Been observing this thread and just can't keep my mouth shut any more. So here goes, and although I hope Allan might agree with one or two of my views/points here, these are purely my personal views and thoughts. So don't blame Allan for them :)
1. Welcome to the best Code Editor on the Mac ever, Jonathan Ragan-Kelley (& some others), as I can only assume you are recent TM user(s). Those of us that have been using TM since v1.0 - back in September '04 - know that what Allan has done to improve TM since then is nothing short of fantastic!! Now, I'm not saying this to get a brown nose, or on behalf of Allan, or anything like it. It is simply the truth and as such it should be made clear to the new-comers. So please let us all know what and where TM can and needs to be improved in a nice manner and then sit back and relax. If your request has any merit I'm sure it will be implemented sooner or later. I would assume that almost every single aspect of any existing code editor functionality is already on Allan's requests or to-do list, so ask if your 'feature' is already there before going about demanding it.
Note to Allan: Perhaps a slightly cleaned version of the Relase Notes could be prominently (?) displayed on the website, where new users could see the amount of progress that has been made since v1.0 ??
2. Split-view code editing: Yes, it would be nice to have, but honestly, Allan is working on far more important improvements than that. And with the keyboard navigation between open doc's, bookmarks etc, I haven't once looked for it in the past few months.
But you could buy BBEdit, which does have a simple split-view of the same document. Although dealing with the guys at BB does have it's downsides. You could propose for them to implement a Tab GUI (like TM), a User definable Syntax highlighting system (like TM), a Project hierarchy file viewer (like TMs Project Drawer) or any other item, like I did back in 2001 and many times since up until TM arrived. Now you can have a look to see how many of those user suggestions they have implemented. (The answer is NONE!! or at least none that is as useful and workable for me as TMs implementations)
Secondly, you are using Mac OS X and there is probably nothing stopping you from using both TM and Jedit/emacs (where most of your split-view requirements are fulfilled) at the same time on the same project. Use the best tool for the job at hand is a phrase that comes to mind.
3. Clients: We are all dealing with clients, whether we are employed, free-lancing, selling software etc. As such we should all be better at understanding Allan's situation, and concentrating on the good bits he's doing/done for us, rather than the "missing bit that kills the whole deal" type of BS. If Allan was 10 guys, and you proposed something to them 3 years ago, and there's still nothing done about it, then you have a right to voice your concern.
I have yet to find a good client that appreciated every bit of hard work, sweat and tears I put into their project and didn't complain about something or the other. For each silly/irritating/baseless/misplaced complaint I have received my motivation has gone down rather than up, and I know that's the same with all of us. We should therefore do our very best to treat Allan - and others like him - as we wish to be treated ourselves. I for one, appreciate every single bit of the work Allan has done on TM for all of us !!!
Finally, could someone please translate this bit for me ???
... this very 30+ KLC app...
On 15 Mar 2005, at 00:40, Allan Odgaard wrote:
• even though I sell it for money, TextMate is my hobby and not my job, so at least 50% of the work I do with it should be done because I find it interesting or find the result desirable.
Allan, TM being your hobby surprised me a bit, but then it does make perfect sense. "Only the things that you thoroughly enjoy will you perform well" I think is the saying. :)
Kind regards,
Mats
---- "TextMate, coding with an incredible sense of joy and ease" - www.macromates.com -