11 ms·

Vico Editor (Mac text editor)

328 points by tortilla 16y ago

benologist 16y ago
This looks nice. I've been trying to find a text editor that doesn't make me completely uncomfortable since I moved to mac but after years of EditPlus (editplus.com) everything's felt so awkward, especially since I can't even figure out how to get the file/folder navigation panes to show in anything lol.
lordlarm 16y ago
With only one file open, and by pressing :q I want to go directly to the Explorer and not close the program. This is the behavior to NERDTree, and I'm used to it. Great program though. Keep up the good work.
tortilla 16y ago
Just started playing with it and it looks very promising. No screenshot on the site, so here's mine: http://i.imgur.com/t2SnU.png http://i.imgur.com/t2SnU.png Neat, my TextMate themes were automatically found by Vico.
- avolcano 16y ago
  You can also add GitHub users to the bundles list, and it'll pull down all of their repos with "tmbundle" in the name.
- ch0wn 16y ago
  There are a few screenshots on the about page: http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html
  - tortilla 16y ago
    Yep, I found it after I posted. Got too excited :)
    - ch0wn 16y ago
      Good to see there's support for color themes, already. :)
beck5 16y ago
This could be very good, I am still trying to find my perfect editor Vim's learning curve & interface means occasionally I just open up sublimeText2/TextMate. Great to see split views are there from the start.
- jarin 16y ago
  I don't want to take anything away from Vico (because so far it is pretty rad), but if you stick with MacVim you eventually start using TextMate less and less until you just stop altogether. For me, it took a good 3 months or so. The last holdout was using TextMate for formatting JSON output, but I found a Chrome plugin for that.
  - adriand 16y ago
    I love MacVim too, and have dropped Textmate completely. The only thing that I don't like about MacVim is that scrolling through text (vertically and especially horizontally) feels choppy compared to Textmate. When I see someone else scrolling through code in Textmate, it looks unbelievably smooth and fluid compared to what I'm used to in MacVim.
    - johncoltrane 16y ago
      That's because scrolling with the mouse was a bit of an afterthough, I think. If you use motions, word objects and Ctrl+f/Ctrl+b you don't really notice this choppiness.
      - adriand 16y ago
        Actually I rarely use the mouse and was mainly referring to Ctrl-f/b and j/k, as well as w on long lines. I don't actively notice the choppiness until I use some other editer, but I wonder why it exists in the first place - is the rendering engine slow or something?
        losvedir 16y ago
sibsibsib 16y ago
I'm impressed so far. I've been looking for something like this.
frsandstone 16y ago
If Textmate 2 isn't released soon it may be in trouble. This looks awesome.
- mdp 16y ago
  Yes, but what happens when development on this closed source editor dries up? It looks like a great app, but I'm still leery of basing something as important as my editor on a closed code base again. There are also some great alternatives out there, notably Redcar, which is both open and full of Textmate like features.
  - tjogin 16y ago
    If you are capable of switching editors, what does it matter if it's closed source or not? This adversity to switching editors is a common trait in programmers I can't quite understand. We programmers learn new things all the time, it's part of what makes us excel in our profession. And yet, adopting a new editor is apparently extremely hard.
    - mdp 16y ago
      Yes, but I'm extremely lazy :) The less time I spend learning a new editor is more time I can spend learning a new technology.
    - ilikepi 16y ago
      Perhaps it feels extremely hard because a preferred programming environment is so deeply tied to muscle memory via key bindings (which, admittedly, Vico is trying to address for vi users), whereas learning other new things engages other more flexible parts of the brain.
    - thirtyseven 16y ago
      Because learning new editors takes away from time we could be coding.
      - jsprinkles 16y ago
johnthedebs 16y ago
This app looks great, and for those looking to dip their toes into vi-style editing this may be the best starting point. As someone who's already gone up the Vim learning curve, though, I'd like a way to use all the customizations I've already collected. There doesn't seem to be a way to accomplish this now, but I'll be keeping an eye on it.
hieronymusN 16y ago
I've already made the switch to MacVim using Janus - https://github.com/carlhuda/janus https://github.com/carlhuda/janus but Vico could be interesting. The biggest win here, like with Sublime Text 2, is being able to split the window into panes, which is something I've wanted in TextMate for years. However, what I really want is to be able to open a different file in the other panes, not the same file I have open. [edit] Okay just figured out how to open different files in split panes. It's a little non-intuitive (you have to select the pane and the use the Open Files drop down, and have that file open in another tab (?!)). Would be nice to be able to select that pane and then just click the file I want in there in the Explorer. Would really like to have some integration with Git. I don't see the Git .tmbundle available in the list. It would be nice to be able to bring over a lot of the features of Vim, or maybe you can and I don't see it. Looks like it's scriptable with Nu - http://programming.nu/index http://programming.nu/index - which I haven't heard of. The symbol list on the right is also great, makes jumping to methods a breeze with nice animated highlighting. I'm really starting to dig this.
- brimpa 16y ago
  You can use the standard vim commands to create split panes with different files. :e <some file> :vsp <another file> " for vertical split :sp <yet another file> " for horizontal split
  - hieronymusN 16y ago
    Very cool. Does it have the equivalent of a .vimrc file so I can modify the leader char and make it more like my MacVim setup?
    - brimpa 16y ago
      As of now it doesn't look like Vico supports the `let` command so setting <Leader> with `let mapleader=','` wouldn't work. Like so many others, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.
- tednaleid 16y ago
  I have this in my .vimrc (https://bitbucket.org/tednaleid/vimrc/src https://bitbucket.org/tednaleid/vimrc/src): nnoremap <D-d> <C-w>v<C-w>l nnoremap <D-D> <C-w>s<C-w>j This makes cmd-d open up a vertical split, and cmd-shift-d open up a horizontal one. Same keybindings as in iterm2 and I find them easier than the chording that you have to do normally (which makes my hand feel like it's using emacs).
pakeha 16y ago
First impressions are extremely positive. Is there a mailing list or anything yet? I would love to provide feedback and in return be able to follow the development progress.
