Sublime text 3 sync plugin wanted!

Feature Request
1

Hi,

Try to work with both Sublime text 3 and Pinegrow, but despite the announcement on the Pinegrow website that Sublime text and Pinegrow works perfect together I can tell you that’s not the case!

When your lucky a part of some text is saved and appears in both applications, but it’s absolutely not synced. Most of the time I need a restart of Pinegrow or Sublime text when I add new pages or script files etc. etc.

This slows down my work flow big time! If your not planning to create the plugin better remove the text from the website saying that: “Pinegrow works together with your favorite text editor”!

Regards,

David

2

I can’t tell you, but you can check it out for yourself…

There is a problem with VS Code being sync’d when VS Code has autosave set. This might possibly be the problem you are experiencing with Sublime (or not), but I thought I might mention it.

If you have autosave set for Sublime and sync’d with PG, your system will go wonky because of the feedback loop.

3

Never used auto save in Sublime Text 3 so that can not be the problem. The problem is that despite you save in one or the other application or both half of the time it’s not visible in the other application.

Is there a way to sync with Sublime like with Atom or VS Code?

4

I don’t know, as I have only used VS Code with PG, and I have successfully sync’d them using the same port (important!) on numerous occasions.

If autosave is off on Sublime and you only save in PG, then you should be good. Otherwise you are not 100% sync’d probably.

As you type in one app your edits (typing) should show up immediately in the other app regardless of where you type (when viewing the same page).

Beyond what I know personally from using PG with VS Code (or VS Code with PG) I cannot help you, unfortunately.

I was hoping it was an easy fix, but it still sounds like a feedback loop.

Feedback loop: A and B are sync’d. A save is initiated in (not PG) the other app. PG sees the save and grabs the change from disk while the other app has not completely saved it.

PG then takes this partial change-grab and saves it to disk. App not PG then tries to write out the rest of the file… and sees the change and re-updates, and PG re-follows… and you are now stuck in a loop.

It’s my opinion that PG doesn’t wait long enough for the other app to update, and PG is at fault.

Back in the day of whole-room computers, we used semaphores/flags to signal the status of files being read and written to disk.

While PG and VS Code sync perfectly, it’s not the perfect marriage. Because of quirks, I ALWAYS make PG dominant (always do saves in PG) as a save in “not PG” WILL (usually) result in the loss of data.

I may be wrong, but this is my best thinking / reasoning of what is going on when syncing with PG.

When viewing the same file/page ALWAYS do all of your saves in PG. And for sure, be 100% sure that autosave is completely off in not PG.

Also, be sure that the following is OFF, as it IS a “form” of autosave.

Customization

Again, Sublime is very much like Atom. The power to control aspects such as “save on lost focus”…

5

With the collaboration of @AllMediaLab (David) his unusual feedback is under investigation with the support team. So far, we don’t face issues with our standard test procedure and the use of Sublime & PG but we are digging deeper. :wink:

6

Found the issue! It was caused by a stand alone color wheel app that was deselecting both apps.

7

Wow,that’s a random solution, Well done. What app was it and how was it essing the workflow/sync process?

And yes, a sublime text plugin would be nice.
I MIGHT have mentioned this before :slight_smile:

But with life having gone so bonkers the end of last/beginning g of this year I’m not using any web stuff atm,so not really in a suitable position to make any whining requests for this again

Having a dead mac doesn’t help either.

8

It was the color wheel app https://irix.app/ I was working with it at the same time as Sublime text 3 and Pinegrow. Because I clicked on the Irix app in between changing things in Sublime or Pinegrow. And forgot to click on one of the apps.

I was under the impression that some kind of sync was built in Pinegrow to make it work with
all text editors.

I still hope there is going to be a Sublime Text 3 Pinegrow sync plugin! I tried Atom today and the sync plugin works flawlessly without any saving in between. But Sublime Text is my main editor and I am very
happy with it and don’t want to change to Atom. It’s very buggy I found in the couple of hours I worked with it.

