rosmanov / chrome-bee

A Chrome/Firefox extension that allows to edit text fields with an external editor

About

Bee (Browser's External Editor) extension allows to edit text fields with an external editor.

There are two steps to follow before using this extension:

1. Install a host application
2. Configure the extension in browser

Attention! Both steps are required. Please don't forget to assign a keyboard shortcut for invocation of external editor.

Supported browsers

• Firefox 57+
• Google Chrome (Chromium)
• OS: Linux, Windows, and macOS

Installation

Host Application

Use either of the following native messaging host applications:

1. BeeCtl written in C. For Linux, macOS and Windows.
2. A Python script shipped with this repository. For Linux and macOS (untested).

BeeCtl

Follow instructions on the main page of the repository.

Python Script

Requirements

• Python 2 or 3
• Bash 4.4+
• Perl 5

There are two types of the host application setup:

• Local (for the current user).
• System-wide (for all users). Requires root permissions.

Download the Project

mkdir -p ~/src/chrome-bee
cd ~/src/chrome-bee

wget -q -O - https://github.com/rosmanov/chrome-bee/archive/master.tar.gz | \
  tar xzvf - --strip-components 1

Run the Installation Script

Run ./host/install.sh script from the project directory.

If the script is run on behalf of superuser, the host application manifests will be installed system-wide.

By default, the host application is installed into the project directory (where the project is downloaded). It is possible to set different target directory by passing its path as the first argument, e.g.:

./host/install.sh ~/usr/lib/chrome-bee

Refer to Wiki for more information.

The Browser Extension

Install Bee extension from Chrome Web store or Firefox Add-ons. The browser will ask for some confirmations. Give your approval, and you are done.

Uninstallation

BeeCtl

If you followed the installation instructions, then you only need to invoke the appropriate command of your package manager. For example, on Debian-based systems, you would need to run apt purge beectl.

Python Script

To uninstall the native messaging host written in Python and the manifests, run the following command from the project directory (see "Installation" section above):

./host/uninstall.sh

Note, the command should be run on behalf of the same user as in the installation step.

Configuration

Extension options page allows to enter a command for an external editor. Simply enter a command like 'gvim -f'.

Optionally assign custom keyboard shortcut for Bee¹ . Default is <Ctrl>E.

Refer to Wiki for details.

Usage

• Set cursor on some editable area.
• Invoke the keyboard shortcut.
• After a moment, the entered text should appear in a window of the external editor.
• Edit the text, save it, and close the window.

The text in the text area should be updated.

License

See LICENSE file.

Copyright © 2014-2023 Ruslan Osmanov [e-mail]

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¹ At the time of writing, in Chrome/Chromium, "Keyboard shortcuts" button was available at the bottom of the `chrome://extensions` page. In Firefox, open `about:addons` tab, then select "Manage Extension Shortcuts" from the dropdown next to the "Manage Your Extensions" title.