ozataman 16y ago
Looks great. Any chance we can get it to understand our .vimrc files? Maybe even (some) plugins?
fbuilesv 16y ago
Am I the only person who thinks that tabs don't scale in editors used for programming? I tend to have a lot of files opened at the same time (currently at 143 in Emacs) and I can quickly switch to any of these with a couple of keystrokes. Most of the Textmate users I've seen don't even care about the tabs in the editor, they just press Cmd-T and type the name of the file. Is people doing something else with tabs that I'm missing here?
- avolcano 16y ago
  Tabs are nice if you are programming just a couple files, or several files from different locations. Any more than that, and I agree that they're far too unwieldy. Vico also has an open files dropdown, and, of course, a folder explorer, as well as Cmd-T.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- zyfo 16y ago
  Why do you have 143 files open at the same time? Personally I use some (2-7?) buffers in vim and cycle through them. When I don't anticipate editing a file for a while I close that buffer.
  - fbuilesv 16y ago
    My editor has been opened for 2-3 weeks now so I just keep piling the files from all the different projects. I prefer typing 'C-x b [strat]' to opening '~/dev/projects/something_else/lib/strategy.rb' but it might just be the way I'm used to working.
    - rawsyntax 16y ago
      Leaving emacs open makes it more IDE like, the stuff you were working on last is still loaded. Instead of having to quit and then find all those files again. I work the same way as you. Tabs for any large number of buffers would be a nightmare
gourneau 16y ago
I like this a lot. Simple, VIm keybindings, Python symbol discovery, beautiful mac goodness.
xtacy 16y ago
Would Vico also have support for emacs keybindings? :-)
singular 16y ago
Very nice work. I've been getting irritated with emacs'... rough edges a lot lately and am tempted to scratch my own itch with an emacs slant :-)
endlessvoid94 16y ago
Excellent. A quick note: :q when in split-pane mode will close everything, not just the current active buffer.
deffibaugh 16y ago
I really want to try out vim and tiling wm setup. Is this a good place to get my feet wet? I was going to just set up VM of ArchLinux.
- ramblex 16y ago
  vim works on mac anyway - macvim for gvim equivalent. As far as I know there aren't any decent tiling wms for mac.
  - jarin 16y ago
    There are quite a few nice tiling utilities for Mac :) http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/ (for mouse) http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ (for keyboard) http://autumnapps.com/breeze/ http://autumnapps.com/breeze/ http://mizage.com/divvy/ http://mizage.com/divvy/ (the one I use)
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
  - johncoltrane 16y ago
    You can use dwm/awesome/wmfs & co under XQuartz, installation and configuration work almost like in Linux. That said, I use ShiftIt(1), it's free, keyboard based and does EXACTLY what I want it to do. (1) https://github.com/iamteem/ShiftIt https://github.com/iamteem/ShiftIt
- johncoltrane 16y ago
  Vico is a Mac OS X text editor with Vim-like keybindings. If you want to try tiling window managers + Vim, your best bet is to use MacPort to install gvim and either wmii, awesome or ion3. Other WMs worth trying are wmfs, dwm, xmonad… you'll need manual compiling though.
- navs 16y ago
  I experimented with an Archbang + wmii setup on my netbook for a few months. I don't see how this app comes close to emulating that experience. I suggest a VM setup.
thaumaturgy 16y ago
> You need Mac OS X 10.6.6 to run it. sigh. No joy for PPC users, again. This is a huge part of why I'm not sticking with Apple hardware again once I replace my laptop.
- thurn 16y ago
  Personally, I tend to think that an overly dogmatic commitment to backwards compatibility does more harm than the benefit produced by supporting a tiny minority of users with five year old hardware. Backward compatibility is the enemy of elegance. Just look at C++ or the x86 instruction set to see examples of that.
  - thaumaturgy 16y ago
    I do agree to some extent. On the other hand, I've been using Apple hardware off-and-on again since the MC68030; I already went through this with the 68k->PPC transition, then again with the introduction of the PPC750 series processors, then again with the PPC->Intel transition. At this point, I fully expect that if I were to buy an Intel series Apple system in the next couple of years, shortly afterward Apple would switch everything over to their new A-series hardware. I have certain investments in my current development system, too, like the early-model SSD that has made it possible for me to haul this thing around in the car to client appointments every day for the last couple of years. I'm just sick of having perfectly good hardware that gets aged out of being able to run text editors. Yesterday, I discovered I can't run pianobar (easily) anymore because the Pandora protocol changed, MacPorts appears to be dead, and homebrew is Intel-only. (There is a PPC fork of the Intel version of homebrew, but the documentation for it is all pulled directly from the Intel fork, and I'm completely stumped at how to actually get it to work.) On top of all that, I get to enjoy the economics of owning a device whose secondary market is falling off a cliff. Anybody's welcome to point out all the benefits of this kind of situation -- the longevity of Apple hardware, the supposed lower TCO -- or the fact that I should be budgeting a certain amount every year towards new hardware anyway, but it's not likely to change the fact that I've been through this one too many times now and it's just not something that, to me, is worth continuing to hassle with.
jarin 16y ago
Ok, so playing with this for a bit I just realized how much I miss TextMate's tab triggers. I hope this project goes forward, especially if it either a) gets open sourced, or b) gets other developers on board. I'd hate to see it go the TextMate route of getting popular and then taking forever for new releases to come out because the sole developer gets burnt out. A few things that would be nice: - Command line launching (like the "mate" or "mvim" commands) - Ability to edit tmbundles within the app - Downloading tmbundles seems to duplicate tab triggers - Snippets still use hard tabs even if you've selected space-based indentation (soft tabs) - Hitting backspace when you are using soft tabs and are in the "indentation part of the line" should go back that number of spaces instead of just one Vico is like so close to becoming my main editor, if only these things are fixed. As others have said, a .vimrc-style config would be cool (as would a :retab command), but those aren't deal breakers for me like the above things are.
- jarin 16y ago
