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README.md

Notepad

Description

A simple yet functional text editor with a graphical user interface. Features file operations (open, save, new), text editing with syntax highlighting colors, and keyboard shortcuts. Styled with a terminal-inspired green-on-black theme.

Features

  • Create new files
  • Open existing files
  • Save files
  • Save as (new file name)
  • Clear text with confirmation
  • Word wrap enabled
  • Monospace font (Courier)
  • Terminal-style appearance (green on black)
  • Scrollbar for long documents
  • Status bar showing file operations
  • Keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+S, Ctrl+O, Ctrl+N)
  • Multiple file type support (.txt, .py, etc.)
  • UTF-8 encoding support

Stack

  • Language: Python
  • Libraries:
    • tkinter (standard library - all widgets)
    • filedialog, messagebox (standard library)
    • tk==0.1.0
  • Complexity: Beginner-Intermediate

Installation

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run the program
python main.py

Usage

Start the Application

python main.py

File Operations

Create New File

  • Click "📄 New" button
  • Or press Ctrl+N
  • Prompts to save current file if modified

Open File

  • Click "📂 Open" button
  • Or press Ctrl+O
  • Select file from dialog
  • Supports .txt, .py, and all file types

Save File

  • Click "💾 Save" button
  • Or press Ctrl+S
  • Saves to current file or prompts for new name

Clear Text

  • Click "🗑️ Clear" button
  • Confirmation dialog appears
  • Clears all text from editor

Interface

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [💾 Save] [📂 Open] [🗑️ Clear] [📄 New]        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                 │
│  Your text here...                              │
│                                                 │
│                                                 │
│                                                 │
│                                                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Status: Ready                                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+S Save file
Ctrl+O Open file
Ctrl+N New file
Ctrl+A Select all
Ctrl+C Copy
Ctrl+V Paste
Ctrl+X Cut
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Y Redo

Color Scheme

Terminal Style

  • Background: Black (#000000)
  • Text: Green (#00FF00)
  • Selection Background: Red
  • Selection Text: White
  • Cursor: Violet
  • Button Frame: Dark Gray (#34495e)

Functions

save_file()

Saves current content to file. If no file is open, calls save_file_as().

save_file_as()

Opens save dialog to save with new filename.

open_file()

Opens file dialog and loads selected file content.

clear_text()

Clears all text after confirmation.

new_file()

Creates new file, prompts to save current file if modified.

File Types Supported

  • Text Files (.txt)
  • Python Files (.py)
  • All Files (.)

Can be extended to support:

  • Markdown (.md)
  • JSON (.json)
  • HTML (.html)
  • CSS (.css)
  • JavaScript (.js)

Customization

Change Color Scheme

Light Theme

self.text_area = Text(
    self.root,
    bg="white",
    fg="black",
    selectbackground="blue",
    selectforeground="white",
    font=("Arial", 11)
)

Dark Theme (Modern)

self.text_area = Text(
    self.root,
    bg="#1e1e1e",
    fg="#d4d4d4",
    selectbackground="#264f78",
    selectforeground="white",
    font=("Consolas", 11)
)

Change Font

self.text_area.config(font=("Arial", 12))  # Arial
self.text_area.config(font=("Consolas", 11))  # Consolas
self.text_area.config(font=("Monaco", 10))  # Monaco

Add Line Numbers

class LineNumbers(tk.Canvas):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        tk.Canvas.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
        self.textwidget = None

    def attach(self, text_widget):
        self.textwidget = text_widget
        
    def redraw(self, *args):
        self.delete("all")
        i = self.textwidget.index("@0,0")
        while True:
            dline = self.textwidget.dlineinfo(i)
            if dline is None:
                break
            y = dline[1]
            linenum = str(i).split(".")[0]
            self.create_text(2, y, anchor="nw", text=linenum)
            i = self.textwidget.index("%s+1line" % i)

Add Find and Replace

def find_text(self):
    search_term = simpledialog.askstring("Find", "Enter text to find:")
    if search_term:
        start_pos = '1.0'
        while True:
            start_pos = self.text_area.search(search_term, start_pos, END)
            if not start_pos:
                break
            end_pos = f"{start_pos}+{len(search_term)}c"
            self.text_area.tag_add("highlight", start_pos, end_pos)
            start_pos = end_pos
        self.text_area.tag_config("highlight", background="yellow")

Add Menu Bar

menubar = tk.Menu(self.root)
self.root.config(menu=menubar)

# File menu
file_menu = tk.Menu(menubar, tearoff=0)
menubar.add_cascade(label="File", menu=file_menu)
file_menu.add_command(label="New", command=self.new_file)
file_menu.add_command(label="Open", command=self.open_file)
file_menu.add_command(label="Save", command=self.save_file)
file_menu.add_separator()
file_menu.add_command(label="Exit", command=self.root.quit)

# Edit menu
edit_menu = tk.Menu(menubar, tearoff=0)
menubar.add_cascade(label="Edit", menu=edit_menu)
edit_menu.add_command(label="Cut", command=lambda: self.text_area.event_generate("<<Cut>>"))
edit_menu.add_command(label="Copy", command=lambda: self.text_area.event_generate("<<Copy>>"))
edit_menu.add_command(label="Paste", command=lambda: self.text_area.event_generate("<<Paste>>"))

Learning Outcomes

  • Tkinter GUI development
  • File I/O operations
  • Text widget manipulation
  • Dialog boxes (file, message)
  • Event binding and keyboard shortcuts
  • Widget layout and styling
  • Error handling in file operations

Future Enhancements

  • Syntax highlighting for code
  • Line numbers
  • Find and replace
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • Font size adjustment
  • Theme selection
  • Print functionality
  • Recent files list
  • Auto-save
  • Word count
  • Spell checker
  • Multiple tabs
  • Split view
  • Minimap
  • Code folding
  • Auto-completion

Common Issues

Text not saving

  • Check file permissions
  • Ensure disk space available
  • Verify file path is valid

Cannot open file

  • Check file exists
  • Verify file encoding (UTF-8 supported)
  • Check file permissions

Keyboard shortcuts not working

  • Ensure window has focus
  • Check OS-level shortcuts don't conflict

Comparison with Other Editors

Feature This Notepad Windows Notepad VS Code
File Operations ✓ ✓ ✓
Syntax Highlighting ✗ ✗ ✓
Line Numbers ✗ ✗ ✓
Find/Replace ✗ ✓ ✓
Multiple Tabs ✗ ✗ ✓
Lightweight ✓ ✓ ✗
Cross-platform ✓ ✗ ✓

License

This project is open source and available for educational purposes.