Unfortunately I already gave my old iMac to a friend 2 months ago :wink:

9

boooo!
Well, I did hear from someone on that front. but they never got back to me - but it may be because my reply looked like some fishing scam. as i had to use a tablet to reply - but couldnt see the screen!

It was entirely obscured by the on screen keyboard argh!

er/./// there were some errors/////… cough/.
Still using that now, with a cheap little keyboard for tablets.

as for the syncing, it ONLY syncs with your "“editor of choice”/,
if that editor has a plugin developed by PG
currently that is Atom or VSCode.
other than that . game over.

you can use ANY editor but, no sync.
will look for my linux laptop later.
but lets just say this has been a busy period

10

I was to early with thinking that it works!

Worked on a project with Sublime and Pinegrow, but new pages added to the site in Sublime don’t appear in Pinegrow! No matter if it’s activated or not! Only restarting Pinegrow makes them appear in Pinegrow.
Saving in Sublime or Pinegrow does nothing. Only open files in both applications can be edited.

Schermafbeelding 2020-01-06 om 21.29.17
Schermafbeelding 2020-01-06 om 21.29.175120×2880 2.32 MB

After restarting Pinegrow:

Schermafbeelding 2020-01-06 om 21.39.49
Schermafbeelding 2020-01-06 om 21.39.495120×2880 2.34 MB

11

@AllMediaLab

It works. When you add new files from another app, no need to restart Pinegrow, just use the reload project from the project tab to make them appear.(see screenshot).

Note: I guess this is not something to consider as an “issue” but more about room for a future improvement:)

Screenshot 2020-01-06 21.52.18

12

Well, tbh, that does make sense as
for Pinegrow to see NEW files in a folder, there would need to be a sync function, or manually reload the project from within PG
this would be accomplised via a plugin (or possibly some mind bending build tool combo)

There is NO Plugin.
Hence. back to your (and my)Feature request,

ah…yes…

…What he said.
and yeah, a plugin could improve it immesurably :smiley:

N.B. since I am currently limited to a tablet for anything web related, all my PG stuff is a pretty Mute point.
I bought the GS Animator plugin and my mac promptly died. only ever used that once.
oh well

13

Sublime Text has a much larger users group then Atom!

I don’t mind that you don’t consider it as a issue. For me it is an issue!
Today I’m emailing with support for hours and never a word about “Reload Project”!

Since I purchased Pinegrow with any question or any suggestion I never hear.
OK where going to fix that with the next update! It’s a pity, because the application has a great potential.

14

I’m really sorry for the time spent with me trying to fix an issue which was not related to Pinegrow. :wink:

When we receive an email from you through our support channel, we assume that you have already thoroughly reviewed our documentation and tutorials, our Youtube Channel, the community forum and the Slack channel.

As for Projects documentation, it is is available from our documentation site at https://pinegrow.com/docs/pinegrow-pro/

more precisely here: http://docsbeta.pinegrow.com/projects/#how-to-work-with-projects where we say:

In a project you can:

  • Browse the files/resources which belongs to your web design project
  • Reload the project: Useful to activate some of your modifications
  • Add new folders to your project structure
  • Add new pages
  • Close your project

Note: Regarding the documentation link, you will notice that Pinegrow V2.xx is used in the screenshots and videos. While the UI is now a bit different, the process is 100% the same with Pinegrow 2, 3, 4 and 5.x.

15

This is the documentation I have been reading! If this is not all the info it’s your own messy documentation that’s the reason I did not know it. The text from the documentation speaks for it’s self!

It says use “Refresh” but nowhere “Reload”!

Using an external code editor

Pinegrow is not an all-or-nothing web development solution. You can use Pinegrow alongside your favorite code editor or IDE like Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, WebStrom or even Adobe Dreamweaver. Use Pinegrow for those tasks where it can save you lots of time and effort while using other tools for tasks more suited to them.

To do that you simply open the same HTML page in Pinegrow and in the external editor. Pinegrow will watch the HTML and attached CSS/LESS files for changes. When you save a file in the code editor Pinegrow will recognise that the file was modified externally.

