MyMicro

This is my Micro. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Introduction

Micro is a terminal based code editor ... more of this on the official web site.

Features listed include:

Easy to use and install.
No dependencies or external files are needed — just a single binary.
Multiple cursors.
Common key bindings
Syntax highlighting
Copy and paste with the system clipboard.
Regex search and replace
Small and simple.
Easily configurable.

Difficulties:

Your terminal, your problem: key bindings are dependent upon your terminal sending the key codes to Micro. Most terminals have limitations and will not recognise common key chords (e.g. Windows Console, via cmd.exe, won't distinguish between Ctrl+Alpha and Ctrl+Alt+Alpha).
Features not implemented: Code Folding, Modal Editing, Spell checking, Replace newline characters
Lua chunks fail as a whole: Each separate Lua file is parsed as a unit, failure will invalidate all the functions defined in that file.

I have chosen to customise Micro, far away from the defaults:

Launch Micro using a batch file, to set title and use a local home directory (not ~/.config/micro ).
Custom key bindings that click in my mind, but don't all work directly with the windows console.
Autohotkey to translate some key chords so they are recognised by both the windows console and Micro.
External tools, some of which are Windows only.

These customisations are only possible thanks to the giants who's shoulders I have stood upon! I have tried to acknowledge the sources of code in my script - please let me know if I have missed you out.

Before presenting my changes, a word about plugins - I feel there is a valid case against plugins:

I don't like it when plugins overwrite my keyboard shortcuts.
I don't want to install/learn git.
I don't want to load any code I don't understand.
All my Lua is in one file - init.lua.

Custom files

Each file in this repository is annotated and should explain what is happening.

The directory structure is important so my script can find files when necessary

editor
|   micro.bat
|   micro.exe
|   micro.ahk
|
+---confMicro
|   |   bindings.json
|   |   init.lua
|   |   lua.lua
|   |   settings.json
|   |
|   +---colorschemes - only additions or modifications
|   |       gmh.micro
|   |       gmh_blue.micro
|   |       gmh_light.micro
|   |
|   +---favorites
|   |       commands.txt
|   |       files.txt
|   |       lua.txt
|   |       recent.txt
|   |       recent.txt.tmp
|   |       shell.txt
|   |       textfilter.txt
|   |
|   +---help  - only additions or modifications
|   |       actions.md
|   |       bat.md
|   |       bookmark.md
|   |       defaults.md
|   |       fzf.md
|   |       keys.md
|   |       linter.md
|   |       loc.md
|   |       lsp.md
|   |       lua.md
|   |       regex.md
|   |       replace.md
|   |
|   +---history
|   |       cd.fzf
|   |       cmd.fzf
|   |       com.fzf
|   |       find.fzf
|   |       findinfiles.fzf
|   |       fzf.fzf
|   |       goto.fzf
|   |       help.fzf
|   |       ins.fzf
|   |       key.fzf
|   |       lines.fzf
|   |       lines.lua
|   |       lua.fzf
|   |       open.fzf
|   |       ref.fzf
|   |       shell.fzf
|   |       snip.fzf
|   |       tem.fzf
|   |       textfilter.fzf
|   |       zback.fzf
|   |
|   +---syntax - only additions or modifications
|   |       bat.yaml
|   |       html.yaml
|   |       Readme.txt
|   |       sqlite.yaml
|   |       text.yaml
|   |
|   \---zBackup

Custom key bindings

For Windows many of these key bindings will not work without Autohotkey, which translates them into alternatives recognised by both the console and Micro.

In my trials of many editors, there are some editing actions and shortcuts I find useful - so I have adopted them. In my selections you can see traces of CUA, WordStar and even Vim.

