osx - Text editor for Mac that will open any file

10
2013-10
  • Dinah

    In Windows, every text editor I encountered allowed me to drag and drop any file type into it and it opened. Apparently, Mac app developers have a different philosophy because I can't find a simple free text editor for OS X that will do this. TextWrangler came highly recommended but it can't accomplish this simple feat. Can anyone suggest one?

    Edit apparently on at least some editors, there is a distinction between drag/drop in the document list area vs. the typing area. In addition to the accepted answer, this is one thing to be aware of. I still don't know why it doesn't work in TextEdit, but this is true for TextWrangler and Smultron.

    • Answers
  • 8088

    For Textwrangler - You just need to drag it to the Documents draw and a blah.hdl file opened perfectly well for me. It even will try to open binary files that way, but may ask you for an encoding to use...

    To change it asking what to do you can track down a setting in the Textwrangler Text Files preferences:

    prefs

    Also, works for me perfectly well (renamed a file blah.hdl and dragged) in Textmate. In fact I can drag anything into Textmate and it will "open" it (no snarky-ness intended ;-)

  • las3rjock

    Drag-and-drop works for MacVim. It also works in Aquamacs.

    Edit: Dragging-and-dropping a PDF into TextWrangler did not work. Apparently TextWrangler tries to figure out whether or not you should be opening that file in a text editor.

  • shuckster

    My vote is for jEdit.

    As a bonus it's Java-based, and therefore cross-platform for the times when you are forced to abandon your beloved Mac.

  • Benjamin Dobson

    Er, TextEdit. Drag any file onto the Dock icon and it will open it.

  • Diogo

    Try this: Vim (Vi IMproved) for Mac OS X

    Vim is a highly configurable text editor, freely available for many different platforms. For general information, advocacy, and the latest news on Vim in general, visit the Vim Home Page. This site is specifically devoted to Vim on the Macintosh. This page is mainly devoted to binary distributions for Mac OS X.


    • Related Question

    osx - Text editor for Mac OS X
  • Adam

    Does anyone know of a good text editor for Mac OS X which will organize HTML tags?


    • Related Answers
  • Forgotten Semicolon

    Check out the following:

    You should find something you like there.

  • Thom Smith

    I use TextMate http://www.macromates.com. Best editor I've used on any platform. It has all of the basic features (like syntax highlighting and indentation management), but its true strength lies in its extensibility – virtually every aspect of the program can be scripted and those scripts given first-class status. It's like emacs for the modern programmer.

    Another option I recommend is TextWrangler, which is inferior but free (as in beer).

  • Brian Postow

    emacs has an HTML mode (several actually)

    not sure if that's what you're looking for...

  • Alex Mcp

    If you want to pay some money, Textmate is -awesome-.

    Macromates writes and distributes it, and if you ever move beyond HTML, it's great for almost any language.

    HTML specific functions include help with closing tags, in-program validation via WC3 servers, code folding, and more. It's really excellent.

  • menns

    Definately Textmate if you can afford it it. If you want free, Textwrangler is the way to go.

  • Joe Internet

    Just to let you know, you can also get Bluefish for OSX.

  • Hai Vu

    Besides the ones that other recommended, I like Taco HTML Edit ($25). I still have the version that were free and love it. If you are comfortable with vi/vim, then look for MacVim--the GUI version of vim.