Package: debianutils Version: 2.28.2 Severity: wishlist Tags: patch The sensible-editor script is an excellent utility for detecting and using a reasonable editor on the system, and allows for user overriding via VISUAL and EDITOR environment variables. System-wide editor defaults can be set by administrative users with update-alternatives.
However, user-specific editor choices are usually set in a .bashrc or .bash_profile configuration file. This can potentially present a problem, where an inexperienced user is stuck editing a .bashrc file to change the VISUAL variable, using an editor with which they are not familiar. (Of course, setting the EDITOR/VISUAL environment variable is also possible, but perhaps not intuitive for new users.) To solve this problem, I am proposing a new utility called /usr/bin/select-editor (patch attached). This script uses update-alternatives --list to present a numbered list of registered editors on the system. It contains a hint, and defaults to the "easiest" editor on the system (currently set to nano). When the user enters a value number corresponding to one of the listed editors, the full path to the editor is stored in a variable called SELECTED_EDITOR in a file located at ~/.selected_editor. This patch additionally modifies sensible-editor to source the file ~/.selected_editor if present. If missing, sensible-editor calls select-editor, thereby prompting a user who has not chosen a default editor to do so. The setting is saved, the file re-sourced, and sensible-editor proceeds, using the chosen editor on the requested edit parameters. Also included in this patch: * Makefile modifications required for building * Internationalization information appended to the .pot file; manually used gettext/xgettext to pull 3 simple strings (I am a little uncertain about the i18n modifications I've made, please point me in the right direction if this is incorrect.) * A manpage for select-editor * An update to the manpage for sensible-editor, referring to select-editor(1) I sincerely believe this patch will improve the Debian experience for entry users, novices, and seasoned experts. In any of the cases, the very first time sensible-editor is called by a user, they are prompted to choose their favorite editor. New users can simply hit enter. More advanced users can make a conscious selection. They will not be prompted again, and they'll continue using their favorite editor thereafter when sensible-editor is called. At any time, they can run select-editor again and modify their choice of editor, *without using an editor*. Cheers, :-Dustin -- System Information: Debian Release: lenny/sid APT prefers hardy-updates APT policy: (500, 'hardy-updates'), (500, 'hardy-security'), (500, 'hardy') Architecture: amd64 (x86_64) Kernel: Linux 2.6.24-17-generic (SMP w/2 CPU cores) Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash Versions of packages debianutils depends on: ii coreutils 6.10-3ubuntu2 The GNU core utilities ii libc6 2.7-10ubuntu3 GNU C Library: Shared libraries ii mktemp 1.5-5ubuntu2 Makes unique filenames for tempora debianutils recommends no packages. -- no debconf information
diff -Nru debianutils-2.28.6/debian/changelog debianutils-2.28.7/debian/changelog
--- debianutils-2.28.6/debian/changelog 2008-05-11 16:43:17.000000000 -0500
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/debian/changelog 2008-05-23 09:24:06.000000000 -0500
@@ -1,3 +1,18 @@
+debianutils (2.28.7) unstable; urgency=low
+
+ * debian/control: Add select-editor to the package description.
+ * Makefile.am: Add select-editor to bin scripts and man page lists.
+ * Makefile.in: Add select-editor to bin scripts and man page lists.
+ * po4a/po/debianutils.pot: Add select-editor strings for translation.
+ * select-editor: Create a new interactive utility to prompt for and save
+ editor on a per user basis in ~/.selected_editor.
+ * select-editor.1: Create an initial manpage for select-editor.
+ * sensible-editor: Modify to source ~/.selected_editor and use
+ SELECTED_EDITOR if found, otherwise calling select-editor.
+ * sensible-editor.1: Update "see also" section to point to select-editor(1).
+
+ -- Dustin Kirkland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Fri, 23 May 2008 09:23:36 -0500
+
debianutils (2.28.6) unstable; urgency=medium
* Drop preinst. closes: #480593.
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/debian/control /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/debian/control
--- debianutils-2.28.6/debian/control 2008-02-08 21:13:01.000000000 -0600
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/debian/control 2008-05-23 09:24:30.000000000 -0500
@@ -17,5 +17,5 @@
you may use them directly.
.
The specific utilities included are: installkernel mkboot run-parts
- savelog sensible-browser sensible-editor sensible-pager tempfile
+ savelog select-editor sensible-browser sensible-editor sensible-pager tempfile
which.
