Plugin System

JEditor features a comprehensive plugin system that allows you to extend the editor with new programming language support, UI translations, and custom run configurations.

Plugin Types

JEditor supports four types of plugins:

1. Programming Language Plugins — Add syntax highlighting for new languages

2. Natural Language (Translation) Plugins — Add UI translations

3. Run Configuration Plugins — Define how to execute files of specific types

4. Plugin Metadata — Version and author information for the Plugins menu

Plugin Directory

Plugins are auto-discovered from the jeditor_plugins/ directory under your working directory:

working_directory/
  jeditor_plugins/
    my_syntax.py            # Single-file plugin
    my_language.py
    my_package/             # Package plugin
      __init__.py

Discovery Rules:

• Files starting with _ or . are ignored

• Each plugin must define a register() function

• Package plugins use __init__.py as the entry point

• Duplicate plugin names are handled by first-found-wins

Plugin Metadata

Each plugin can optionally define metadata that appears in the Plugins menu:

PLUGIN_NAME = "My Plugin"       # Display name
PLUGIN_AUTHOR = "Your Name"     # Author
PLUGIN_VERSION = "1.0.0"        # Version

If omitted, the filename is used as the plugin name.

Programming Language Plugin

Add syntax highlighting for any programming language.

API:

from je_editor.plugins import register_programming_language

register_programming_language(
    suffix=".ext",              # File extension
    syntax_words={...},         # Keyword groups
    syntax_rules={...},         # Regex rules (optional)
)

syntax_words format:

Define keyword groups with their highlight colors:

from PySide6.QtGui import QColor

syntax_words = {
    "group_name": {
        "words": ("keyword1", "keyword2", ...),
        "color": QColor(r, g, b),
    },
    # More groups...
}

syntax_rules format:

Define regex patterns for complex syntax elements (comments, strings, etc.):

syntax_rules = {
    "rule_name": {
        "rules": (r"regex_pattern", ...),
        "color": QColor(r, g, b),
    },
}

Full Example — Go Syntax Highlighting:

"""Go syntax highlighting plugin."""
from PySide6.QtGui import QColor
from je_editor.plugins import register_programming_language

PLUGIN_NAME = "Go Syntax Highlighting"
PLUGIN_AUTHOR = "Your Name"
PLUGIN_VERSION = "1.0.0"

go_syntax_words = {
    "keywords": {
        "words": (
            "break", "case", "chan", "const", "continue",
            "default", "defer", "else", "fallthrough", "for",
            "func", "go", "goto", "if", "import",
            "interface", "map", "package", "range", "return",
            "select", "struct", "switch", "type", "var",
        ),
        "color": QColor(86, 156, 214),
    },
    "types": {
        "words": (
            "bool", "byte", "complex64", "complex128",
            "float32", "float64", "int", "int8", "int16",
            "int32", "int64", "rune", "string", "uint",
            "uint8", "uint16", "uint32", "uint64", "uintptr",
            "error", "nil", "true", "false", "iota",
        ),
        "color": QColor(78, 201, 176),
    },
}

go_syntax_rules = {
    "single_line_comment": {
        "rules": (r"//[^\\n]*",),
        "color": QColor(106, 153, 85),
    },
}


def register() -> None:
    register_programming_language(
        suffix=".go",
        syntax_words=go_syntax_words,
        syntax_rules=go_syntax_rules,
    )

Multiple File Extensions:

If a language uses multiple extensions, register each one:

def register() -> None:
    for suffix in (".cpp", ".cxx", ".cc", ".h", ".hpp", ".hxx"):
        register_programming_language(
            suffix=suffix,
            syntax_words=cpp_syntax_words,
            syntax_rules=cpp_syntax_rules,
        )

Natural Language (Translation) Plugin

Add UI translations for new languages.

API:

from je_editor.plugins import register_natural_language

register_natural_language(
    language_key="French",          # Internal key
    display_name="Francais",        # Shown in Language menu
    word_dict={...},                # Translation dictionary
)

The word_dict should contain the same keys as JEditor’s built-in english_word_dict. Common keys include:

Key	Description
application_name	Window title
file_menu_label	File menu
run_menu_label	Run menu
tab_name_editor	Editor tab name
language_menu_label	Language menu
help_menu_label	Help menu

For a complete list, refer to je_editor.utils.multi_language.english.english_word_dict or the example plugin at exe/jeditor_plugins/french.py.

Full Example — Japanese Translation:

"""Japanese translation plugin."""
from je_editor.plugins import register_natural_language

PLUGIN_NAME = "Japanese Translation"
PLUGIN_AUTHOR = "Your Name"
PLUGIN_VERSION = "1.0.0"

japanese_word_dict = {
    "application_name": "JEditor",
    "file_menu_label": "\u30d5\u30a1\u30a4\u30eb",
    "run_menu_label": "\u5b9f\u884c",
    "tab_name_editor": "\u30a8\u30c7\u30a3\u30bf",
    "language_menu_label": "\u8a00\u8a9e",
    # ... more keys
}


def register() -> None:
    register_natural_language(
        language_key="Japanese",
        display_name="\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e",
        word_dict=japanese_word_dict,
    )

Run Configuration Plugin

Define how to execute files of specific types.

Interpreted Languages (run directly):

PLUGIN_RUN_CONFIG = {
    "name": "Go",                   # Display name in menu
    "suffixes": (".go",),           # Supported file types
    "compiler": "go",               # Executable
    "args": ("run",),               # Args before file path
}
# Runs: go run file.go

Compiled Languages (compile then run):

PLUGIN_RUN_CONFIG = {
    "name": "C (GCC)",
    "suffixes": (".c",),
    "compiler": "gcc",
    "args": (),
    "compile_then_run": True,       # Compile first, then run
    "output_flag": "-o",            # Output binary flag
}
# Compiles: gcc file.c -o file
# Then runs: ./file (Linux/Mac) or file.exe (Windows)

Configuration Keys:

Key	Required	Description
name	Yes	Display name in the Run menu
suffixes	Yes	Tuple of file extensions
compiler	Yes	Compiler or interpreter executable
args	No	Extra arguments before the file path
compile_then_run	No	If True, compile first then execute the binary
output_flag	No	Output file flag (default "-o")

Pre-built Plugins

JEditor ships with the following example plugins in exe/jeditor_plugins/:

Plugin	Type	File Extensions	Run Support
C Syntax Highlighting	Syntax	.c	GCC compile & run
C++ Syntax Highlighting	Syntax	.cpp, .cxx, .cc, .h, .hpp, .hxx	G++ compile & run
Go Syntax Highlighting	Syntax	.go	go run
Java Syntax Highlighting	Syntax	.java	java
Rust Syntax Highlighting	Syntax	.rs	rustc compile & run
French Translation	Language	—	—

Plugin Browser

JEditor includes a Plugin Browser accessible from the Plugin menu:

• Browse available plugins

• GitHub API integration for discovering community plugins

• View plugin metadata (name, author, version)