editfile - Developer's Text Editor with Built-in Validation

A terminal-based text editor designed for developers, featuring automatic syntax validation, PATH search, and safe file operations. Pure bash implementation with minimal external dependencies.

Features

• Automatic editor detection - Finds and uses available text editors (joe, nano, vim, vi, etc.)
• PATH search - Automatically searches PATH for executables when file not found locally
• Multi-format validation - Built-in syntax validation for JSON, YAML, XML, Python, Shell scripts, and more
• Safe file editing - Atomic file operations with temporary file handling
• Binary file protection - Prevents accidental editing of binary files
• Symlink resolution - Automatically resolves symbolic links to edit actual files
• Shellcheck integration - Optional shell script analysis
• Line number support - Jump directly to specific line numbers
• Minimal dependencies - Core functionality requires only bash and standard Unix tools

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/editfile
cd editfile

# Make the script executable
chmod +x editfile

# Optional: Link to a directory in your PATH
sudo ln -s $(pwd)/editfile /usr/local/bin/editfile

Usage

editfile [OPTIONS] filename

Options

• -n, --no-validate - Skip validation
• -l, --line LINE - Start editing at specified line number
• -s, --shellcheck - Run shellcheck on shell scripts after editing
• -V, --version - Show version information and exit
• -h, --help - Display help message

Examples

# Edit Python file with validation
editfile script.py

# Edit shell script without validation
editfile -n deploy.sh

# Edit JSON file starting at line 42
editfile -l 42 config.json

# Edit shell script and run shellcheck
editfile -s install.sh

# Edit an executable in your PATH (e.g., a custom script)
editfile cln

# Edit system command/script (if text file)
editfile backup-script

# Create a new file (will prompt for confirmation)
editfile newfile.txt

Supported File Types

File type detection is performed using:

1. File extension
2. Shebang line (#!)
3. Content analysis with file command

Validated File Types

File Type	Extensions	Validator
JSON	.json, .jsonld	jq or python3
YAML	.yaml, .yml	yamllint or python3
XML	.xml, .xsl, .xslt, .svg	xmllint or python3
HTML	.html, .htm, .xhtml	tidy
Python	.py, .pyw, .pyi	python3
Shell	.sh, .bash, .zsh, .ksh	bash -n, shellcheck
PHP	.php, .phtml	php -l
INI	.ini, .conf, .cfg	awk
CSV	.csv, .tsv	awk
TOML	.toml, .tml	python3 with tomli/toml
Markdown	.md, .markdown	(no validation)

Dependencies

Required

• bash 4.0+
• Standard Unix tools (grep, awk, sed, od, file)
• A text editor (nano, vim, vi, or any editor)

Optional Validators

Install these for enhanced validation capabilities:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install jq yamllint xmllint shellcheck php-cli tidy

# macOS with Homebrew
brew install jq yamllint libxml2 shellcheck php tidy-html5

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install jq yamllint libxml2 ShellCheck php-cli tidy

Python Validators

For Python-based validation:

# YAML support
pip install PyYAML

# TOML support
pip install tomli  # or toml for older Python

Editor Selection

The script selects editors in this priority:

1. $EDITOR environment variable
2. Search for installed editors in order: joe, nano, vim, vi, mcedit, ne, micro, emacs, jed, gedit

To set a preferred editor:

export EDITOR=vim

How It Works

1. File Resolution - Searches for file locally, then in PATH if not found
2. Binary Check - Verifies file is text, not binary executable
3. Type Detection - Identifies file type from extension, shebang, or content
4. Temporary File - Creates a temporary copy for editing (atomic operations)
5. Editor Launch - Opens the file in detected/configured editor
6. Validation - Runs appropriate validator after editing (if enabled)
7. Save or Retry - On validation failure, offers options to edit again, save anyway, or quit
8. Atomic Replace - Moves temp file to final location

PATH Search Feature

When a filename without path separators is not found locally, editfile will:

• Search for the command in your PATH using command -v
• Resolve any symbolic links to find the actual file
• Check if the file is text (not binary)
• Prompt to edit if it's a text file
• Show an error if it's a binary executable

This is particularly useful for quickly editing scripts and commands in development environments without needing to know their full path.

Error Handling

• Binary files - Refuses to edit binary files
• Permissions - Checks write permissions before editing
• Validation failures - Interactive prompt with options to retry or force save
• Missing validators - Gracefully continues with warnings when validators aren't installed

Environment Variables

• EDITOR - Preferred text editor to use

Compliance

The script follows the Bash Coding Standard with:

• Strict error handling (set -euo pipefail)
• Proper variable declarations and scoping
• Consistent 2-space indentation
• Comprehensive trap handling
• ShellCheck compliance

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the GNU GPL v3 for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure:

• Code follows the bash coding standard
• ShellCheck passes without errors
• Validation tests pass
• Documentation is updated as needed

Testing

Run the included test suite:

./test_validation.sh

The test suite validates:

• JSON, YAML, Python, Shell script validation
• Invalid file detection
• Editor detection fallback
• Command-line argument parsing