External.exe is a program which allows an external text editor to be run from any application using a single keystroke.
This utility developed as a from discusstions around this vim tip.
Installation and Configuration
After downloading and unzipping http://bur.st/~benc/external/external.zip ensure that the files external.exe and external.ini are in a directory together.
Open external.ini in a text editor and set the options "Editor" and "!EditorBinding" as explained in the comments in the file.
The program can be started by manually running the external.exe command. But once you get a configuration you like you may want to place a shortcut in your Start/Programs/Startup folder so it will be automatically executed.
Tip: When configuring external.exe it can be useful to use the Restart (Shift-Ctrl-Alt-R) and Exit (Shift-Ctrl-Alt-X) bindings to reconfigure your program.
Usage
To use the program, once it is configured and running, move the cursor to the text area of an application and type your !EditorBinding keystroke (Windows-V, for example)
Vim
Also provided with the program is a vim script "external.vim". This file can be installed by putting it in your vim plugin folder. With an appropriately configured Editor option in external.ini vim will be able to recognise the filetype of the text you are editing by using the application window title as a clue.
External.vim has so far only been tested on a small number of applications and filetypes, but it should be relatively easy to add new filetypes by modifying the External() function in the script.
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