Often, when helping people out with problems they might be having it is handy to come up with a code sample or simply play around with sample text. Although it is simple to create a new view and set the syntax using a keystroke and the command palette, that leaves you with a file that you get asked to save when you probably don't care.
This simple package adds a command that creates a view, sets the appropriate syntax and marks it as a scratch buffer so that it can be closed with impunity.
An event listener catches a save on the scratch buffer and turns off the scratch setting so that the buffer becomes an ordinary file buffer again, stopping you from losing any work if you decide your scratch file should be more permanent.
The package presents you with an easily browse-able list of available syntaxes in an easy to sort list, allowing you to quickly dial in to get the syntax that you need:
It's also possible via key bindings or custom command palette entries to create buffers with any syntax you like.
The best way to install the package is via PackageControl, as this will take care of ensuring that the package is kept up to date without your having to do anything at all.
To install via Package Control, open the Command Palette and select the command
Package Control: Install Package and search for ScratchBuffer.
In order to manually install the package, clone the repository into your
Sublime Text Packages directory. You can locate this directory by choosing
Preferences > Browse Packages... from the menu.
Manual installation is not recommended for most users, as in this case you are responsible for manually keeping everything up to date. You should only use manual installation if you have a very compelling reason to do so and are familiar enough with the process to know how to do it properly.
The package includes a command palette entry ScratchBuffer: Prompt For Syntax
that will allow you to easily select the syntax for a scratch buffer and create
one quickly and easily. There are also some command palette entries for some of
the more commonly used syntax definitions which you can use directly or bind to
a key.
The package implements a command named scratch_buffer that does the work; if
you pass it a syntax argument, it will directly create a scratch buffer using
the syntax you provide:
{
"keys": ["super+p"], "command": "scratch_buffer",
"args": { "syntax": "Packages/Python/Python.sublime-syntax" }
},If no syntax argument is given, you will be prompted to select the syntax to
use from a fuzzy searchable list; each syntax is annotated with an S if it is
a syntax that Ships with Sublime and an I if it is a syntax from an Installed
package.
The following configuration options are available for ScratchBuffer. You can
see the default settings as well as your own custom settings under the
Preferences > Package Settings > ScratchBuffer menu entries or via the
command palette with Preferences: ScratchBuffer Settings. On MacOS, the
Preferences menu is under Sublime Text in the menu.
show_hidden_syntaxes: true/false (Default: false)
Some packages (including those that ship with Sublime Text itself) contain
syntax definitions that are marked as hidden so that they don't appear in
menus.
This setting (which defaults to false) allows you to show those syntaxes in
the list when creating a scratch buffer.
Copyright 2022 Terence Martin
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
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