IDLE and Hooks in apps for usage of My Favorite Editor

[Thomas A. Bryan]

Mike Steed wrote:

> > I've seen _one_ application (TkRat, an IMAP client done in
> > Tcl/Tk) in a long long time that allows calling an external
> > editor.
> >
> > Is this a difficult task which I just don't understand the
> > complexities of?
> 
> A while ago there was a discussion about this on the Vim developers list.
> The consensus was that we need a protocol to allow communication between
> (for example) editors and debuggers -- open file x, set a breakpoint on line
> y, etc.  The intent would be to enable the plugging in of any (smart) editor
> to any (smart) IDE.
> 
> I have dreamed of this for some time.  I would like to help with such a
> project (feels too big for me to do alone), but as far as I know there is
> nothing like this in development.  If I get ambitious enough, I might try it
> anyway.

FUSE, the IDE (er...collection of tools) for Tru64 Unix (DEC Alpha box), 
calls an external editor.  It can be set to FUSE's own editor, (X)emacs, 
or vi.  For the (X)emacs part, I know that it uses ToolTalk (?) support.

Sun has an IDE on Solaris called Workshop that can (must?) integrate with 
Xemacs.  

I'm not sure how these tools integrate or whether it is the type of integration 
you're looking for, but you might want to look at one or both before 
proceeding.  In particular, you may want to look at the functionality 
provided by ToolTalk before designing your standard protocol.

---Tom