[Request] Snippet Editor - Check __tmplintalistedit temp file for external changes and update in Snippet Script box

[TFWol]

I was looking at

lintalist/include/Editor.ahk

Lines 837 to 869 in fc1bea3

	FileDelete, %TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.txt
	FileAppend, %ToFile%, %TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.txt, UTF-8
	If (SnippetEditor = "")
	Run, "%TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.txt"
	else
	Run, "%SnippetEditor%" "%TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.txt"
	WinWait, __tmplintalistedit
	SetTimer, CheckEdit, 500, On
	Return
	}
	CheckEdit:
	IfWinExist, __tmplintalistedit
	Return
	SetTimer, CheckEdit, Off
	FileRead, NewText, %TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.txt
	FileDelete, %TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.txt
	WinActivate, Lintalist bundle editor
	Gui, 71:Default
	If EditorSyntaxHL
	{
	RC%RCID%.Value:=NewText
	GuiControl, Focus, % RC%RCID%.hWnd
	}
	else
	{
	GuiControl, ,%WhichControl%, %NewText%
	ControlFocus, %WhichControl%, Lintalist bundle editor
	}
	NewText=
	WhichControl=
	RCID=
	Return

To stop losing work by accident, could the __tmplintalistedit temp file be checked for changes to be copied when Modified Date is different?
The snippet Script box could periodically sync with the file until it's deleted.

Something like this maybe?

Note

I have my temp file named as .ahk rather than .txt

check_date(){
	global TmpDir
	FileGetTime, current_modified , %TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.ahk, M

	if (prev_modified = current_modified)
		return
	
	prev_modified := current_modified
	FileRead, NewText, %TmpDir%\__tmplintalistedit.ahk
	return
}

[TFWol]

I had been looking into it because the tmp file gets deleted at line 853 since changing tabs in VScode will change the Window Title that's being monitored.

[lintalist]

I realise it is not ideal, but it is a relatively easy solution. As is is now the snippet editor is activated again when the "window" is no longer available, not sure how to solve that if you don't use the WinExist

1. Using WatchFolder() might be a good way to monitor for file changes (size, time) https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8384
2. Update the edit control when changes are detected
3. Delete the __tmplintalistedit.txt file when the snippet editor closes

That leaves us with the problem how detect when the text editor is done/closed so the snippet editor is focused again.

The .txt is useful as on nearly all systems there will be an editor assigned to .txt files so run should open the set editor (even if it is just notepad)

[TFWol]

Using WatchFolder() might be a good way to monitor for file changes

I was looking into that, but didn't want to add too much extra code since I was thinking of solutions for a possible Pull. I guess whatever is less resource intensive would work.

That leaves us with the problem how detect when the text editor is done/closed so the snippet editor is focused again

Yeah, that's been difficult with vscode since I haven't been able to tell if that file is open in a different tab. Even the process commandline doesn't show the file if the window is shared.

The .txt is useful as on nearly all systems there will be an editor assigned to .txt files so run should open the set editor (even if it is just notepad)

That's fine, I was just mentioning it because my example code had .ahk.
I had made the change for myself so I wouldn't have to keep switching the Language Mode to ahk when it's opened in an IDE. Maybe a setting for the extension could be added where the optional Editor is defined 🤔
Not all that important though.

[lintalist]

I don't use vscode but in my editor I simply say .txt files should be treated as .ahk files re syntax highlighting ;)

[TFWol]

I would do that, but I use vscode (well, vscodium) as my general text editor too 😅

[lintalist]

I've tried some advanced code I found on the ahk forum to get a list of all opened files by a process.
Indeed it shows for notepad and some editors that the temp file is open and of course when it is closed. But not for a portable version of vscodium for example, so I suspect that that is also not a fail safe method.

Therefore I'm thinking about adding a checkbox "Monitor editor" that when checked (default) uses the current behaviour with the timer.

When unchecked, the button which launched the editor gets a new text and you have to click that button to load the edited file manually, and then it will be deleted (or attempt made, the file could still be open but in that case I think it is user error)

[TFWol]

That'll actually work fine. Simple 😃