ev text editor

ev is a simple cross-platform text editor written in C++ with minimal dependencies. The executable is just a few hundred kilobytes in size. The editor works in either GUI or terminal mode on three platforms - Windows, macOS and Linux. The editor has some advanced features like autocomplete and syntax highlighting that makes it possible to use it as a development environment.

If you think that ev stands for "eradicate vi" then you are mistaken :-) I have great respect for that venerable text editor. I personally used vim as my main development environment for several years and I love it passionately!

Download

All executables are 64-bit for Intel architecture

Windows GUI: ev-win.zip

Windows console: ev-win-console.zip

macOS terminal: ev-mac.tar.bz2

Linux terminal: ev-linux.tar.bz2

Supported features

basic text editing operations, autoindent
multiple open documents
open/save documents
copy/delete/paste
find/replace, go to line
block operations - indent, unindent, toggle comment
switch between recently edited locations
ability to execute make or custom command to build/run/clean a software project
Unicode support (can read/write UTF-8 and UTF-16, aware of multibyte characters)
autocomplete based on words in open documents
macro recording/playback
syntax highlighting

Keys

Keyboard commands are designed to work on as many terminals as possible without the need to change ev or terminal settings. To achieve that ev provides alternatives for key combinations that may not be supported by a specific terminal.

arrows	move cursor
alt+left/right	word (identifier) left/right (also ctrl+left/right, ctrl+b/w)
alt+up/down	go to previous/next recently edited location (also ctrl+up/down)
home/end	start/end of line (also ctrl+h/e)
alt+home/end	start/end of file (also ctrl+home/end, alt+h/e)
pgup/pgdn	page up/down (also ctrl+p/n)
alt+pgup/pgdn	20 lines up/down (also ctrl+pgup/pgdn, alt+p/n)
tab	next autocomplete suggestion, indent line/selection
shift+tab	previous autocomplete suggestion, unindent line/selection
delete	delete character at cursor position
backspace	delete character to the left of cursor position
alt+del	delete word at cursor position (also ctrl+del, ctrl+d)
alt+backspace	delete word to the left of cursor position (also ctrl+backspace, ctrl+])
ctrl+a	mark selection start
ctrl+x	delete line/selection
ctrl+k	copy line/selection (also ctrl+c)
ctrl+l	paste line/selection (also ctrl+v)
ctrl+f	find again
ctrl+r	replace and find again
ctrl+g	find word at cursor
ctrl+^	switch between recently edited locations
ctrl+t	insert tab character (\t)
alt+,	go to previous document
alt+.	go to next document
alt+digit	go to nth document
alt+b/w	characters (space separated) left/right
alt+d	delete word (space separated) at cursor position
alt+]	delete word (space separated) to the left of cursor position
alt+'	redraw screen and refresh autocomplete suggestions
alt+/	comment line/selection
alt+\	uncomment line/selection
alt+r	toggle macro recording
alt+m	play macro
alt+a	jump between selection start/end
F2	toggle command line
F5	build project
F6	run project
F7	clean project
F8	save document
F9	save all documents
F10	save all documents and quit
ESC	quit editor

macOS note: By default Mac Terminal app sends weird codes for alt+key combinations. They are not unsupported by ev. You can fix the issue by turning on 'Use Option as Meta key' on the Keyboard tab in the terminal profile settings. To make ev easier to use you can add a few key mappings there:

Home	\033[1~
Option+Home	\033\033[1~
End	\033[4~
Option+End	\033\033[4~
PgUp	\033[5~
PgDn	\033[6~
Option+Forward Delete	\033\033[3~

Commands

Command line is accessible at the bottom of the editor by pressing F2 key. Optional parameters are in square brackets.

s - save current document

sa - save all documents

c - close current document

q - quit editor

qs - save all documents and quit

tw on - turn on trimming of trailing whitespace on save

tw off - turn off trimming of trailing whitespace on save

f[i] search-string - find string
i - ignore case

r[ida] search-string replace-string - replace string
i - ignore case
d - replace all matches in current document
a - replace all matches in all documents
any character can be used as string separator instead of space

g number - go to line number

n filename - new file

o filename - open file

Configuration file

The editor reads a configuration file from two locations if it exists. The first location is the user's personal directory (/home/user or C:\Users\User). The second location is the current directory. Configuration settings from current directory take precedence. That allows you to specify project specific setting like build commands. The configuration file name is .ev.cfg on UNIX and ev.cfg on Windows. The format of the file is setting-name=setting-value, one setting per line.

Supported settings:

Setting	values	default	description
bright_background	true/false	true	changes color scheme to look nice on terminals with dark or bright background
trim_shitespace	true/false	true	trim trailing whitespace on save
indent_size	number	4	number of spaces to indent lines
gui_columns	number	120	number of columns in GUI mode
gui_lines	number	60	number of lines in GUI mode
gui_font_size	number	13	font size in GUI mode
gui_font_name	string	platform specific	font name in GUI mode
build_command	string	make	default build command
run_command	string	make run	default run command
clean_command	string	make clean	default clean command

Autocomplete

Autocomplete works by scanning for all identifiers in open documents and it lets you complete words as you type by pressing Tab key. The list of autocomplete suggestions can be refreshed by saving documents or by pressing alt+'. Completion works best with at least two starting letters. When you press Tab the current suggestion is inserted into the text but the cursor remains after the last letter typed. If there're letters to the right of the cursor, the inserted word overwrites them.

If you are satisfied with the suggestion, you can type the next character following the word such as space or punctuation. The cursor jumps to the end of the word and that character is inserted, minimizing the number of keystrokes. If you move the cursor instead, the 'jump to end' feature is disabled and the next character will be inserted where the cursor is.

If you are not satisfied with the suggestion, you can press Tab or Shift+Tab to go to the previous/next suggestion or you can type one or more letters until autocomplete gives you the expected result without pressing Tab too many times. You can also press Backspace to erase previous letter and automatically suggest a new word based on the shorter prefix.

Syntax highlighting

Languages for which syntax highlighting is currently supported: C, C++, XML, HTML and UNIX shell scripts. ev by default assumes bright screen background and uses darker colors for syntax highlighting to improve contrast. You can override that with bright_background setting in the configuration file.

Building the project

By default ev executes 'make' on UNIX systems and 'nmake.exe' on Windows. The makefile must contain a default target that builds the project and two targets to run and clean the project. This can be overridden by setting build commands in the configuration file.

License

By downloading and using the ev text editor you agree to the following license terms (stating that author provides no guarantees and assumes no liability):

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.

IN NO EVENT SHALL COPYRIGHT HOLDER BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.