  One down, 4 to go :) ln -s /Applications/Vico.app/Contents/MacOS/vicotool /usr/local/bin/vico
  - nickmerwin 16y ago
    Close! It'd still be great to be able pass to a file or directory path to have opened...
    - jarin 16y ago
      It works for me: vico . vico ~/projects/jarinudom.com
albertzeyer 16y ago
So sad that this is closed source. It looks very nice but I feel very uncomfortable knowing that if there are any issues which bug or annoy me or things I would like to have but which do not exist yet, I can do nothing about it.
- zer0her0 16y ago
  Yet you use a mostly closed source OS?
  - nevinera 16y ago
    I expect you're being funny and ironic, but I use my editor way more than I use my OS. Generally speaking, the OS is a platform and the editor is a tool.
tednaleid 16y ago
Nice start, looks like a nice bridge to Vim for textmate users. It's missing a few of the basic vim movement commands (which I have on a wallpaper I put together http://naleid.com/blog/2010/10/04/vim-movement-shortcuts-wallpaper/ http://naleid.com/blog/2010/10/04/vim-movement-shortcuts-wal...), but has most of the big ones. The ones I use quite a bit that don't seem implemented are: C-d - half page down C-u - half page up ge/gE - go to the end of the previous word (you do have e/E for next word) ( - previous sentence ) - next sentence
- eekfuh 16y ago
  Ctrl-D and Ctrl-U are probably one of the most used commands I use as well. This is a must.
- thethimble 16y ago
  It's also missing the ci (change inside) idiom. I've gotten so used to ci(, ci', and cit (change inside html tag).
- zzzmarcus 16y ago
  If you right click the app then "show package contents" in the Finder then go to Resources > Contents there's a file with keybindings called keys.nu. You can see (sidemap setKey:"<c-d>" toAction:"scroll_downward:") (sidemap setKey:"<c-u>" toAction:"scroll_upwards:") So apparently they are planned, just not yet implemented. I haven't messed with the file much to see what else you can do with it, but I imagine there's a way to override it in .vimrc style and customize it.
Andi 16y ago
It inacceptably blocks when accessing a Macfuse volume. But the whole design looks very good.
pdenya 16y ago
I won't be switching from coda until this is more polished but looks like it could be a contender. Another screenshot: http://ydeck.com/vico.png http://ydeck.com/vico.png
llimllib 16y ago
:q in a split should close that split, not kill the whole app. I can't use this app until he fixes that, because that shortcut is hardwired into my brain. There's definitely some neat stuff in there, though.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- pakeha 16y ago
  It took me a while to figure out that the way to close a split is ^Wc Probably because I'm not a huge vim user, and was only previously aware of the :q syntax you mentioned.
  - wahnfrieden 16y ago
    Funny, I use ^Wq for that.
- almost 16y ago
  I think this neatly illustrates the problems with other software have Vi or Emacs key bindings. Everyone has a slightly different set of bindings they use to do things and if you have even slightly different behaviour then it's just more a hindrance than a help. I can cope with learning new key bindings but I can't cope with something that activates my Emacs muscle memory then doesn't quite do what I tell it :)
grandalf 16y ago
Can anyone tell me why vim is better than emacs? I've been happily using emacs for a few years but would switch if vim is really better.
- thmzlt 16y ago
  Nice try.
  - grandalf 16y ago
    I'm seriously not trying to start a flame/holy war here.
    - xutopia 16y ago
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war#Differences_between_vi_and_Emacs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war#Differences_between_... It all falls down to what you prefer.
    - oemera 16y ago
      No-one can tell you if vim is better for you or not. Both editors are kinda religious choices. I like vim but if you are emacs user and are happy. Why would you want to switch?
uniclaude 16y ago
Good start ! It seems a bit heavier than MacVim (bigger memory footprint), but the simplicity of configuration and the textmate bundles will surely make it very nice for users coming from mainstream text editors. Focusing on a clear and usable OS X experience is definitely the way to go.
scott_to_s 16y ago
This is _exactly_ what I'm looking for. I've been using MacVim and Janus with good results, but this has so much promise. Looks like Visual Block Mode isn't yet supported... did anybody find this?
nicklovescode 16y ago
I've been searching for this for a long time. If you opensource this, I will become an active contributor. Something things: Padding on the left file pane would be nice. http://cl.ly/3m223V172r3R3b1B1P1A http://cl.ly/3m223V172r3R3b1B1P1A Also, with the left pane, some way to navigate between files like NERDTree allows would be useful. vi' and similar should be supported. It means visual select inside quotes. If you use command-w to kill the last open tab, so that nothing is open, you can't use the command-line ':', which is useful when changing directories to work on another project Again, I love this project
risico 16y ago
I look forward to the SFTP feature, a zone where Vim isn't confortable.
cpeterso 16y ago
* The Vico "blog" does not have an RSS feed, so it's not easy to track future announcements about Vico. * Firefox's AdBlock seems to be blocking your hotlinked Twitter icon, so there is no obvious Twitter link to follow. The "Follow Vico on Twitter" text should probably be included in your <a href>.
X-Istence 16y ago
I like the editor, but I don't like the fact that it is time limited to just 5 days. Yes I understand that you want people to download the latest and greatest for testing, it just seems wrong. Overall it looks fantastic, but I am pretty dead set on my MacVim ways with my various plugins that it is going to be hard to get me to switch.
jpcx01 16y ago
Looks great. I try just about every one of these new options. Kodapp was my last one, but it didnt last (back on textmate). I'll give this a try as well. It looks like it has even greater potential. TextMate is a joke. Nothing worse than missed opportunity. Such a huge community behind it and MacroMates seems completely incapable of providing a new release.
- wyclif 16y ago
  http://wastm2released.com/ http://wastm2released.com/ MacroMates totally dropped the ball. What a shame. Everybody was suing TextMate, everyone was talking about it a few years ago, and they didn't capitalise on that.
  - dasil003 16y ago
    Tagentially: I'm so sick of that meme. All I can think of is someone spending $10 a year to think they are cleverer than they actually are.
    - zem 16y ago
      "Intangibles are the most honest merchandise anyone can sell. They are always worth whatever you are willing to pay for them and they never wear out." -- Heinlein, "The Man Who Sold the Moon"
- munificent 16y ago
