I've tried changing the syntax coloring in the MDE editor because I have vision problems and really prefer a black background with light colors for the text when coding. The problem is that there are some characters that are black no matter what and are apparently not included in the 4 categories of syntax (Keywords, Quotes, Comments, and Default text). Characters like parentheses, equal signs, periods, and semicolons are always black. Just wondering if anyone else likes a black background when editing and is annoyed by this. I would use an external editor (my favorite on Windows is ConTEXT) but will there be any problems doing this considering that there's XML at the end for the form? Is there a chance it can get messed up even if I make sure to only edit the actual Maintain code in the file?

I'll try the external editor option but it would be great if the MDE editor syntax could be enhanced to include coloring options for all characters like most any editor with syntax coloring has. This way we wouldn't have to use an external editor and take a chance messing up the included form code.

Thanks.

I was able to see your issue with the MDE this morning and have asked programming if there is something that we can do to help you. My testing shows that some punctuation (; = + / || () ) and free standing numbers are not displayed when you use white text on a black background.

I have been successful using NOTEPAD to edit Maintain code. Just be careful that you do not change any of the XML after the END statement in the MNT file either on purpose or by accident.

Mark

Yesterday, I actually used the editor in Dev Studio and opened the .mnt file I was working on. That editor seems to have more complete syntax coloring, including the characters that the MDE editor leaves as black. There's still the issue with the form XML at the end and I did notice that if I edit in the Dev Studio editor while the MDE is open and then I try to open the actual form in MDE associated with that .mnt file, the form refuses to open. If I close the .mnt file in the Dev Studio editor and close and reopen MDE I'm then able to open the actual form again. I'll experiment with this a little more. It may be a workaround for awhile but if the MDE editor syntax coloring could be improved, that would really be great.

Thanks, Mark.

Although you need (unless you are hyper-intelligent) the painter, I have quite often edited in a text editor with syntax highlighting (such as EditPlus), but only for the quick fixes.

You still need the MDE for deployment.

I use Notepad++, an open source program editor, for my maintain code editing. It is very rich in functionality and has an amazingly good user interface.

It can easily change to white on black display for selected, or all file types, thru the Style Configurator.

I've made up a User Defined Language file for Maintain to get syntax coloring and code block collapse/expand. If anyone is interested in it, I'd be happy to share it.

It will allow you to mess with the form XML if you dare, but heed Marks warning unless you know what you are doing.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dave Ayers,

Dave, I'd be interested in your Maintain language file for Notepad++. I've usually used ConTEXT in the past for editing source code in various languages on Windows but I finally tried Notepad++ and it's great. I won't be messing with the embedded form XML myself.

Thanks!
James