News

Sublime Text 2 Build 2091 is available now, with a raft of new features. Many thanks to everyone who has tested the dev builds during this time.

Firstly, text rendering quality has been improved on OS X and Linux. Text rendering on OS X previously supported sub-pixel anti-aliasing, but not sub-pixel positioning. Build 2091 rectifies this, eliminating the too-wide spacing between characters. Text rendering under Linux has changed to have sub-pixel anti-aliasing enabled by default: it was supported previously, but had to be explicitly turned on.

Build 2091 also introduces support for some of OS X Lion's features. Overlay scroll bars are now in there, albeit without support for over-scroll yet. Lion full screen support has been added too, although old style full screen support is a just setting away. There have also been a couple of key binding changes for OS X, to make full screen (now ^⌘F), find (⌘F now shows the find panel only), and replace (⌥⌘F) match the Lion defaults.

Some of the more general feature highlights:

• Blinking carets! This has been a long time coming, but is finally here. As with many things in Sublime Text, there's a setting to control it, too. Using the caret_style file setting, you can disable blinking altogether, or change a different fading style ('phase' can be fun).
• File name disambiguators. If you have multiple files open with the same name, a short suffix will be appendend to the file name in the side bar and tabs to help you determine which one is which.
• Tab labels have been reworked. They now fade, rather than elide, and will adapt better to the available size, shrinking the horizontal margins when space is tight. The end result is a more efficient use of space, so you can better see which files are open. There's also a setting, show_tab_close_buttons, to hide the close buttons on the tabs.
• New windows have their sizes and settings copied from the current window, compared to earlier builds where their settings came from the new_window_settings global setting.

The above list is just a small sample of what's new or improved in build 2091 - the full change list is on the Sublime Text 2 page.

Just a quick update on OS X Lion: Sublime Text 2 is compatible with Lion - as far as I'm aware everything is working as it should. Sublime Text 2 doesn't yet take advantage of the new functionality in Lion, however I'm working on changing this for the next build, which will be out within two weeks. First up will be support for overlay scroll bars and Lion style full screen. Integration with Versions, Auto Save and Resume should come eventually, but won't be ready for the next build.

Since the first public Alpha at the end of January, there have been 12 new releases, and many more dev builds. On average, that's a new version every two weeks for the past five months. During this time, Sublime Text 2 has made great strides in functionality, and a correspondingly large increase in users. Sublime Text 2 has long outgrown its Alpha tag, so it's time to put a Beta label on instead.

There's a new release to mark the occasion, and it's got a bigger change list than any previous version. A couple of the highlights are:

Command Palette

The Command Palette provides a quick way to access commands that don't warrant a key binding, and would usually be hidden away in a menu. For example, turning Word Wrap on or off, or changing the syntax highlighting mode of the current file. It uses the same fuzzy matching as Goto Anything does, meaning most commands are accessible with just a few key presses.

The command palette can be triggered via Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows and Linux, or Command+Shift+P on OS X.

Distraction Free mode

Distraction Free mode is full screen, with an extra emphasis on your content. All user interface chrome is hidden, leaving you with nothing but the file you're working on. It's a great help when you want to ignore everything else and just write. Distraction Free mode is accessible from the View menu.

Now that Sublime Text 2 is in Beta, I'm planning to reduce the number of releases to around one a month, to avoid frequent update prompts. If you prefer living on the edge, the dev channel typically has a new build every 2 or 3 days.

Traditionally, the Beta tag has been used on software to indicate it's feature complete, and is going through testing before the final release. That's not the case with the Sublime Text 2 Beta, which is ready to use, but subject to change. New releases will be coming out, and they'll be adding new functionality and changing how things work.

People use Sublime Text 2 every day to get real work done - if you haven't tried it yet, now is a great time.

Download

A new version of the Sublime Text 2 alpha, 20110129, is out now. This primarily addresses compatibility with Linux distributions other than Ubuntu, but I've snuck in some extra features for everyone:

• OS X: Command+1 will select the first tab, Command+2 the second, and so on.
• Various Goto Anything improvements, mostly notably, symbol browsing will start at the symbol closest to the cursor, and spaces are ignored when searching through files. Previously, a space would only match against a file name with a space in it.
• Syntax highlighting for the Go programming language.
• More!

