This page contains all text editors you use for coding LUA. Feel free to submit the one you use. No warez stuff please!

SciTE is a SCIntilla based Text Editor. Originally built to demonstrate Scintilla, it has grown to be a generally useful editor with facilities for building and running programs. It is best used for jobs with simple configurations - I use it for building test and demonstration programs as well as SciTE and Scintilla, themselves.

SciTE is licensed under the GNU GPL.

SciTE is currently available for Intel Win32 and Linux compatible operating systems with GTK+. It has been run on Windows 95, NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and on Red Hat Linux 8 and 9 with GTK+ 1.2 and 2.0.

PSPad is a freeware editor with built-in highlighting support for many languages, and Lua can be added via Settings → Highlighters Settings, selecting one of the empty *General* languages at the bottom of the list and filling in the details:

Filter name: Lua

Help File: (the path to wherever you store the Lua help file. Use ALT F1 to open it up at the topic for a word the cursor is on in the lua file you are working on.)

File Masks: *.lua

User Highlighters: Lua

You can go into Settings → User Highlighter, and open the Lua.ini file to edit it for including the PtokaX specific function names which can be copy/pasted from PtokaX's own Scripting-Interface.txt

Crimson Editor is a freeware editor with built-in highlighting support for Lua 4.

The same help file (linked to above) can be opened up at the topic for a word the cursor is on in the editor using F1 after going to Tools → Preferences and selecting User Tools page.

Then select an empty slot and fill with the following details:

Menu Text: Lua Context Help

Command: C:\your\pathto\Programming in Lua.chm

Argument: $(CurrWord)

Initial dir: $(FileDir)

Hot key: F1

Close on exit: Yes

Save before execute: No

The syntax file can be edited directly to change it to Lua 5 following the guide in the editor's help file.

ConTEXT is a freeware editor with built-in highlighting support for Lua 4 which can be upgraded to Lua 5 by editing the highlighting file directly.

Files of any type can be associated as the help file for Lua language but, ironically, contextual help for words the cursor is on in the editor is limited to a specially extended .chm format helpfile that requires every html topic file inside the .chm to be either <A NAME.. coded or named in a way that includes the word (%w) being looked up, ie. “mk:@MSITStore:Programming_in_Lua.chm::/wholedocument.html#%w” or “ms-its:Programming_in_Lua.chm::/%w.html”

Notepad++ is a Scintilla-based text editor for Windows, with builtin support for LUA 4 and 5.

Main features:

• Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding

Supported languages : C, C++, Java, C#, XML, HTML, PHP, Javascript, RC resource file, makefile, ASCII art file, doxygen, ini file, batch file, ASP, VB/VBS source files, SQL, Objective-C, CSS, Pascal, Perl, Python and Lua.

• WYSIWYG

If you have a colour printer, print your source code (or whatever you want) in colour.

• User Defined Syntax Highlighting

It allows user to define his own language : not only the syntax highlighting keywords, but also the syntax folding keywords, comment keywords and the operators. ( screenshot1, screenshot2, screenshot3, screenshot4 ).

• Auto-completion

For most supported languages, user can make his/her own API list (or download the api files from dowload section). Once the api file is ready, type Ctrl+Space to launch this action (see screenshot). For more information about Auto-completion, please see Auto-completion HOWTO.

• Multi-Document

You can edit several documents at the same time.

• Multi-View

You have two views at same time. That means you can visualize (edit) 2 different documents at the same time (screenshot). You can visualize (edit) in the 2 views one document at 2 different positions as well. The modification of document in one view will carry out in another view (i.e. you modify the SAME document when you are in clone mode, see screenshot).

• Regular Expression Search/Replace supported

You can search and replace one string in the document by using the regular expression.

• Full Drag ‘N' Drop supported

You can open a document by drag & drop. You can also move your document from a position (or even a view) to another by drag & drop.

• Dynamic position of Views

The user can set the position of the views dynamically (only in 2 views mode : the splitter can be set in horizontal or in vertical), see screenshot.

• File Status Auto-detection

If you modify or delete a file which opened in Notepad++, you will be notified to update your document (reload the file or remove the file).

• Zoom in and zoom out

That's another fantastic function of Scintilla component. Just see screenshot.

• Multi-Language environment supported

The Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Hebrew Windows environments are supported. See Notepad++ under the Chinese Windows , under the Arabic Windows and under the Hebrew Windows in action screenshot.

• Bookmark

User can just click on the bookmark margin (located right side of line number margin) or type Ctrl+F2 to toggle a book mark. To reach the bookmark, type just F2 (Next bookmark) or Shift+F2 (Previous bookmark). To clear all bookmarks, click the Menu Search→Clear All bookmarks. See screenshot.

• Brace and Indent guideline Highlighting

When the caret stay beside of one of those symbol { } [ ] ( ) , the symbol beside of caret and its symmetric opposite symbol will be highlighted, as well as the indent guideline (if any) in order to locate the block more easily. See screenshot1, screenshot2 .

• Macro recording and playback

LuaEdit is an IDE/Debugger/Script Editor designed for the version 5.0 of Lua. It features syntax highlighting, completion proposal list, parameter proposition engine, advance breakpoint management (including condition system on breakpoints and hit count), function listing, global and local variables listing, watches, project oriented management, etc.