LEXX is a

text editor A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. Such programs are sometimes known as "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be ...

which was possibly the first to use ''live parsing'' and colour

syntax highlighting Syntax highlighting is a feature of text editors that are used for programming, scripting, or markup languages, such as HTML. The feature displays text, especially source code, in different colours and fonts according to the category of terms ...

. It was written by

Mike Cowlishaw Mike Cowlishaw is a visiting professor at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Warwick, and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a retired IBM Fellow, and was a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Techn ...

of IBM in 1985. The name was chosen because he wrote it as a tool for lexicographers, during an assignment for Oxford University Press's 'New Oxford English Dictionary' (NOED; the second edition of the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

). The program ran (and still, in 2018, runs) on mainframes under

VM/CMS VM (often: VM/CMS) is a family of IBM virtual machine operating systems used on IBM mainframes System/370, System/390, zSeries, System z and compatible systems, including the Hercules emulator for personal computers. The following ver ...

. LEXX's design was based on several other editors written by the same author (such as STET) augmented by the ability to dynamically parse text and display colour on the new colour terminals that had recently become available (PC-based, and stand-alone such as the

IBM 3279 The IBM 3270 is a family of block oriented display and printer computer terminals introduced by IBM in 1971 and normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. The 3270 was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the tex ...

). It was programmable using dynamically-loaded compiled commands (usually written in

PL/I PL/I (Programming Language One, pronounced and sometimes written PL/1) is a procedural, imperative computer programming language developed and published by IBM. It is designed for scientific, engineering, business and system programming. I ...

) or using interpreted commands (usually written in

REXX Rexx (Restructured Extended Executor) is a programming language that can be interpreted or compiled. It was developed at IBM by Mike Cowlishaw. It is a structured, high-level programming language designed for ease of learning and reading. P ...

-- hence the 'XX' in 'LEXX'). LEXX uses dynamically-loaded parsers which assign classes of elements (tokens formed from character strings) to fonts and colors. It allows indentation to be used to format and show the structure of the file being edited, and other formatting options allow (for example) the hiding of selected classes of text, such as tags. A collection of screenshots is available. LPEX ('Live Parsing Editor") is a reimplemented derivative of the LEXX concept, originally produced for

OS/2 OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 r ...

and

AIX Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgiu ...

. It now also runs on Windows, Linux, and the Java JVM.LPEX for Eclipse summary
/ref>

References

External links

* * * *{{citation , url=http://www.navo.hpc.mil/usersupport/IBM/XLF/vatools/en_US/lpex/index.htm , title=Introducing the LPEX Editor , publisher=IBM , year=1998 , accessdate=2008-10-08 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030514070253/http://www.navo.hpc.mil/usersupport/IBM/XLF/vatools/en_US/lpex/index.htm , archive-date=2003-05-14 , url-status=dead Text editors IBM mainframe software VM (operating system)