What you need to know
- BBEdit 13 is a major new upgrade to the text, code and markup editor.
- Among the most notable upgrades are macOS Catalina support and a new Dark Mode.
- It also adds a new "Pattern Playground" feature for grep patterns.
Bare Bones Software Inc. is rolling out an update for its BBEdit text, code and markup editor for the Mac. The two biggest additions are support for the upcoming release of macOS Catalina and Dark Mode.
Using system preferences, you can now choose between Light and Dark appearances. It can also be done automatically with the changing of the system-wide dark mode.
Beyond Dark Mode, BBEdit added a few new features for web developers. Here's a rundown of the updates.
Using the technology introduced in the "Live Search" command, BBEdit 13 now brings "live" display of both literal and regular expression matching while entering a search string in the Find window. This new feature allows for a quick visual preview of the potential effects of a search or replace operation. In addition, BBEdit 13 adds support for multiple selection and editing via three new commands to select Live Search results, matches for the currently selected text, or the current search string in the Find window. Once selected, editing one instance changes them all. BBEdit 13 introduces a new "Apply Transform" command, which provides a powerful, immediate means to apply any single text transformation to multiple files and folders.
The update also adds a new "Pattern Playground" feature designated for handling grep patterns.
The "Pattern Playground" window provides an interactive interface for experimenting with the behavior of Grep patterns (regular expressions). This makes the process of creating complicated patterns much less trial-and-error, since you can see exactly what will match, and how, before committing to any irreversible actions.
The BBEdit 13 update is now available through the App Store. If you don't own it, BBEdit is available for $50. Those who are one BBEdit 12 can upgrade for just $30, and those who are on older an version can update for $40. However, those who purchased BBEdit after May 1, 2019 can upgrade for free.
