EclipseNSIS vs. HM NIS Edit

temp4746
15th October 2008 10:57 UTC

EclipseNSIS vs. HM NIS Edit
Which do you think is better?

EclipseNSIS is more up-to-date but really huge since its a plugin for eclipse.

HM NIS edit hasnt been updated since 2005 but smaller in size and memory.

Both seem to have the same level of features.

But the wizard in each one of them generates code diffrently.

Anders
15th October 2008 11:03 UTC

I use HM NIS edit with updated syntax file ( http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index...46&atid=604328 ) but I don't use the wizard so...

temp4746
16th October 2008 01:23 UTC

Well but i do use the script wizards at least to jump-start the script so i dont have to start writing it from scretch.

So the question is who generates code that is easier to modify later on?

Otherwise they both seem to have the same level of features.

And also if i should prefer an abandoned project (HM NIS) that probably as no offical support (bug tracker, etc.) active.
That in order to bring it to use newer feature i need an unoffical modification.

Or use a newer one that uses the eclipse IDE (HEAVYWEIGHT, big memory usage and big size since its an entire IDE) for no real practical reason other than integration with it, but should have active development and support going on.

Also does anyone know why HM NIS edit got abandoned?

Choices, choices... :p

ZmAn3
16th October 2008 01:35 UTC

notepad

kukomamasan
16th October 2008 01:42 UTC

Originally posted by ZmAn3
notepad

Lol
Im like author, i like to jumpstart the script with the most basic, i still uses HM NIS for that, i agree eclipse is huge, and i dident see any features better than HM NIS, so ill stick with HM NIS (Can you even compile and run script with eclipse ?)

temp4746
16th October 2008 11:14 UTC

Originally posted by ZmAn3
notepad

Yes i can allways use notepad but its just a pain in the ass.
I dont want to go back to the days of editing html without any syntax highlighting, code-completion, and even a simple button to preview.
Everything took ages more than it should.

I remeber when i once got to edit a web site with dreamweaver just got the layout and everything really easily and then modifyed the code to fix anything i dont like.

Doing nsis will be pretty much the same thing with notepad.

Originally posted by kukomamasan
Can you even compile and run script with eclipse ?

Yes, both of them pretty much have the same level of features so there are buttons to complie, test and such.
And also insert file, color and all that.

Pretty much copied from hm nis :P

AaronLS
18th October 2008 06:16 UTC

There's a program called Notepad++ that has awsome syntax highlighting and collapsable code blocks for NSIS script.

I used HM Edit I think one time when I was learning NSIS to generate a basic script. Since then I've used Notepad++ to write hundreds of lines of NSIS script.

http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm

I just used the NSIS gui for compiling my script for awhile, and then later I created a batch file and finally NANT scripts. I have two nant scripts. One that compiles without any compression(using conditional compile time commands), and one that compiles with compression. The reason I do this is because we are compressing a lot of data, and the compiler compiles much faster with compression disabled. Thus for rpaid modifications and testing the developer doesn't have to wait along time for the compiler to finish.

Edit: This might be useful to you,
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Notepad_Plus_Plus

Yathosho
18th October 2008 12:43 UTC

been a longtime hm nis user, switched to notepad++ earlier this year.. won't go back, just as lightweight as hm nis and i can use it for so much more.

iceman_k
27th October 2008 14:25 UTC

I am the author of EclipseNSIS and my recommendation would be to use whichever IDE works best for you.
EclipseNSIS is really targeted for those developers who already use Eclipse and also need to use NSIS.
If you don't use Eclipse and need a stand-alone IDE for NSIS, go with HM-NIS or Notepad++, as others have recommended.

In fact, even I use HM-NIS for quick edits and compilations.
The disadvantage of HM-NIS as you know, is that it is extremely out of date. Even with the new syntax files you are not going to get context-sensitive help without manually updating the configuration files.
EclipseNSIS, OTOH, dynamically detects NSIS keywords and help topics.
Additionally, the EclipseNSIS wizard supports new NSIS features like MUI2 and MultiUser install. It also allows you to save the wizard settings as a template for later reuse.
EclipseNSIS also has the auto-update feature where it can detect, download and install the latest NSIS release for you.
The big hole in both HM-NIS and EclipseNSIS is the lack of support for nsdialogs.
Both, however, support (the now deprecated) InstallOptions, though HM-NIS still has some open bugs in its implementation of this feature.

The bottom line is that if you want the ultimate lightweight editor go with with Notepad or Notepad++.
If you want some more features without having to download a 180 MB platform, go with HM-NIS.
If you already use Eclipse (and this is KEY), EclipseNSIS is probably the best bet for you.

Hope this helps.