The full list of changes is on the Sublime Text 2 page. Release announcements are generally posted on the forum, rather than the blog, so I'll be posting them there (and on twitter) after this release.

There's been a fantastic response to the Sublime Text 2 alpha. A few questions have come up several times; answers are below.

How do I change the font?
Add these lines to Preferences/User File Preferences:

	"font_face": "Courier New",
	"font_size": 10

and then change as desired. The font will change when you save.

How do I open a directory as a project?
Drag the directory onto the sidebar, and it'll be added to the project. You'll then be able to browse using the sidebar, and search using Ctrl+P (Command+P on OS X)

How do I open files using the command line on OS X?
A command line tool will be coming in the future for OS X, in the mean time you can use this method, although you'll have to replace references to Sublime Text X with Sublime Text 2.

How do I reset Sublime Text 2 to a fresh state?
You'll need to exit Sublime Text 2, and then delete the data directory, which can be found at:

• Windows: %APPDATA%/Sublime Text 2
• OS X: ~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 2
• Linux: ~/.Sublime Text 2

I'm having trouble running Sublime Text 2 on Linux
Ubuntu is the only supported distribution at the moment. I'm working to expand this as soon as possible.

Sublime Text 2 is available now as a public alpha, for Windows, OS X, and Linux.

Sublime Text 2 started life as Sublime Text X, and was first available as a preview to registered users several months ago. Since then, there's been an average of one new release a week. It's come a long way, and it's time to open it to a wider audience.

Sublime Text 2 is currently at a late alpha stage. Primarily, this means there are still several features missing compared to Sublime Text 1. These include spell checking, bookmarks, distraction free editing, a full python API, and general UI polish. These features will be coming over the next few months.

Goto Anything

Sublime Text 2 has Goto Anything (Ctrl+P on Windows and Linux, Command+P on OS X) to quickly navigate between and within files:

• Type part of a file name to open it. Files can be open files, recently closed files, or files in the project. The fuzzy matching is fast and intelligent, providing instant-as-you-type navigation on 50,000+ file projects.
• Type an '@' character, and start browsing by symbol. Type '#' to search within the file, or ':' to go to a line number.
• Combining these together, for example, "tp@rf" may take you to a function called "read_file" within a file named "text_parser.py". Similarly, 'tp:100' would take you to line 100 of the same file.

The Goto Anything panel previews where it will take you as you type, loading files asynchronously in the background. You can use this to quickly look up the definition of a function, pressing escape to go back.

The various within-file symbols operate on the current file if typed alone, for example, ":50" will take you to line 50 of the current file, and "@" will browse the symbols of the current file. There are key bindings to open the Goto Anything panel with these pre-filled, for example, Ctrl+R (Command+R on OS X) will go directly to the list of symbols in the current file.

Instant Project Switch

Projects in Sublime Text 2 capture the full contents of the workspace, including modified and unsaved files. You can switch between projects using similar fuzzy matching logic as the Goto Anything panel, and the switch is instant, with no save prompts - all your modifications will be restored next time the project is opened.

Multiple Selection

Sublime Text 2 has the same multiple selection functionality as Sublime Text 1, providing a simple way to make many edits.

For example, to make the same edit on multiple lines, split the selection into lines (Ctrl+Shift+L on Windows and Linux, Command+Shift+L on OS X), and start navigating the cursors and type. Your actions will occur simultaneously at each cursor.

To rename a variable within a function, position the cursor next to it, and press Select More (Ctrl+D on Windows and Linux, Command+D on OS X) several times to select all occurrences, and then start typing to rename them all.

To rename a variable everywhere, use the Find Panel and press the Find All button (or Alt+Enter), then start typing to edit every occurrence.

User Interface

Sublime Text 2 supports multi-pane editing (i.e., side by side editing and other layouts), multi-window editing, full screen editing, and a minimap to show you an overview of your files.