Moving - local to cursor

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Move Word Left	Ctrl_Left
Move Word Right	Ctrl_Right
BOL	Ctrl_B, Home
EOL	Ctrl_E, End
Up Line	Up
Down Line	Down
Up Full Page	PgUp
Down Full Page	PgDn
BOF	Ctrl_Home
EOF	Ctrl_End
Jump Brackets	Ctrl_J
Goto Line Number	Ctrl_G
GoForwards Regex-i	Ctrl_] here
GoBackwards Regex-i	Ctrl_[ here

Selecting

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Select All	Ctrl_A
Select Word	Ctrl_Space
Select Word Back	Ctrl_Shift_Space
Select BOL	Ctrl_Shift_B, S_Home
Select EOL	Ctrl_Shift_E, S_End
Select Line(s) Down	Ctrl_L
Select Line(s) Up	Ctrl_Shift_L
Select Inner	Ctrl_Shift_I
Select Outer	Ctrl_Shift_J
SelectForwards Regex-i	Ctrl_Shift_] here
SelectBackwards Regex-i	Ctrl_Shift_[ here
Swap Anchor<>Caret	Ctrl_-

Basic editing actions

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Delete Word Left	Ctrl_Bksp
Delete Word Right	Ctrl_Del
Delete to EOL	Ctrl_K
Delete to BOL	Ctrl_Shift_K
Delete Line(s)	Ctrl_Y
Insert Line Break	Enter
Add Line Above	Ctrl_Enter
Add Line Below	Shift_Enter
Move Line(s) Up	Ctrl_Shift_Up
Move Line(s) Down	Ctrl_Shift_Down
Duplicate Line(s)	Ctrl_D
Indent Line(s)	Ctrl_Shift_>
Outdent Line(s)	Ctrl_Shift_<
Undo	Ctrl_Z
Undoundo	Ctrl_Shift_Z
Autocomplete Word	Ctrl_/
Toggle Comments	Ctrl_Q
Toggle WordWrap	Ctrl_Shift_W

Clipboard Actions

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Cut	Ctrl_X
CutAppend	Ctrl_Shift_X TODO
Copy	Ctrl_C
CopyAppend	Ctrl_Shift_C TODO
Paste	Ctrl_V
PastePlain	Ctrl_Shift_V

Searching

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Find Forward	Ctrl_F
Find Word	Ctrl_*
Find Regex	Ctrl_Shift_F
Find in Files	Ctrl_Alt_F
Next Find	Ctrl_Down
Prev Find	Ctrl_Up
Replace	Ctrl_H
Replace All	Ctrl_Shift_H
Mark all	Ctrl_M
UnMark all	Ctrl_U

Navigating

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Goto Line	Ctrl_G
Toggle Bookmark	TODO
Next Bookmark	TODO
Prev Bookmark	TODO
Next File	Ctrl_Tab
Prev File	Ctrl_Shift_Tab
Open Selection	Ctrl_Shift_O

File commands

Actions______________	Keys_________________
File New Tab	Ctrl_N
File New Window	Ctrl_Alt_N
File Save	Ctrl_S
File Revert	Ctrl_R Broken and dissabled
File Print	Ctrl_P TODO
File Close	Ctrl_W
File Spell Check	Ctrl_F7
File Backup	Ctrl_Alt_B
File Run	Ctrl_Alt_R
Run Makeit.bat	Ctrl_Alt_M
Open Todo.txt	Ctrl_Alt_T

Dialog boxes

There are some instances where a clickable dialog box can be very useful (uses extrnal tools from https://www.robvanderwoude.com/dialogboxes.php).

Actions______________	Keys_________________
File Open DLG	Ctrl_O
File Insert DLG	Ctrl_I
File Save As DLG	Ctrl_Shift_S

Multicursors

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Multicursor Up	Ctrl_Shift_U
Multicursor Down	Ctrl_Shift_D
Multicursor Next	Ctrl_Shift_N
Multicursor Skip Next	Ctrl_Shift_P
Multicursor Remove Last	Ctrl_Shift_R
Multicursor Edit All	Ctrl_Shift_A TODO
Multicursor Edit Found	Ctrl_Shift_G TODO
Multicursor Remove All	Ctrl_Shift_Q
Prefix Lines	Alt_[
Postfix Lines	Alt_]

Folding

TODO Micro won't fold yet!

