Editing easy texts and code with Scribes

Working Remotely

Often HTML pages or PHP programs require only minor changes. Scribes saves you the trouble of first downloading the document from the server to work on it. Instead, you work directly on the remote computer if need be, using Ctrl+L (Figure 4). In the resulting dialog, enter the path to and the name of the file. Be sure to indicate the protocol so that the application knows how to handle the request. Once you proceed, the software asks, if necessary, for the remote system's access codes – such as with an FTP server. If the username and password match, Scribes opens the file.

Figure 4: With Scribes, you can open a file directly on the server. However, remember to indicate the protocol so that the application knows how to handle the file.

Saving Time

Scribes developers have integrated a series of functions that help you save time. Apart from Sparkup, which is mainly of interest to web developers, you'll find an additional feature for automatically replacing text. You have the option of creating and using text building blocks. Simply enter a predefined keyword in the text. Scribes recognizes the keyword and replaces it with the corresponding building block when you press Tab.

To define the text building block, move to the trigger area at the upper right corner of the program window to open the icon bar. Click the small arrow next to the tool icon and click on Autoreplace Editor that appears in the submenu.

Click Add , and the cursor immediately appears in the abbreviation field. Be sure that the entry is long enough and contains enough special characters to distinguish it from any possible text you might enter in the body of the document (Figure 5). Next, press Enter to move to the next entry field, where you enter the expanded text that you want to appear in place of the abbreviation.