  After several years of TextMate, I recently switched to Sublime Text (http://www.sublimetext.com/ http://www.sublimetext.com/). It's more or less TextMate 2: same philosophy and aesthetic, same bundles, much better performance, split panes, lots of nice features. Sublime makes we want to write and code more.
sudonim 16y ago
Really nice start! I've been enjoying modal editing in Vim. One of my pain points is that I feel like I don't have a lot of control over which buffer I'm closing when I :bd or what will happen when I open a new file when selecting it in Nerdtree. Sometimes it replaces a buffer, other times it splits the window. Im sure it's me not understanding how vim works, but I seem to get the mental model in Vico a little better. Bravo!
- grandpa 16y ago
  It only splits if the buffer it wants to replace hasn't been saved.
Tycho 16y ago
I'm never quite sure if all these Vim commands people rave about are any better than judicious use of the alt/option, shift, command and arrow keys with the default Mac behaviour. Although one essential change to the defaults is to remap CapsLock to be the same as Control --see System Prefs-- and then using Control-F to move the cursor forward one. Helps you get past automatically inserted closing brackets with minimal hand movement. I find that really tedious and annoying otherwise.
eykanal 16y ago
Very nice! I'm a vim novice, but I use it a lot to make quick changes to config files. Is there a good vim help resource that could be integrated in to this program for newbies like me? There are many things I like about vim, but I'm always forgetting keybindings. Excellent program, though! I look forward to watching it as it develops further!
nlh 16y ago
Another comment that this looks great! I've been using MacVim as my main editor and love it, but totally appreciate the polish of Vico -- looks wonderful. My wishlist, right off the bat (note I know some of this might be unreasonable, but that's why it's a wishlist ;) Mostly centered around a quick transition from MavVim to Vico... * Would be excellent if I could import a vim colorscheme * Would be excellent if it could read/use my .vimrc * Would be _excellent_ if it supported vim bundles/add-ons, but I know that's basically asking for vim :) * In editing a Ruby file, I wrote 'def' it colored and indented my second line, but only colored my 'end' -- didn't outdent it properly. Small annoyance. Also would be great if I could configure it to auto-insert an 'end' for every 'def' or 'Class' or 'if' etc.... Keep up the great work and get an RSS feed up on your blog so we can keep track of updates...
ujeezy 16y ago
Love it! I was seriously considering wrapping MacVim in some sort of Cocoa app with a file drawer, and I'm glad I didn't have to go down that rabbit hole. Very excited to watch this develop :)
andrew_wc_brown 16y ago
The only thing I want in vim is tabs, since I felt that it was faster to switch between tabs in TextMate than having to Command+T everything.
- antichaos 16y ago
  :help tabnew
- rsl7 16y ago
  macvim.
- xutopia 16y ago
  I use MacVim with the PeepOpen plugin and it gives me tabs.
akent 16y ago
I agree with Mark Pilgrim: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/01/21/wrongroom http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/01/21/wrongroom Here's the basic problem: you're writing a text editor. Stop doing that. It's 2007. Saying to yourself "I'm gonna build my own text editor" is as silly as saying "I'm gonna build my own build system" or "I'm gonna build my own amusement park."
- oemera 16y ago
  While you are right at some point I don't think that it would all good if people would stop creating better software. It's what makes the human being stupid and at the same time a genius: Always trying to make something better (even if you know you can't). Otherwise we wouldn't have lower consumption cars, color TVs and so on, right?
whalesalad 16y ago
Ugh why the fuck did it steal all of my file associations.
epynonymous 16y ago
several comments, i'm certain someone already mentioned this but you really need to have screenshots on your webpage. anyway, i downloaded the app and my first impression is that this is quite utilitarian though it has a nice cocoa frame. i like the color schemes that you have for default, the page margin and line numbering is essential. keep up the good work, this has potential.
- pbreit 16y ago
  http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html
philc 16y ago
For those who really want "TextMate + vim", until the newer options mature, you can try this. https://github.com/philc/textmatevim https://github.com/philc/textmatevim
mtgred 16y ago
Text objects aren't implemented (:h text-objects). This alone is a deal breaker as I can't live without them. Please add this.
comex 16y ago
> strong focus on keyboard control (vi key bindings) > scriptable in nu I'm sure nu is million times better than Vimscript, and it probably wouldn't be hard for me to port my half dozen custom key bindings to it, but vim has a lot of existing plugins... It's definitely not as fun to implement, but I'd much prefer to see a custom GUI that's really vim under the hood.
AndrewO 16y ago
So any word on if it'll be closed or open when it's done? I wouldn't mind paying (especially if that would speed delivery of a usable product), but I'd be worried about it becoming abandonware a couple years later (cough TextMate).
statictype 16y ago
I really wish MacVim would somehow build the NERD_Tree plugin into the native chrome of the editor. Either as a drawer (like TextMate) or a source list like this one. That, combined with the Command-T and snippetsEmu plugin would complete MacVim as the perfect text editor on OSX for me.
- xutopia 16y ago
  I use PeepOpen and NerdTree. It's not as good as what you describe but good enough for me to use every day.
emehrkay 16y ago
I love how the prospect of a new text editor gets us excited. Can't wait to try this out later!
asolove 16y ago
I just want to say that this is a fantastic app and fits a longing I didn't even know I had. While a lot of comments below note nitpicks, I want to just commend the author for a fantastic product. I hope it advances and is for sale soon!
growt 16y ago
If you use peepopen (http://peepcode.com/products/peepopen http://peepcode.com/products/peepopen) put this line in your keys.nu (inside the app bundle): (nmap map:"<ctrl-a>" to:"!!open 'peepopen:///path/to/your/code/folder?editor=vico'; return true; <CR>") ctrl-a will then open peepopen and the selected file will be opened in vico.
- tvon 16y ago
  I've been debating peepopen but without a trial/demo of some sort I haven't really been willing to dive in. Would you say it's worth it for a vim user? (edit: never mind, I went ahead and got it)
joshontheweb 15y ago
I started using this. Its still rough around the edges, but it really is a contender for my new editor of choice once its complete
enterneo 15y ago
is there a way to collapse code?

