Sublime Forum

Using Sublime Text as a "frontend" for a note-taking app

#1

Hi all.

I have been using ST for a while in the past, with a paid license, and it was/is one of my favorite editors ever.

Not so long ago I started working on a pet-project Python app for quick distraction-free note taking. In the process an idea occurred to me: instead of struggling with QT framework and the likes I can just summon all the power of Sublime and let it do all the “frontend” work.

Here’s the main features I need from Sublime Text:

  • Launch it as a separate process (even when another instance is running) without displaying itself in the task bar.
  • Open multiple editor windows and control their position, size and theme.
  • Hide the main menu and other UI elements of the editor windows, such as title bar, status bar, tabs, line numbers etc.
  • Disable or remap certain hotkeys.
  • Intercept drag&drop events.
  • Display additional UI controls inside the editor windows. Specifically: buttons, drop-down lists, tree views, scroll bars, and text inputs, with custom event handlers.
  • Make portions of the text read-only.
  • Change font style for certain lines.
  • Display images inline (nice to have, but not necessary).
  • Clickable links in custom format, e.g. [this should open a new window].
  • Read-only table rendering.

So, my two questions:

  • Is all of the above possible to achieve with ST?
  • If yes, are there any ST plugins or similar projects that can serve as a good basis?

Right now I am aiming only at Windows, but Linux support would also be nice. Not a mac user anymore.

Thanks in advance.

0 Likes

#2

https://urtext.co/ https://packagecontrol.io/packages/Urtext is sophisticated.

1 Like

#3

There are some bits and pieces I’m looking for indeed.

0 Likes

#5

tend to build toolchains where ST might be one link in the chain rather than relying on plugins or new feature requests.

That’s approximately what I want o achieve. ST is an excellent editor, but I’d rather have my app/db/search logic separate from the UI, to be able to switch to another editor, if need be.

0 Likes

#7

Funny that my post got flagged as suspicious, yet this nonsense went through.

0 Likes