing area. For example, if you type `{`, &app; automatically inserts `}` into the editing area. You can move the cursor after the closing pair character by typing the closing pair character, or by pressing Esc.

##### Special Character

&app; may or may not automatically complete the apostrophe character depending on the context it is being used. Completion does not occur when the character is used to signify possession.

Pair completion works for the angle bracket only when editing markup source code files. &app; supports pair completion for the dollar sign when editing LaTeX files.

#### Enclosing Selected Text in Pair Characters

Select text and press any opening pair character to enclose the selected text in the pair characters.

### Templates

#### Introduction

Templates are pre-configured text you can insert into the editing area. Optionally, it can contain placeholders. Placeholders are text you can modify. The following screenshot contains a template with placeholders. The placeholders are highlighted.

##### A Template Containing Placeholders

Shows a template containing placeholders in the text editor's editing area.

#### To Show the Template Editor

You can manage templates via the template editor. The template editor is displayed by pressing Alt-F12.

##### &app; Template Editor

Shows a template editor.

#### To Add a New Template

After displaying the template editor, click on the Add button to display the Add New Template dialog. You can also press Alt-A to display the Add New Template dialog. The following screenshot illustrates the process of creating a snippet called "test."

##### Template Editor Add Dialog

Shows the Add New Template dialog for the template editor.

Use the Add New Template dialog to create new templates. Type the name of the template in the Name entry field. Optionally, type the description of the template in the Description entry field. Type the content of the template in Template entry field. Press the Save to create the new template.

#### Placeholders

Placeholders are highlighted text within a template that you can modify. Placeholders are inserted between ${...}, where ... is an arbitrary name you provide. There is a special placeholder called ${cursor}. The ${cursor} placeholder indicates the last navigation point in a template. You can only have one ${cursor} placeholder within a template. Two or more placeholders with the same name will be modified simultaneously.

##### Placeholder Navigation

Press Tab to navigate between placeholders. Press Shift-Tab to cycle between placeholders indefinitely.

##### Test Template Expanded in Editing Area

Shows the Add New Template dialog for the template editor.

#### To Use Templates

To use a template, type the trigger of the template in the editing area. A trigger is the name assigned to a template. Press Tab to expand the trigger into a template. If the template contains placeholders, press Tab to navigate between placeholders. Type over selected placeholders to modify them.

&app; exits template mode when there are no more placeholders to navigate to. Typing over the last selected placeholder also exits template mode. So does moving the cursor out of the template region. Placeholder highlights are removed when &app; exits template mode. The statusbar provides feedback when template mode is exited.

##### To Insert Tab Character in Template Mode

Press Ctrl-T to insert a tab character in template mode.

#### To Import Templates

To import templates, download the template tarball from the website. A link to the template tarball is also provided in the template editor. Unpack the tarball. Then drag and drop each XML template file to the template editor to import premade templates.

You can also click on the Import Button to show the Import Dialog. Then use the Import Dialog to select and import XML template files.

#### To Export Templates

To export templates, select the language you wish to export on the left pane of the template editor. Then drag and drop the selection to the desktop. You can also press the Export Button to show the Export Dialog. Then use the Export Dialog to export selected templates.

### Document Switcher

#### Introduction

The document switcher allows you to focus any window containing a document open by &app;. It is a better, efficient and effective replacement for tabs.

##### &app; Document Switcher

Shows the Open Documents dialog.

#### Usage

Press F9 to display the document switcher. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate to the document you wish to focus. Press Enter to focus the window associated with the document. You can also double-click to focus the window associated with the document.

##### Closing Documents via the Switcher

Press the Delete key on selected item to close the associated document.

## Keyboard Shortcuts

All functions in &app; are mapped to keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are the recommended way to perform operations. This section shows you how to use keyboard shortcuts in &app;.

### Efficient Text Editing

It may not be possible to learn all keyboard shortcuts available in &app; at once. However, if you find yourself using an operation repeatedly, learn its keyboard shortcut. Using keyboard shortcuts to perform operations is fast and efficient. It also improves the fluidity of your workflow.

## About Scribes

Scribes is developed by Lateef Alabi-Oki (mystilleef@gmail.com). To find out more about Scribes visit the Scribes Web Site.

This manual is written by Lateef Alabi-Oki (mystilleef@gmail.com).

This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public license as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or any later version. A copy of this license can be found at this link, or in the file COPYING included with the source code of this program.

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## Support Scribes

Scribes is Free Software. However, writing software is time-consuming, painstaking and costly. Kindly support the project by donating. Your donation will help advance the development of the project. Thank you.

Support Scribes.