328 points by tortilla 16y ago

This looks nice. I've been trying to find a text editor that doesn't make me completely uncomfortable since I moved to mac but after years of EditPlus (editplus.com) everything's felt so awkward, especially since I can't even figure out how to get the file/folder navigation panes to show in anything lol.

lordlarm 16y ago

With only one file open, and by pressing :q I want to go directly to the Explorer and not close the program. This is the behavior to NERDTree, and I'm used to it. Great program though. Keep up the good work.

tortilla 16y ago

Just started playing with it and it looks very promising. No screenshot on the site, so here's mine: http://i.imgur.com/t2SnU.png http://i.imgur.com/t2SnU.png Neat, my TextMate themes were automatically found by Vico.

avolcano 16y ago
You can also add GitHub users to the bundles list, and it'll pull down all of their repos with "tmbundle" in the name.
ch0wn 16y ago
There are a few screenshots on the about page: http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html
- tortilla 16y ago
  Yep, I found it after I posted. Got too excited :)
  - ch0wn 16y ago
    Good to see there's support for color themes, already. :)

beck5 16y ago

This could be very good, I am still trying to find my perfect editor Vim's learning curve & interface means occasionally I just open up sublimeText2/TextMate. Great to see split views are there from the start.

jarin 16y ago
I don't want to take anything away from Vico (because so far it is pretty rad), but if you stick with MacVim you eventually start using TextMate less and less until you just stop altogether. For me, it took a good 3 months or so. The last holdout was using TextMate for formatting JSON output, but I found a Chrome plugin for that.
- adriand 16y ago
  I love MacVim too, and have dropped Textmate completely. The only thing that I don't like about MacVim is that scrolling through text (vertically and especially horizontally) feels choppy compared to Textmate. When I see someone else scrolling through code in Textmate, it looks unbelievably smooth and fluid compared to what I'm used to in MacVim.
  - johncoltrane 16y ago
    That's because scrolling with the mouse was a bit of an afterthough, I think. If you use motions, word objects and Ctrl+f/Ctrl+b you don't really notice this choppiness.
    - adriand 16y ago
      Actually I rarely use the mouse and was mainly referring to Ctrl-f/b and j/k, as well as w on long lines. I don't actively notice the choppiness until I use some other editer, but I wonder why it exists in the first place - is the rendering engine slow or something?
      - losvedir 16y ago

sibsibsib 16y ago

I'm impressed so far. I've been looking for something like this.

frsandstone 16y ago

If Textmate 2 isn't released soon it may be in trouble. This looks awesome.

mdp 16y ago
Yes, but what happens when development on this closed source editor dries up? It looks like a great app, but I'm still leery of basing something as important as my editor on a closed code base again. There are also some great alternatives out there, notably Redcar, which is both open and full of Textmate like features.
- tjogin 16y ago
  If you are capable of switching editors, what does it matter if it's closed source or not? This adversity to switching editors is a common trait in programmers I can't quite understand. We programmers learn new things all the time, it's part of what makes us excel in our profession. And yet, adopting a new editor is apparently extremely hard.
  - mdp 16y ago
    Yes, but I'm extremely lazy :) The less time I spend learning a new editor is more time I can spend learning a new technology.
  - ilikepi 16y ago
    Perhaps it feels extremely hard because a preferred programming environment is so deeply tied to muscle memory via key bindings (which, admittedly, Vico is trying to address for vi users), whereas learning other new things engages other more flexible parts of the brain.
  - thirtyseven 16y ago
    Because learning new editors takes away from time we could be coding.
    - jsprinkles 16y ago

johnthedebs 16y ago

This app looks great, and for those looking to dip their toes into vi-style editing this may be the best starting point. As someone who's already gone up the Vim learning curve, though, I'd like a way to use all the customizations I've already collected. There doesn't seem to be a way to accomplish this now, but I'll be keeping an eye on it.

hieronymusN 16y ago

I've already made the switch to MacVim using Janus - https://github.com/carlhuda/janus https://github.com/carlhuda/janus but Vico could be interesting. The biggest win here, like with Sublime Text 2, is being able to split the window into panes, which is something I've wanted in TextMate for years. However, what I really want is to be able to open a different file in the other panes, not the same file I have open. [edit] Okay just figured out how to open different files in split panes. It's a little non-intuitive (you have to select the pane and the use the Open Files drop down, and have that file open in another tab (?!)). Would be nice to be able to select that pane and then just click the file I want in there in the Explorer. Would really like to have some integration with Git. I don't see the Git .tmbundle available in the list. It would be nice to be able to bring over a lot of the features of Vim, or maybe you can and I don't see it. Looks like it's scriptable with Nu - http://programming.nu/index http://programming.nu/index - which I haven't heard of. The symbol list on the right is also great, makes jumping to methods a breeze with nice animated highlighting. I'm really starting to dig this.

brimpa 16y ago
You can use the standard vim commands to create split panes with different files. :e <some file> :vsp <another file> " for vertical split :sp <yet another file> " for horizontal split
- hieronymusN 16y ago
  Very cool. Does it have the equivalent of a .vimrc file so I can modify the leader char and make it more like my MacVim setup?
  - brimpa 16y ago
    As of now it doesn't look like Vico supports the `let` command so setting <Leader> with `let mapleader=','` wouldn't work. Like so many others, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.
tednaleid 16y ago
I have this in my .vimrc (https://bitbucket.org/tednaleid/vimrc/src https://bitbucket.org/tednaleid/vimrc/src): nnoremap <D-d> <C-w>v<C-w>l nnoremap <D-D> <C-w>s<C-w>j This makes cmd-d open up a vertical split, and cmd-shift-d open up a horizontal one. Same keybindings as in iterm2 and I find them easier than the chording that you have to do normally (which makes my hand feel like it's using emacs).

pakeha 16y ago

First impressions are extremely positive. Is there a mailing list or anything yet? I would love to provide feedback and in return be able to follow the development progress.

