Basic Text Editor

A comprehensive text editor application built with Python’s Tkinter library, providing essential text editing features with a user-friendly graphical interface.

🎯 Project Overview

This project creates a fully functional text editor with modern features including:

• Complete file operations (new, open, save, save as)
• Text editing with undo/redo functionality
• Find and search capabilities
• Font customization
• Word wrap toggle
• Status bar with cursor position
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Toolbar for quick access

✨ Features

File Operations

• New File: Create a new document
• Open File: Load existing text files
• Save/Save As: Save documents with change tracking
• Auto-save prompts: Prevents data loss

Text Editing

• Cut, Copy, Paste: Standard clipboard operations
• Undo/Redo: Multiple levels of undo support
• Select All: Quick text selection
• Find Text: Search functionality with highlighting

User Interface

• Menu Bar: Organized menu system
• Toolbar: Quick access buttons
• Status Bar: Shows cursor position
• Scrollbars: Handle large documents
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Efficient navigation

Customization

• Font Selection: Choose font family and size
• Word Wrap: Toggle text wrapping
• Multiple File Types: Support for .txt, .py, and all files

🛠️ Technical Implementation

Class Structure

class BasicTextEditor:
    def __init__(self):
        # Initialize GUI components
        # Set up event bindings
        # Configure layout
    
    def create_menu(self):
        # Create menu bar with File, Edit, Format menus
        # Bind keyboard shortcuts
    
    def create_toolbar(self):
        # Create toolbar with quick access buttons
    
    def create_text_area(self):
        # Create main text widget with scrollbars
    
    def create_status_bar(self):
        # Create status bar for cursor position

class BasicTextEditor:
    def __init__(self):
        # Initialize GUI components
        # Set up event bindings
        # Configure layout
    
    def create_menu(self):
        # Create menu bar with File, Edit, Format menus
        # Bind keyboard shortcuts
    
    def create_toolbar(self):
        # Create toolbar with quick access buttons
    
    def create_text_area(self):
        # Create main text widget with scrollbars
    
    def create_status_bar(self):
        # Create status bar for cursor position

Key Components

File Management

• File I/O: Handle text file reading/writing with proper encoding
• Change Tracking: Monitor document modifications
• Save Prompts: Prevent accidental data loss

Text Operations

• Clipboard Integration: Use system clipboard for cut/copy/paste
• Search Functionality: Implement text finding with highlighting
• Undo System: Utilize Tkinter’s built-in undo/redo

User Interface

• Layout Management: Use frames and packing for responsive design
• Event Handling: Bind keyboard and mouse events
• Dialog Windows: Create custom dialogs for find and font selection

🚀 How to Run

1. Install Python: Ensure Python 3.6+ is installed (Tkinter included)

2. Run the Editor:

   python basictexteditor.py

   python basictexteditor.py

3. Using the Editor:

   • New: Ctrl+N or File → New
   • Open: Ctrl+O or File → Open
   • Save: Ctrl+S or File → Save
   • Find: Ctrl+F or Edit → Find
   • Font: Format → Font

💡 Usage Examples

Basic File Operations

# Create new editor instance
editor = BasicTextEditor()
 
# Start the application
editor.run()

# Create new editor instance
editor = BasicTextEditor()
 
# Start the application
editor.run()

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+NCtrl+N: New file
• Ctrl+OCtrl+O: Open file
• Ctrl+SCtrl+S: Save file
• Ctrl+ZCtrl+Z: Undo
• Ctrl+YCtrl+Y: Redo
• Ctrl+XCtrl+X: Cut
• Ctrl+CCtrl+C: Copy
• Ctrl+VCtrl+V: Paste
• Ctrl+ACtrl+A: Select all
• Ctrl+FCtrl+F: Find text

Menu Navigation

• File Menu: New, Open, Save, Save As, Exit
• Edit Menu: Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Select All, Find
• Format Menu: Font selection, Word wrap toggle

🎨 Advanced Features

Find Dialog

• Search for text within the document
• Highlight found text
• Case-sensitive searching
• Navigate through search results

Font Customization

• Choose from system fonts
• Adjust font size
• Real-time preview
• Apply changes instantly

Status Information

• Current line and column position
• Real-time cursor tracking
• Document modification indicator

🔧 Customization Options

Extending Functionality

# Add syntax highlighting
def add_syntax_highlighting(self):
    # Implement keyword highlighting
    pass
 
# Add line numbers
def add_line_numbers(self):
    # Create line number widget
    pass
 
# Add find and replace
def find_replace(self):
    # Implement replace functionality
    pass

# Add syntax highlighting
def add_syntax_highlighting(self):
    # Implement keyword highlighting
    pass
 
# Add line numbers
def add_line_numbers(self):
    # Create line number widget
    pass
 
# Add find and replace
def find_replace(self):
    # Implement replace functionality
    pass

Configuration

• Default font settings
• Window size and position
• File type associations
• Custom keyboard shortcuts

🛡️ Error Handling

• File Access: Handle permission errors and file not found
• Encoding: Support UTF-8 encoding for international characters
• Memory: Efficient handling of large files
• User Input: Validate font sizes and file paths

📚 Learning Objectives

• GUI Development: Learn Tkinter widget system
• Event-Driven Programming: Handle user interactions
• File Operations: Implement robust file I/O
• Menu Systems: Create professional menu interfaces
• Text Processing: Work with text widgets and operations

🎯 Potential Enhancements

1. Syntax Highlighting: Add code highlighting for programming languages
2. Multiple Tabs: Support multiple documents simultaneously
3. Plugin System: Allow custom extensions
4. Themes: Add dark/light theme support
5. Auto-completion: Implement text suggestions
6. Print Support: Add document printing functionality
7. Recent Files: Track recently opened files
8. Find and Replace: Extend search with replace functionality

🏆 Project Completion

This Basic Text Editor project demonstrates:

• ✅ Complete GUI application development
• ✅ File management implementation
• ✅ Text editing functionality
• ✅ User interface design
• ✅ Event handling and shortcuts
• ✅ Professional application structure

Perfect for beginners learning GUI programming and intermediate developers exploring desktop application development with Python!