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Toggle Fold All	Ctrl_Alt_Z
Expand Fold Section	Ctrl_Alt_Right
Collapse Fold Section	Ctrl_Alt_Left
Move Next Fold	Ctrl_Alt_Down
Move Prev Fold	Ctrl_Alt_Up

Splitting Screens

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Current Split Right	F8
Current Split Below	F7
Close Split Right	Shift_F8
Close Split Below	Shift_F7
New Window Right	Alt_F8
New Window Below	Alt_F7
Move to Frame Down	Alt_Down
Move to Frame Up	Alt_Up
Move to Frame Left	Alt_Left
Move to Frame Right	Alt_Right

Mode Selection

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Command Mode	Ctrl_:
Shell Mode	Ctrl_#
Textfilter Mode	Ctrl_@
Lua Mode	Ctrl_=

LSP Actions

Actions______________	Keys_________________
CompleteWord	Ctrl_/
Format	TODO
Definition	TODO
Find TAGS	TODO
Make TAGS	TODO

FZF as an alternative interface

Fuzzy finder is a fantastic piece of software. There is enough power to replace almost all user interface widgets. I have implemented many functions with unmodified fzf.exe, using helpers such as bat.exe, findstr.exe and grep.exe.

It is helpful to use a different colour scheme for the fzf screens to aid in context switching. When fzf is active it has it's own keybindings.

TBC - default bindings

Fzf has its own syntax to control filtering:

^ matches pattern at the beginning (START)
$ matches pattern at the end (END)
' literal search pattern (EXACT)
! exclude search pattern (NOT)
| alternate search pattern (OR)
Space for multiple patterns (AND)

Terms are separated by spaces - not sure braces work.

Keybindings list

A searchable list of keybindings, this is great method to increase discoverability:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Keybindings FZF	Alt_K
Edit default keybinds	Alt_Shift_K

Command list

Powerful editors have command lines, this list includes annotations about the commands, merged with the command history:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Default command bar	Ctrl_:
Commands FZF	Alt_:
Edit Command lists	Alt_Shift_:

Goto list

This allows fzf searching of the current file, and then navigates to the selected position (you can also search for a line number).

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Goto text FZF	Alt_G

Goto previous list

Keeping a log of editing locations during a session, allows easy backtracking.

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Previous location FZF	Alt_P

Goto found list

Entering a target string filters the current file, then additional plain text searching is done using FZF.

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Find FZF	Alt_F
Find Regex FZF	Alt_Shift_F
Find in files FZF	Alt_Ctrl_F

Goto buffer list

Switching between open buffers needs to be as painless as possible. This list includes open windows, recent files and favourites:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Window list FZF	Alt_W
Edit favourite list	Alt_Shift_W

Open file list

This is one area where FZF shines. Using the current buffer path as proxy for the project domain, let the file finding begin:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
File list FZF	Alt_O
Edit favourites list	Alt_Shift_O

Open backup list

This works best for locally stored versions sharing similar filenames. e.g. .\zBackup\2023_09_23_67465_Filename.ext

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Backup list FZF	Alt_B
Explore backups	Alt_Shift_B

Open help list

I like to keep local copies of the runtime help files, add my own MarkDown files, and use cheatsheets:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Help list FZF	Alt_H
Edit help file FZF	Alt_Shift_H

Diff against list

I use this for locally stored versions sharing similar filenames. e.g. .\zBackup\2023_09_23_67465_Filename.ext

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Diff target list FZF	Alt_D
Edit target location	Alt_Shift_D

Insert file list

Insert file/filename from project:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Insert file list FZF	Alt_I
Insert filename FZF	Alt_Shift_I

Insert unique word list

Select complete words from the current open buffer, can help avoid typos in variable names:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Word list FZF	Alt_U

Insert line list

A list of useful annotated one liners, by file type:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Line list FZF	Alt_L
Edit lines	Alt_Shift_L

Insert template list

From a selection of template files.

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Template list FZF	Alt_T
Edit templates	Alt_Shift_T

Insert snippet list

From a selection of snippets.