Now, here’s where the magic begins. Instead of simply reloading the whole page, Pinegrow compares both versions of the page and only updates the modified elements . This is fast and also works great on pages with loaders, modals and similar dynamic elements because the page view is not re-initialised every time you make a change.

In the example shown below we’re editing a page with a modal box. After we open the modal with SHIFT + Click (btw. you can see that the page is fully functional during editing in Pinegrow) we switch to the external code editor, change the text and save the file. The modal box in Pinegrow gets updated automatically without having to reload the page and reopen the modal. This also makes Pinegrow a great solution for previewing sites during editing.

Pinegrow also selects the changed element after it gets updated (this happens only if a single element is changed externally).

Editing works both ways. We can make edits in Pinegrow, save the file and the external code editor will reload the modified file:

Editing the code in the external editor also works great when we use Pinegrow to show multiple views of the same page :

In some situations Pinegrow can’t update changed elements selectively (for example, if the whole page changes). In that case Pinegrow will do a quick reload of the whole page.

CSS and LESS files can be edited in the same way:

Additional advantage of this setup is that you can use multiple displays : keep Pinegrow open on one display and the code editor on the second display.

Use Refresh (CMD + R) if the page view becomes messed up during code editin

16

@AllMediaLab

With all due respect, I don’t see anything that contradicts what I’ve been telling you since the beginning of our discussion.

This documentation refers to an HTML/CSS document opened simultaneously in Pinegrow and in an external editor. Your last feedback refers to a file or folder created from an external application (or from the file explorer) not automatically appearing in the project tab, a situation that can be corrected by using the Reload project option.

What I understand on the other hand, and this will be my last intervention on this topic, is that you are currently not satisfied with the unavailability of a specific plugin for Sublime which is your favorite editor. Rest assured that the Pinegrow team has heard your feedback.

17

Lol, I can “hear” earnoud’s patience wearing thin.

18

My questions and issues are all based on using Pinegrow and Sublime text at the same time.

Searched the documentation and found:

Using an external code editor

There I expect to find all important info about that subject including: Adding a new page and using “reload”.

Instead of writing:

Now, here’s where the magic begins. Instead of simply reloading the whole page, Pinegrow compares both versions of the page and only updates the modified elements . This is fast and also works great on pages with loaders, modals and similar dynamic elements because the page view is not re-initialized every time you make a change.

Write also:
Be sure to click the other application to make it active otherwise no change will be happening without a sync plugin that is only available for VS code and Atom at the moment.

Hope you consider to make the plugin fast!

Regards,

David

19

@AllMediaLab, I would give it a little time as earnoud has said they are looking into it. Sometimes solid solutions can take a while. Interfacing and syncing with other apps can be messy.

@Printninja, yes I heard the same thing. It’s a job that sometimes gets less appreciation than what’s due. I know earnoud and the team are working hard on other issues, too. Hats off to them!

3 Likes
20

Hi,

I have no doubt they do! Of course I appreciate what they put for effort in the Pinegrow project and I’m a big fan of their work otherwise I would never purchased the full package and the animation plugin.

But having said that I’ve been reading requests for PHP includes already made years ago and till now not a sign of it.

I read a interesting old blogpost about how the new Pinegrow website was made with the use of <picture> and <srcset> and would expect that it reflects in the features built in Pinegrow, but nothing happens. Only a external developer who is so kind to make a plugin for it provides me with the use of the attributes in a sensible way. (Hope his Pro version comes soon!).

Then Pinegrow wants to reach professional web designers and if they want to reach them I think Sublime Text 3 has to be part of the deal too! Compare to Atom that has a much smaller user base then Sublime text.

And finally every time I have a issue I’m loaded with documentation examples that you can not just find by searching in the documentation (not even with Google). The stuff I found is mostly incomplete.

Still Love Pinegrow and it really gives a extra dimension to the way I webdesign in Bootstrap now, with
excellent SASS features, HTML error warnings, The elements tree, being able to see the mails I make for forms (even in PHP) and many more options. But I hope the above named features will be added to Pinegrow soon.

From a business kind of perspective it will attract many more users I’m positive of that!

Regards,

David

2 Likes