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/Makefile.am /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/Makefile.am
--- debianutils-2.28.6/Makefile.am 2007-11-12 10:24:24.000000000 -0600
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/Makefile.am 2008-05-23 09:23:32.000000000 -0500
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@
tempfile_SOURCES = tempfile.c
bin_SCRIPTS = which savelog sensible-browser sensible-editor \
- sensible-pager
+ sensible-pager select-editor
sbin_SCRIPTS = installkernel mkboot add-shell remove-shell
man_MANS = run-parts.8 tempfile.1 \
installkernel.8 mkboot.8 savelog.8 sensible-editor.1 \
- tempfile.1 which.1 add-shell.8 remove-shell.8
+ tempfile.1 which.1 add-shell.8 remove-shell.8 select-editor.1
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/Makefile.in /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/Makefile.in
--- debianutils-2.28.6/Makefile.in 2008-05-11 16:43:41.000000000 -0500
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/Makefile.in 2008-05-23 09:23:32.000000000 -0500
@@ -184,12 +184,12 @@
run_parts_SOURCES = run-parts.c
tempfile_SOURCES = tempfile.c
bin_SCRIPTS = which savelog sensible-browser sensible-editor \
- sensible-pager
+ sensible-pager select-editor
sbin_SCRIPTS = installkernel mkboot add-shell remove-shell
man_MANS = run-parts.8 tempfile.1 \
installkernel.8 mkboot.8 savelog.8 sensible-editor.1 \
- tempfile.1 which.1 add-shell.8 remove-shell.8
+ tempfile.1 which.1 add-shell.8 remove-shell.8 select-editor.1
all: all-recursive
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/po4a/po/debianutils.pot /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/po4a/po/debianutils.pot
--- debianutils-2.28.6/po4a/po/debianutils.pot 2008-02-08 21:22:23.000000000 -0600
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/po4a/po/debianutils.pot 2008-05-23 09:23:32.000000000 -0500
@@ -1138,3 +1138,16 @@
#: ../which.1:26
msgid "if an invalid option is specified"
msgstr ""
+
+#: select-editor:8
+msgid "\\nSelect an editor. To change later, run"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: select-editor:15
+msgid "easiest"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: select-editor:26 select-editor:28
+msgid "Choose"
+msgstr ""
+
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/select-editor /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/select-editor
--- debianutils-2.28.6/select-editor 1969-12-31 18:00:00.000000000 -0600
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/select-editor 2008-05-23 09:23:32.000000000 -0500
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# To generate localization information, run:
+# xgettext -o - -L Shell select-editor
+
+editors=`update-alternatives --list editor | wc -l`
+if [ $editors -gt 1 ]; then
+ echo "`gettext '\nSelect an editor. To change later, run'`" "'select-editor'."
+ i=0
+ editors=`update-alternatives --list editor`
+ for e in $editors; do
+ i=`expr $i + 1`
+ desc=" "
+ if [ $e = "/bin/nano" ]; then
+ desc="<---- ` gettext 'easiest'`"
+ simple=$i
+ fi
+ echo " $i. $e\t\t$desc"
+ done
+ echo ""
+ selected=x
+ while /bin/true; do
+ if [ -z "$selected" -a ! -z "$simple" ]; then
+ selected="$simple"
+ elif ! test $selected -gt 0 2>/dev/null; then
+ read -p "`gettext 'Choose'` 1-$i [$simple]: " -r selected
+ elif ! test $selected -le $i 2>/dev/null; then
+ read -p "`gettext 'Choose'` 1-$i [$simple]: " -r selected
+ else
+ break
+ fi
+ done
+ i=0
+ for e in $editors; do
+ i=`expr $i + 1`
+ if [ $i -eq $selected ]; then
+ echo "# Generated by /usr/bin/select-editor" > $HOME/.selected_editor
+ echo "SELECTED_EDITOR=\"$e\"" >> $HOME/.selected_editor
+ break
+ fi
+ done
+fi
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/select-editor.1 /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/select-editor.1
--- debianutils-2.28.6/select-editor.1 1969-12-31 18:00:00.000000000 -0600
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/select-editor.1 2008-05-23 09:23:32.000000000 -0500
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+.\" -*- nroff -*-
+.TH SELECT-EDITOR 1 "21 May 2008" "Debian"
+.SH NAME
+select-editor \- select your default sensible-editor from all installed editors
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+.BR select-editor
+.br
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+.BR select-editor
+provides a coherent mechanism for selecting and storing a preferred sensible-editor on a per-user basis. It lists the available editors on a system and interactively prompts the user to select one. The results are stored as SELECTED_EDITOR in ~/.selected_editor, which is sourced and used by sensible-editor. SELECTED_EDITOR is overridden by the VISUAL and EDITOR environment variables.
+.SH AUTHOR
+.BR select-editor
+was written by Dustin Kirkland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+.BR sensible-editor (1)
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/sensible-editor /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/sensible-editor
--- debianutils-2.28.6/sensible-editor 2007-11-12 10:24:24.000000000 -0600
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/sensible-editor 2008-05-23 09:23:32.000000000 -0500
@@ -10,7 +10,13 @@
fi
fi
-${EDITOR:-editor} "$@"
+if [ -r ~/.selected_editor ]; then
+ . ~/.selected_editor
+elif [ -z "$EDITOR" ] && [ -z "$SELECTED_EDITOR" ]; then
+ select-editor && . ~/.selected_editor
+fi
+
+${EDITOR:-${SELECTED_EDITOR:-editor}} "$@"
ret="$?"
if [ "$ret" -eq 126 ] || [ "$ret" -eq 127 ]; then
nano "$@"
diff -Nru /tmp/Keg9QhA5rO/debianutils-2.28.6/sensible-editor.1 /tmp/5dmYH79Htv/debianutils-2.28.7/sensible-editor.1
--- debianutils-2.28.6/sensible-editor.1 2007-11-12 10:24:24.000000000 -0600
+++ debianutils-2.28.7/sensible-editor.1 2008-05-23 09:23:32.000000000 -0500
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
.\" -*- nroff -*-
-.TH SENSIBLE-EDITOR 1 "03 Mar 2004" "Debian"
+.TH SENSIBLE-EDITOR 1 "21 May 2008" "Debian"
.SH NAME
sensible-editor, sensible-pager, sensible-browser \- sensible editing, paging, and web browsing
.SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -17,3 +17,6 @@
.SH "SEE ALSO"
Documentation of the EDITOR, PAGER, and BROWSER variables in
.BR environ (7)
+and
+.BR select-editor (1)
+for changing a user's default editor
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