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Snippet list FZF	Alt_S
Edit Snippets	Alt_Shift_S

Shell command list

This list includes saved shell commands:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Shell Cmd list FZF	Alt_#
Edit favourite list	Alt_Shift_#
Shell COMSPEC	Ctrl_Alt_#

Textfilter command list

This lists saved textfilter commands:

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Textfilter list FZF	Alt_@
Edit textfilter list	Alt_Shift_@

Lua commands

Lua commands may be entered in a command line, or replaced in the text.

Actions______________	Keys_________________
Lua Mode	Ctrl_=
Lua list FZF	Alt_=
Edit Lua commands	Alt_Shift_=
Interpret selection	Ctrl_Alt_=

External Tools and Files

These are the external tools I use from Micro:

AutohotkeyU64.exe Version 1.1.33.00 (https://www.autohotkey.com/download/1.1/AutoHotkey_1.1.31.00.zip)
awk.exe in your path (https://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/gawk.htm)
bat.exe in your path (https://github.com/sharkdp/bat)
cat.exe in your path (http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/coreutils.htm)
ctags.exe in your path (https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags-win32/releases)
fzf.exe in your path (https://github.com/junegunn/fzf/releases)
GetPlainText.exe in your path (http://clipdiary.com/getplaintext/)
GrepWin.exe in your path, I'm using Version 1.6.1.519 (https://tools.stefankueng.com/grepWin_cmd.html)
msgbox.exe in your path (http://claudiosoft.online.fr/msgbox.html)
openfilebox.exe in your path (https://www.robvanderwoude.com/dialogboxes.php#OpenFileBox)
SaveFileBox.exe in your path (https://www.robvanderwoude.com/dialogboxes.php#SaveFileBox)
shelexec.exe in your path (http://www.naughter.com/shelexec.html)
TextDiff.exe in your path (http://www.angusj.com/delphi/textdiff.html
tr.exe in your path (http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/coreutils.htm)
Hunspell.exe in a set location, with dictionaries in a set location. (https://sourceforge.net/projects/ezwinports/files/hunspell-1.3.2-3-w32-bin.zip

I keep the spellchecker (with dictionaries) local to Micro, along with any text files for insertion (Templates,Snippets,Lines of code):

editor
|   micro.bat
|   micro.exe
|   micro.ahk
|           
+---confMicro - As above
|   |   ... 
|                  
+---hunspell
|       en_GB.aff
|       en_GB.dic
|       en_GB.usr
|       en_med_glut.dic
|       en_US.aff
|       en_US.dic
|       es_ES.aff
|       es_ES.dic
|       hunspell.bat
|       hunspell.exe
|       hunspell.txt
|       Hunspellx.txt
|       Hunspellx64.dll
|       Hunspellx86.dll
|       libhunspell-1.3-0.dll
|       libiconv-2.dll
|       libintl-8.dll
|       libncurses5.dll
|       libreadline6.dll
|       MadDict.en_GB
|       temp.txt
|       user.dic
|       USER_DICT.aff
|       USER_DICT.dic
|       
+---insertions
|       api
|       api.bat
|       api.html
|       api.lua
|       api.md
|       api.mmd
|       api.sqlite
|       api.txt
|       
+---snippets
|   |   
|   +---html
|   |       image.htm
|   |       table.htm
|   |       
|   +---md
|   |       toc.md
|   |       
|   \---mmd
|           table.mmd
|           toc.md
|           
\---templates
        default.bat
        default.cpp
        default.css
        default.ico
        default.java
        default.js
        default.jsp
        default.md
        default.php
        default.pl
        default.py
        default.rb
        default.sqlite
        default.tex
        default.vbs
        default.wsf
        default.xml

Additionally, above my editor folder I have a help folder full of files, including a download from micro-cheat.

Installation

Just download the repository to a folder of your choice. I am in the process of removing any absolute paths from my script.

I am not a git user, so all the files have been dragged and dropped into the repository. Happy to discuss the contents, no idea how to accept pull requests!

Kind Regards Gavin Holt

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 30 Commits
confMicro		confMicro
hunspell		hunspell
insertions		insertions
snippets		snippets
templates		templates
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
VERSION.txt		VERSION.txt
micro.ahk		micro.ahk
micro.bat		micro.bat
micro.exe		micro.exe

License

Gavin-Holt/MyMicro

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