ozataman 16y ago

Looks great. Any chance we can get it to understand our .vimrc files? Maybe even (some) plugins?

fbuilesv 16y ago

Am I the only person who thinks that tabs don't scale in editors used for programming? I tend to have a lot of files opened at the same time (currently at 143 in Emacs) and I can quickly switch to any of these with a couple of keystrokes. Most of the Textmate users I've seen don't even care about the tabs in the editor, they just press Cmd-T and type the name of the file. Is people doing something else with tabs that I'm missing here?

avolcano 16y ago
Tabs are nice if you are programming just a couple files, or several files from different locations. Any more than that, and I agree that they're far too unwieldy. Vico also has an open files dropdown, and, of course, a folder explorer, as well as Cmd-T.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
zyfo 16y ago
Why do you have 143 files open at the same time? Personally I use some (2-7?) buffers in vim and cycle through them. When I don't anticipate editing a file for a while I close that buffer.
- fbuilesv 16y ago
  My editor has been opened for 2-3 weeks now so I just keep piling the files from all the different projects. I prefer typing 'C-x b [strat]' to opening '~/dev/projects/something_else/lib/strategy.rb' but it might just be the way I'm used to working.
  - rawsyntax 16y ago
    Leaving emacs open makes it more IDE like, the stuff you were working on last is still loaded. Instead of having to quit and then find all those files again. I work the same way as you. Tabs for any large number of buffers would be a nightmare

gourneau 16y ago

I like this a lot. Simple, VIm keybindings, Python symbol discovery, beautiful mac goodness.

xtacy 16y ago

Would Vico also have support for emacs keybindings? :-)

singular 16y ago

Very nice work. I've been getting irritated with emacs'... rough edges a lot lately and am tempted to scratch my own itch with an emacs slant :-)

endlessvoid94 16y ago

Excellent. A quick note: :q when in split-pane mode will close everything, not just the current active buffer.

deffibaugh 16y ago

I really want to try out vim and tiling wm setup. Is this a good place to get my feet wet? I was going to just set up VM of ArchLinux.

ramblex 16y ago
vim works on mac anyway - macvim for gvim equivalent. As far as I know there aren't any decent tiling wms for mac.
- jarin 16y ago
  There are quite a few nice tiling utilities for Mac :) http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/ (for mouse) http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ (for keyboard) http://autumnapps.com/breeze/ http://autumnapps.com/breeze/ http://mizage.com/divvy/ http://mizage.com/divvy/ (the one I use)
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- johncoltrane 16y ago
  You can use dwm/awesome/wmfs & co under XQuartz, installation and configuration work almost like in Linux. That said, I use ShiftIt(1), it's free, keyboard based and does EXACTLY what I want it to do. (1) https://github.com/iamteem/ShiftIt https://github.com/iamteem/ShiftIt
johncoltrane 16y ago
Vico is a Mac OS X text editor with Vim-like keybindings. If you want to try tiling window managers + Vim, your best bet is to use MacPort to install gvim and either wmii, awesome or ion3. Other WMs worth trying are wmfs, dwm, xmonad… you'll need manual compiling though.
navs 16y ago
I experimented with an Archbang + wmii setup on my netbook for a few months. I don't see how this app comes close to emulating that experience. I suggest a VM setup.

thaumaturgy 16y ago

> You need Mac OS X 10.6.6 to run it. sigh. No joy for PPC users, again. This is a huge part of why I'm not sticking with Apple hardware again once I replace my laptop.

thurn 16y ago
Personally, I tend to think that an overly dogmatic commitment to backwards compatibility does more harm than the benefit produced by supporting a tiny minority of users with five year old hardware. Backward compatibility is the enemy of elegance. Just look at C++ or the x86 instruction set to see examples of that.
- thaumaturgy 16y ago
  I do agree to some extent. On the other hand, I've been using Apple hardware off-and-on again since the MC68030; I already went through this with the 68k->PPC transition, then again with the introduction of the PPC750 series processors, then again with the PPC->Intel transition. At this point, I fully expect that if I were to buy an Intel series Apple system in the next couple of years, shortly afterward Apple would switch everything over to their new A-series hardware. I have certain investments in my current development system, too, like the early-model SSD that has made it possible for me to haul this thing around in the car to client appointments every day for the last couple of years. I'm just sick of having perfectly good hardware that gets aged out of being able to run text editors. Yesterday, I discovered I can't run pianobar (easily) anymore because the Pandora protocol changed, MacPorts appears to be dead, and homebrew is Intel-only. (There is a PPC fork of the Intel version of homebrew, but the documentation for it is all pulled directly from the Intel fork, and I'm completely stumped at how to actually get it to work.) On top of all that, I get to enjoy the economics of owning a device whose secondary market is falling off a cliff. Anybody's welcome to point out all the benefits of this kind of situation -- the longevity of Apple hardware, the supposed lower TCO -- or the fact that I should be budgeting a certain amount every year towards new hardware anyway, but it's not likely to change the fact that I've been through this one too many times now and it's just not something that, to me, is worth continuing to hassle with.

jarin 16y ago

Ok, so playing with this for a bit I just realized how much I miss TextMate's tab triggers. I hope this project goes forward, especially if it either a) gets open sourced, or b) gets other developers on board. I'd hate to see it go the TextMate route of getting popular and then taking forever for new releases to come out because the sole developer gets burnt out. A few things that would be nice: - Command line launching (like the "mate" or "mvim" commands) - Ability to edit tmbundles within the app - Downloading tmbundles seems to duplicate tab triggers - Snippets still use hard tabs even if you've selected space-based indentation (soft tabs) - Hitting backspace when you are using soft tabs and are in the "indentation part of the line" should go back that number of spaces instead of just one Vico is like so close to becoming my main editor, if only these things are fixed. As others have said, a .vimrc-style config would be cool (as would a :retab command), but those aren't deal breakers for me like the above things are.

