Editing snippets/chunks with a real text editor

Hello,

Sorry if this has been asked before, but is it possible to edit chunks/snippets with an actual editor?

Yes, there are two ways. One is to use a snippet that is nothing more than an include function to include a text file that contains your actual snippet/chunk code. Edit that text file as you please. Many ftp clients can be configured to open a file in a specified editor.

The other is to use Firefox and install the "It’s All Text!" extension.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4125

Wow, fast repsonse! Thanks!

Including my code in the snippet sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Thanks a lot!

Another quick question:

Is it possible to do the same thing with chunks? I would like to create a chunk file, which essentially acts as a template (has markup and placeholders). Im poking around the directory structure and see files with a .tpl extension, and the contents have markup + placeholders in them. Is this the same mechanics that I am wanting to do, or something else entirely?

It appears that what i need to do would require me to load the tpl file in my snippet and replace the placeholders by hand, but im not entirely sure.

You could do it only by using Snippets in place of your Chunks; but those could be pure HTML, PHP, or a mix. Chunks are just chunks and you cannot include things with it.