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(IDE) Support external editor

The IDE should keep a timestamp of the last time it saved the source text. Then, when the IDE is foregrounded, it should check the story.ni file's modification time. If the file was updated more recently than the IDE saved, the IDE should silently "revert" to the newer contents.

This would allow the user to have the file open in an external editor, save, switch to the IDE, and compile.

(This is the preferred behavior for Mac text editors. See TextWrangler/BBEdit, for example.)

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    Andrew PlotkinAndrew Plotkin shared this idea  ·   ·  Admin →

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      • Philip ChimentoPhilip Chimento commented  · 

        I've also changed the Linux GUI to work this way.

      • Jean-Paul LeBretonJean-Paul LeBreton commented  · 

        Pretty sure Linux has no UI convention for this either way, and my guess is many gnome-inform7 users will be using an external editor, so I think this is a good idea.

      • DavidKDavidK commented  · 

        Although it doesn't help Andrew much, I've changed at least the Windows front-end to work this way.

      • Andrew PlotkinAndrew Plotkin commented  · 

        This also goes for extension files if the IDE has them open in a window. (Plays well with the suggestion about knowing to recompile if an extension file changes.)

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