Tech Tip!
Using Kate to help speed up repetitive tasks.
Kate version 2.5 and above has a template feature that can save
you lots of
time if you have to create similar html pages, newsletters or
emails on a
weekly basis. The template feature has to be turned on by
clicking on
Settings >> Configure Kate >> Plugins and checking the box on the
right next
to Kate File Templates. Once activated you will have a new
listing under
Files >> New From Template where you can load the templates and
under
Settings you will have a new listing, Manage Templates, where you
create and
modify templates.
Manage Templates allows you to create new, edit or delete
templates. It
also allows you to upload or download templates from a Kate
supported
template repository. Managing existing templates is fairly
straight forward
but creating new ones can be frustrating. This is the method I
use and have
found to be the fastest but only because you rarely have to start
over:
First create the contents of the template in Kate just like you
would a
normal file. After this is finished it is time to create an
empty template.
When the empty template is finished you will paste in the content
you just
created and save the template. Here is how you create the blank
template:
In the Manage Template dialog box click on New. In the first
window,
"Choose Template Origin" You want to check "Start with an empty
document"
and click the "Next" button to go to the "Edit Template
Properties" window.
In that window you will find the following choices:
Template:
This is the name that appears in the "Group" when you go
to select a
template to load. The button on the right lets you select
an icon
but I have not been able to find where it is displayed.
Group:
A Group is just like a folder. It is a heading for similar
templates. If you want a new group just highlight the
text in the
box and type in the new name. The one you highlighted
remains, it is
not deleted.
Document Name:
This is the name that appears as the file name inside Kate
-- until
you save the file. Handy for making sure you have the right
template.
Highlight:
This sets the files highlighting type, HTML, CSS, Ruby,
Python,
etc... Click on "None" and search for the highlighting
style you
want.
Description:
Since this only appears when you are editing the template
file I
assume it is for information you might want to know when
editing the
template.
Author:
This is your name and email address and is automatically
inserted.
After you finish filling out the above window, click on the
"Next" button
and in the "Choose Location" window select Template directory and
enter a
Template file name. Do not spaces or special characters, it is
the file
name that it will be stored under. When you are finished click
on the
"Next" button and go to the "Create Template" window and check
"Open the
template for editing" and click on the "Finish" button. This
opens the
template file for editing but you will need to close the final
window of the
"Manage Template" dialog since you are through with it.
The katetemplate: header is at the top of this file. This is
where the
information used to define the template is stored. It does not
appear when
you open a regular template only when you edit a template. Here
is an
example:
katetemplate: Template=Template Group=Email_Responses
Documentname=Documentname Highlight=HT&ML
katetemplate: Author=Keith Daniels <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
katetemplate: Description=Description
Notice the & in HT&ML. That & is a bug in certain versions of
Kate and you
need to remove it from the "Highlight=" specification, it appears
in all
highlighting types. It should be just HTML or whatever
highlighting type
you selected. You can not get to the "Edit Template Properties"
window when
you edit an existing file. You have to edit the template itself
and change
the entries above. In creating the template I used the name of
the text box
and that is why it shows Template=Template, etc...
Everything else in the header should be fine and you can now copy
and paste
in the "template contents" you created earlier, right below the
header and
then close and save the file. To test it, open the template as
described at
the beginning and check that everything is the way you want it.
If not go
to the Manage Template window and edit the file.
The main advantages of the Kate template feature Are:
* Finding templates is Fast! because they are built into the
menu bar and
don't have to be searched for in the file system.
* The first time you save the template it forces you to assign
a file name
- it does not overwrite your template - which is what always
happens
when you create your own set of templates.
* Highlighting works, even before you save the file and even if
you do not
give the file a standard extension like ".html" which helps
prevent
errors when filling in the template.
Go to this site for more information:
http://docs.kde.org/stable/en/kdeaddons/kate-plugins/
filetemplates.html#k
atefiletemplates-menu
-- From TUX Webmaster Keith Daniels
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