Sublime Text 2 also lets you choose how you switch between files. It has a modern tab implementation, including dragging tabs between windows. A side bar is available, for when you need to work with a large number of open files. Both the tabs and side bar can be shown or hidden individually.

The side bar allows you to browse files in your project without cluttering the list of open files. Click once to preview a file, without opening a tab. Start editing the file, or double click, and the file will be opened as normal in a tab.

Customizable

Sublime Text 2, like Sublime Text 1, allows you to extend the editor with Python plugins. It has a Python console (Ctrl+~) to work with them at run time.

Every key binding is customizable, as are the menus, themes, and per-file type settings.

Cross Platform

Sublime Text 2 is available on Windows, OS X, and Linux, in 32 and 64 bit versions, and one license covers all operating systems.

Download

Sublime Text 2 can be downloaded and evaluated for free. Give it a try, I think you'll like it.

For news about new versions, follow sublimehq on twitter.

Now that Sublime Text 1.4 is out in the wild, it's time to look towards the next version. Previously, development has progressed via regular beta releases. There are some grander plans for the next version, which require bigger changes than the beta releases can deliver. Sublime Text X is the solution.

Sublime Text X is a new application built around the same editing core as Sublime Text. Building a new application shell gives the opportunity to make some fundamental improvements to the day to day editing workflow. It will eventually morph into the next stable version of Sublime Text, which will likely be Sublime Text 2.0.

Sublime Text X is currently in alpha status: it works, but it's missing many features compared to Sublime Text, and isn't yet ready to be used for every day text editing. It's available as a preview for registered users: it will be opened to non-registered users at a later date, after it's progressed beyond the alpha stage.

Sublime Text X is cross platform, with downloads available now for Windows, OS X and Linux. Downloads and more information are available on the Sublime Text X page.

Sublime Text 1.4 is now available for all users. The focus for 1.4 has been on refinement and polish, with a host of small tweaks and improvements: a full list of changes in available on the beta page. Highlights are a significant improvement in startup time, and a reduction in memory usage. Also featuring is a new system for automatic indentation, which especially improves the editing experience in languages like Ruby and Lua.

Sublime Text 1.4 is available for download, either as a traditional installer, or a portable version suitable for running from a USB key.

Sublime Text 1.3 is now available as a free download for registered users. If you haven't tried Sublime Text yet, now is a great time to test drive the fully functional trial.

New features in 1.3 are find in files, revamped find and replace panels that preview results as you type and accepts multi-line inputs. Also new are goto symbol, syntax highlighting support for more languages (ASP, JSP, ActionScript and YAML), speed improvements, an expanded API and more. Almost every area of functionality has been improved and polished in version 1.3.

Find in Files

Find in files can search through directories on the file system, in the current project, or across all open buffers. Full Perl style regular expressions are supported. You can step forwards and backwards through the results with F4 and Shift+F4 respectively.

Reworked Find Panel

The find and replace panels now accept multi-line inputs (Ctrl+Enter to add a new line), and will preview the results live in the buffer. There are now shortcuts for each of the find options, which you can see by hovering over the buttons.

Goto Symbol

Ad-hoc Projects

Directories can be opened as projects, via the Project/Open Directory menu or by dragging a directory onto Sublime Text from Explorer.

 

Thanks to all the beta testers for your feedback and testing throughout the development of version 1.3.

If you're just starting to look into Sublime Text, and want to hear what others think, have a look at these recent reviews:

• Review 1: samkerr.wordpress.com
  

  "The first impression that Sublime Text gives is that it’s beautiful."

• Review 2: www.virtual-clouds.com
  

  "ingeniously wicked project management ... using it is like googling inside your project."

• Review 3: www.instantfundas.com
  

  "Sublime Text is a text editor for Windows intended to be used by programmers, developers, and in fact anybody who needs to work with text."

Update: Here are a few more reviews for perusal:

• Review 4: www.makeuseof.com
  

  "...you won’t find anything more Zen than this text editor."

• Review 5: www.ekoob.com
  

  "Full screen mode in this application does full justification for the term used."