Helene

I recently came across Helene, a syntax highlighting text editor written in javascript. It was designed as a replacement for textarea's in web-based IDE's, and has been developed by Muze for the Ariadne content management system. However, it can be used for virtually any other system as well. Currently, Helene supports Internet Explorer and Mozilla, and the javascript code is almost entirely DOM based, meaning that any modern browser should be able to run it.

One of the standout features of Helene is its syntax highlighting capability, which allows it to highlight source code embedded in html pages. The colors are fully adjustable via a separate CSS file, and the supported languages include php, javascript, and smart. Additionally, Helene displays line numbers next to each line, just like other good programmers' editors.

Helene also comes equipped with load and save javascript methods, as well as automatic detection of text size and font family. The keybindings are adjustable, and Helene supports default windows keybindings, as well as a select set of Joe keybindings (^kv ^ku ^e ^a ^z ^x). It also has tab support, unlike normal text areas, allowing you to enter a tab character in Helene. Moreover, the new lines can be autoindented, and this feature is also configurable.

Lastly, Helene also offers unlimited Undo/Redo capability, thanks to Paul Colomiets. Overall, I believe Helene is a fantastic tool for developers and programmers who are looking for an efficient and user-friendly text editor for their web-based IDE's.