FAQ

What is Redcar?

Redcar is a text editor for programmers written in Ruby. At the moment, it’s a young enough project that it is mainly of interest to Rubyists who want to use Ruby to script their editor.

REDCAR IS ALPHA CODE. It’s very rough around the edges still, please be gentle: we are working hard.

Why is it called Redcar?

danlucraft had been watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit? just before starting the project. For real. This means that the metaphor is actually for a railway tram not a car.

What does this have to do with Textmate?

Redcar can make use of Textmate themes and snippets. (But not textmate commands.) Other than that Textmate is an inspiration.

Why doesn’t it have feature X?

We have not yet reached version 1. There are lots of things Redcar doesn’t do yet, some of them quite basic. Come and contribute! You can also add your request to the wishlist page.

Why is it so slow to startup?

Good question. There are a few likely culprits and it’s a strong priority for future releases. Other than the startup (and opening the first file in a language) we are not aware of any particularly slow things, and if you see anything, let us know.

How do I change the language I’m editing?

Choose Edit/Tab Info from the menu and choose the language from the combo box.

How do I change the tab width?

Choose Edit/Tab Info from the menu and choose the tab width from the combo box.

I made a menu item for Redcar in Ubuntu but it just hangs when I click on it.

Add the argument --ignore-stdin to the command. Suggestions welcome on making this not necessary.