e - a text editor

e will be a text editor written in C. It'll follow a transparent client-server to allow concurrent editing of the same file(s). tree-sitter will be used for syntax highlighting and basic code analysis.

e isn't ready for use (or even testing) yet.

ToDo

• rope data structure
• range/cursor handling
• command framework (do/undo)
• daemon lifecycle
• tree-sitter integration
• command line frontend
• vt100 frontend

Concepts

• e-editor
  • 0-n documents representing opened files
    • 0-n documents editors
      • 0-n cursors
        • cursor position
        • edit actions

protocol

The e editor accepts a very simple line based clear text message protocol. A message consists of a sequence of arguments. Each argument is seperated by a space. If an argument contains spaces it must be escaped using backslashes, be enclosed in quotes or be sent as a trailing payload.

These three messages are equivalent:

ping Hello\ World!
ping "Hello World!"
ping @12
Hello World!

The @ symbol indicates that the following number is the length of a trailing payload. The payload is sent in the next line. If multiple trailing payloads are needed they can be chained:

ping @10 @10
Argument 1
Argument 2

Note that each trailing payload must be followed by a newline.

It is also possible to use termination markers to indicate the end of an argument.

ping @EOT
Hello World!
@EOT

The Marker must start with an @ symbol and be followed by an identifier. The identifier must start with a letter and can contain letters, numbers and underscores. Note that the marker must be unique within the transmission and must be placed at the start of a line. The newline before the marker isn't considered part the argument value.

There's the reserved marker @EOF which indicates that the rest of the transmission is part of the argument.

The client always sends a message starting with a verb.