jarin 16y ago
One down, 4 to go :) ln -s /Applications/Vico.app/Contents/MacOS/vicotool /usr/local/bin/vico
- nickmerwin 16y ago
  Close! It'd still be great to be able pass to a file or directory path to have opened...
  - jarin 16y ago
    It works for me: vico . vico ~/projects/jarinudom.com

albertzeyer 16y ago

So sad that this is closed source. It looks very nice but I feel very uncomfortable knowing that if there are any issues which bug or annoy me or things I would like to have but which do not exist yet, I can do nothing about it.

zer0her0 16y ago
Yet you use a mostly closed source OS?
- nevinera 16y ago
  I expect you're being funny and ironic, but I use my editor way more than I use my OS. Generally speaking, the OS is a platform and the editor is a tool.

tednaleid 16y ago

Nice start, looks like a nice bridge to Vim for textmate users. It's missing a few of the basic vim movement commands (which I have on a wallpaper I put together http://naleid.com/blog/2010/10/04/vim-movement-shortcuts-wallpaper/ http://naleid.com/blog/2010/10/04/vim-movement-shortcuts-wal...), but has most of the big ones. The ones I use quite a bit that don't seem implemented are: C-d - half page down C-u - half page up ge/gE - go to the end of the previous word (you do have e/E for next word) ( - previous sentence ) - next sentence

eekfuh 16y ago
Ctrl-D and Ctrl-U are probably one of the most used commands I use as well. This is a must.
thethimble 16y ago
It's also missing the ci (change inside) idiom. I've gotten so used to ci(, ci', and cit (change inside html tag).
zzzmarcus 16y ago
If you right click the app then "show package contents" in the Finder then go to Resources > Contents there's a file with keybindings called keys.nu. You can see (sidemap setKey:"<c-d>" toAction:"scroll_downward:") (sidemap setKey:"<c-u>" toAction:"scroll_upwards:") So apparently they are planned, just not yet implemented. I haven't messed with the file much to see what else you can do with it, but I imagine there's a way to override it in .vimrc style and customize it.

Andi 16y ago

It inacceptably blocks when accessing a Macfuse volume. But the whole design looks very good.

pdenya 16y ago

I won't be switching from coda until this is more polished but looks like it could be a contender. Another screenshot: http://ydeck.com/vico.png http://ydeck.com/vico.png

llimllib 16y ago

:q in a split should close that split, not kill the whole app. I can't use this app until he fixes that, because that shortcut is hardwired into my brain. There's definitely some neat stuff in there, though.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
pakeha 16y ago
It took me a while to figure out that the way to close a split is ^Wc Probably because I'm not a huge vim user, and was only previously aware of the :q syntax you mentioned.
- wahnfrieden 16y ago
  Funny, I use ^Wq for that.
almost 16y ago
I think this neatly illustrates the problems with other software have Vi or Emacs key bindings. Everyone has a slightly different set of bindings they use to do things and if you have even slightly different behaviour then it's just more a hindrance than a help. I can cope with learning new key bindings but I can't cope with something that activates my Emacs muscle memory then doesn't quite do what I tell it :)

grandalf 16y ago

Can anyone tell me why vim is better than emacs? I've been happily using emacs for a few years but would switch if vim is really better.

thmzlt 16y ago
Nice try.
- grandalf 16y ago
  I'm seriously not trying to start a flame/holy war here.
  - xutopia 16y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war#Differences_between_vi_and_Emacs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war#Differences_between_... It all falls down to what you prefer.
  - oemera 16y ago
    No-one can tell you if vim is better for you or not. Both editors are kinda religious choices. I like vim but if you are emacs user and are happy. Why would you want to switch?

uniclaude 16y ago

Good start ! It seems a bit heavier than MacVim (bigger memory footprint), but the simplicity of configuration and the textmate bundles will surely make it very nice for users coming from mainstream text editors. Focusing on a clear and usable OS X experience is definitely the way to go.

scott_to_s 16y ago

This is _exactly_ what I'm looking for. I've been using MacVim and Janus with good results, but this has so much promise. Looks like Visual Block Mode isn't yet supported... did anybody find this?

nicklovescode 16y ago

I've been searching for this for a long time. If you opensource this, I will become an active contributor. Something things: Padding on the left file pane would be nice. http://cl.ly/3m223V172r3R3b1B1P1A http://cl.ly/3m223V172r3R3b1B1P1A Also, with the left pane, some way to navigate between files like NERDTree allows would be useful. vi' and similar should be supported. It means visual select inside quotes. If you use command-w to kill the last open tab, so that nothing is open, you can't use the command-line ':', which is useful when changing directories to work on another project Again, I love this project

risico 16y ago

I look forward to the SFTP feature, a zone where Vim isn't confortable.

cpeterso 16y ago

* The Vico "blog" does not have an RSS feed, so it's not easy to track future announcements about Vico. * Firefox's AdBlock seems to be blocking your hotlinked Twitter icon, so there is no obvious Twitter link to follow. The "Follow Vico on Twitter" text should probably be included in your <a href>.

X-Istence 16y ago

I like the editor, but I don't like the fact that it is time limited to just 5 days. Yes I understand that you want people to download the latest and greatest for testing, it just seems wrong. Overall it looks fantastic, but I am pretty dead set on my MacVim ways with my various plugins that it is going to be hard to get me to switch.

jpcx01 16y ago

Looks great. I try just about every one of these new options. Kodapp was my last one, but it didnt last (back on textmate). I'll give this a try as well. It looks like it has even greater potential. TextMate is a joke. Nothing worse than missed opportunity. Such a huge community behind it and MacroMates seems completely incapable of providing a new release.

wyclif 16y ago
http://wastm2released.com/ http://wastm2released.com/ MacroMates totally dropped the ball. What a shame. Everybody was suing TextMate, everyone was talking about it a few years ago, and they didn't capitalise on that.
- dasil003 16y ago
  Tagentially: I'm so sick of that meme. All I can think of is someone spending $10 a year to think they are cleverer than they actually are.
  - zem 16y ago
    "Intangibles are the most honest merchandise anyone can sell. They are always worth whatever you are willing to pay for them and they never wear out." -- Heinlein, "The Man Who Sold the Moon"
munificent 16y ago
After several years of TextMate, I recently switched to Sublime Text (http://www.sublimetext.com/ http://www.sublimetext.com/). It's more or less TextMate 2: same philosophy and aesthetic, same bundles, much better performance, split panes, lots of nice features. Sublime makes we want to write and code more.

sudonim 16y ago

Really nice start! I've been enjoying modal editing in Vim. One of my pain points is that I feel like I don't have a lot of control over which buffer I'm closing when I :bd or what will happen when I open a new file when selecting it in Nerdtree. Sometimes it replaces a buffer, other times it splits the window. Im sure it's me not understanding how vim works, but I seem to get the mental model in Vico a little better. Bravo!

grandpa 16y ago
It only splits if the buffer it wants to replace hasn't been saved.

