Re: st: Substitute for Notepad++ for editing Stata files in Linux.

[Neil Shephard <nshephard@gmail.com>]

2011/5/20 Jorge Eduardo Pérez Pérez <perez.jorge@ur.edu.co>:
?
> I have used Notepad ++ to edit do files for a couple of years now.
> Occasionally I work with Stata under Ubuntu on my computer or on the
> Linux Server at work (I just open Stata there, I have no idea what
> distribution of Linux that computer is running)
>
> Editing do-files in the built-in editor on Linux without syntax
> highlighting is driving me crazy. However, I do not want to swith to
> Emacs or Vim since I am very happy with Notepad ++ and only use Linux
> occasionally.

I've never used Notepad++ , and you won't like my recommendation
below, but see the Stata Text Editors FAQ at
http://fmwww.bc.edu/repec/bocode/t/textEditors.html for a host of
other options.

> Having said that, which editor would you recommend to edit do files
> under Linux? Ideally it would be
>
> 1. As close to Notepad ++ as possible
> 2. Able to execute pieces of code from within the editor.
> On the second point, I read a couple of previous posts and I also
> checked the review in the Boston College website (which seems
> outdated), and I am getting the feeling that nobody has written code
> to do that under Linux, but I might have missed something.

You can do this under Emacs Speaks Statistics running Stata within
Emacs, and I would recommend this (well I would since its what I use).
 I rarely run Stata from within Emacs though, and instead when there
is a chunk of code I want to test I'll highlight with the mouse and
then use the third-mouse button (emulated with simultaneous left-right
click).

One alternative you might want to check depending on the Desktop
Environment (DE) you use and how bothered you are installing KDE
libraries if you use a GTK-based DE is gedit which will support syntax
highlighting as described at
.http://linuxscrapbook.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/stata-syntax-highlighting-for-gedit/

I really like Emacs as its one environment where I can get everything
done, ESS is brilliant for Stata and R files (particularly Sweaving in
the later as it supports syntax higlighting for LaTeX too), great
support for LaTeX, and I recently started using the brilliant Org-Mode
for tracking ToDo/Agenda/timelogs (see http://orgmode.org/).  The
beauty is its the same on any platofrm, GNU/Linux, M$-Windows, Mac OSX
or anything else so you learn it once, and thats it, you don't have to
ask "what can I use under the XXX Operating System in place of YYY?".
Yes you have to learn a few key-strokes, but thats not much different
to committing to memory where things are in menus in my opinion (and
its far quicker than having to your hands off the keyboard, locate the
mouse on the desk, then the desktop and start pointing and clicking),
but I shan't go on.

> I also know that Notepad ++ runs under Wine. However I think the
> Notepad++-Stata integration will not work in that case. Has anyone
> tried that?

Sounds like more hassle than its worth.


Neil



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