Folding editor

A folding editor is a text editor which allows the user to hide and reveal blocks of text. Typically this is done to allow the user to better see the overall structure of the document.

The Macintosh computer historically had a number of source code editors that "folded" portions of code via "disclosure triangles". The UserLand Software product Frontier was a popular scripting environment that had this capability.

Example

The following document contains folding marks ({{{ ... }}}):

Heading 1
{{{
Body
}}}

Heading 2
{{{
Body
}}}

Heading 3
{{{
Body
}}}

When loaded into a folding editor, the outline structure will be shown (just the headings):

Heading 1
{{{ ...

Heading 2
{{{ ...

Heading 3
{{{ ...

Clicking on the {{{ marks makes the appropriate body text appear.

History

Folding editors appeared in the original occam IDE, called Inmos Transputer Development System.

Editors with folding capability

Many text editors provide folding capability. Among them are:

• Emacs
• VIM

External links

• What is a folding editor? by the author of the fe editor [1].
• Description of the folding editor used in occam.