Tycho 16y ago

I'm never quite sure if all these Vim commands people rave about are any better than judicious use of the alt/option, shift, command and arrow keys with the default Mac behaviour. Although one essential change to the defaults is to remap CapsLock to be the same as Control --see System Prefs-- and then using Control-F to move the cursor forward one. Helps you get past automatically inserted closing brackets with minimal hand movement. I find that really tedious and annoying otherwise.

eykanal 16y ago

Very nice! I'm a vim novice, but I use it a lot to make quick changes to config files. Is there a good vim help resource that could be integrated in to this program for newbies like me? There are many things I like about vim, but I'm always forgetting keybindings. Excellent program, though! I look forward to watching it as it develops further!

nlh 16y ago

Another comment that this looks great! I've been using MacVim as my main editor and love it, but totally appreciate the polish of Vico -- looks wonderful. My wishlist, right off the bat (note I know some of this might be unreasonable, but that's why it's a wishlist ;) Mostly centered around a quick transition from MavVim to Vico... * Would be excellent if I could import a vim colorscheme * Would be excellent if it could read/use my .vimrc * Would be _excellent_ if it supported vim bundles/add-ons, but I know that's basically asking for vim :) * In editing a Ruby file, I wrote 'def' it colored and indented my second line, but only colored my 'end' -- didn't outdent it properly. Small annoyance. Also would be great if I could configure it to auto-insert an 'end' for every 'def' or 'Class' or 'if' etc.... Keep up the great work and get an RSS feed up on your blog so we can keep track of updates...

ujeezy 16y ago

Love it! I was seriously considering wrapping MacVim in some sort of Cocoa app with a file drawer, and I'm glad I didn't have to go down that rabbit hole. Very excited to watch this develop :)

andrew_wc_brown 16y ago

The only thing I want in vim is tabs, since I felt that it was faster to switch between tabs in TextMate than having to Command+T everything.

antichaos 16y ago
:help tabnew
rsl7 16y ago
macvim.
xutopia 16y ago
I use MacVim with the PeepOpen plugin and it gives me tabs.

akent 16y ago

I agree with Mark Pilgrim: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/01/21/wrongroom http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/01/21/wrongroom Here's the basic problem: you're writing a text editor. Stop doing that. It's 2007. Saying to yourself "I'm gonna build my own text editor" is as silly as saying "I'm gonna build my own build system" or "I'm gonna build my own amusement park."

oemera 16y ago
While you are right at some point I don't think that it would all good if people would stop creating better software. It's what makes the human being stupid and at the same time a genius: Always trying to make something better (even if you know you can't). Otherwise we wouldn't have lower consumption cars, color TVs and so on, right?

whalesalad 16y ago

Ugh why the fuck did it steal all of my file associations.

epynonymous 16y ago

several comments, i'm certain someone already mentioned this but you really need to have screenshots on your webpage. anyway, i downloaded the app and my first impression is that this is quite utilitarian though it has a nice cocoa frame. i like the color schemes that you have for default, the page margin and line numbering is essential. keep up the good work, this has potential.

pbreit 16y ago
http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html http://www.vicoapp.com/about.html

philc 16y ago

For those who really want "TextMate + vim", until the newer options mature, you can try this. https://github.com/philc/textmatevim https://github.com/philc/textmatevim

mtgred 16y ago

Text objects aren't implemented (:h text-objects). This alone is a deal breaker as I can't live without them. Please add this.

comex 16y ago

> strong focus on keyboard control (vi key bindings) > scriptable in nu I'm sure nu is million times better than Vimscript, and it probably wouldn't be hard for me to port my half dozen custom key bindings to it, but vim has a lot of existing plugins... It's definitely not as fun to implement, but I'd much prefer to see a custom GUI that's really vim under the hood.

AndrewO 16y ago

So any word on if it'll be closed or open when it's done? I wouldn't mind paying (especially if that would speed delivery of a usable product), but I'd be worried about it becoming abandonware a couple years later (cough TextMate).

statictype 16y ago

I really wish MacVim would somehow build the NERD_Tree plugin into the native chrome of the editor. Either as a drawer (like TextMate) or a source list like this one. That, combined with the Command-T and snippetsEmu plugin would complete MacVim as the perfect text editor on OSX for me.

xutopia 16y ago
I use PeepOpen and NerdTree. It's not as good as what you describe but good enough for me to use every day.

emehrkay 16y ago

I love how the prospect of a new text editor gets us excited. Can't wait to try this out later!

asolove 16y ago

I just want to say that this is a fantastic app and fits a longing I didn't even know I had. While a lot of comments below note nitpicks, I want to just commend the author for a fantastic product. I hope it advances and is for sale soon!

growt 16y ago

If you use peepopen (http://peepcode.com/products/peepopen http://peepcode.com/products/peepopen) put this line in your keys.nu (inside the app bundle): (nmap map:"<ctrl-a>" to:"!!open 'peepopen:///path/to/your/code/folder?editor=vico'; return true; <CR>") ctrl-a will then open peepopen and the selected file will be opened in vico.

tvon 16y ago
I've been debating peepopen but without a trial/demo of some sort I haven't really been willing to dive in. Would you say it's worth it for a vim user? (edit: never mind, I went ahead and got it)

joshontheweb 15y ago

I started using this. Its still rough around the edges, but it really is a contender for my new editor of choice once its complete

enterneo 15y ago

is there a way to collapse code?