Nexus Embedded Editor is a "hacky" project that attempts to put an external editor in front of Roblox Studio's script editor for those using file system-based projects like Rojo. The goal is to allow for development in external editors while still being able to easily swap to Roblox Studio and open scripts from Roblox Studio's explorer.
The server can be started by running the binary in the command line.
Assuming the binary is named rovscode.exe, the command would look like
the following.
$ ./rovscode.exe
It is recommended to start it in a directory or child directory with a Rojo project.
If a custom Rojo project script is in use, it can be defined as a parameter.
$ ./rovscode.exe customfile.project.json
In Roblox Studio with an open place and the HttpService enabled, there are
2 buttons that can be used:
- Connect - Connects Roblox Studio to the editor so that opening scripts in Roblox Studio opens the scripts in the editor.
- Attach - "Attaches" the editor to the Roblox Studio editor. This action implicitly connects the editor.
Note: A valid Rojo project needs to be set up, but Rojo does not need to be running. If Rojo is not running, changes in the editor will not show in Roblox.
Currently, Microsoft Visual Studio Code is supported due to its adoption by Roblox developers using Rojo. Other editors like Sublime Text, Atom, and Notepad++ could theoretically be added. Pull requests and issues about adding other supported editors are accepted if there is a justification of why that editor is used. Familiarity is a valid reason unless it is an "inferior editor", like Notepad or WordPad.
Each editor has their own associated plugin rather than 1 massive plugin with all of the editors since Roblox developers using Rojo typically use only 1 external editor. The plugins can be found on the Roblox Market Place for the following editors:
Currently, only Rojo is supported since it is the project manager endorsed by Roblox employees. Pull requests and issues about adding other project structures are accepted if there is a justification of why that tool is used.
This project has a lot of limitations that should be considered.
While Rojo and a lot of external editors exist on macOS and Linux, Nexus Embedded Editor is only buildable and usable under Windows.
When using widgets in Roblox Studio, the external editor will disappear until the Roblox Studio editor is focused by either changing the tab or clicking on it. Since the program overlays the external editor as a normal window, focusing on Roblox Studio will force it behind. While it is possible to make it refocus in certain cases like resizing, the fix resulted in pressing buttons re-focusing the external editor.
Since Roblox Studio is not focused, any keyboard shortcuts for Roblox will not work with the external editor focused. Shortcut passthrough is possible but would result in unwanted shortcuts being passed through to Roblox Studio.
It is currently possible to have more than 1 Rojo project open using different ports, but it isn't possible currently since ports can't be changed. This could be addressed reasonably easily on the server, but would require adding a user interface for the client.
More editors could be added if there are requests for them. See the section about supported editors.
Currently, only Rojo is supported for project structures. Alternatives to Rojo
exist and could be supported. The file resolver may need to be modified for
cases where project files are different (ex: .client.lua in Rojo is .local.lua
in another system).
Since the project uses .NET Framework and uses Windows-specific features in .NET
Framework (mainly System.Windows.Automation), this project can only be built
on Windows.
$ nuget restore NexusEmbeddedEditor/
$ msbuild.exe NexusEmbeddedEditor/
More information on how the server works can be found in the technical details file.
Both issues and pull requests are accepted for this project. Issues may not be fixable due to limitations of the system.
Nexus Instance is available under the terms of the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.