BBEdit FAQs
- What is the current version of BBEdit and what system version does it require?
- Does BBEdit support Japanese/Chinese/Korean language editing?
- How do I change the line ending format of a large number of files?
- How can I edit really big files in BBEdit?
- How do I select a column of text within BBEdit?
- Why does BBEdit’s syntax checker say my HTML files contain errors?
- Why do I get an alert from Little Snitch when checking for updates, with a web site that I don’t recognize?
- When I edit Unix scripts, I can’t run them because the OS says “not permitted.” How do I fix this?
- Why does my name appear in the list of “Unindicted Co-Conspirators”?
What is the current version of BBEdit and what system version does it require?
BBEdit 15.0 requires macOS 11.0 or later (11.6.7 or later recommended), and will run under macOS 14 “Sonoma” and Apple Silicon-powered Macs.
Does BBEdit support Japanese/Chinese/Korean language editing?
BBEdit supports opening and editing files written in most left-to-right writing systems, including non-Roman languages such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
However, BBEdit does not support editing content in right-to-left languages such as Hebrew and Arabic. (You may also encounter inconsistencies when working with languages that routinely employ combining characters, such as Devanagari.)
How do I change the line ending format of a large number of files?
If you have a large number of files which you need to convert from one line ending type to another, we recommend that you create a Text Factory with a single “Change Line Endings” action, and apply that text factory to any folder(s) containing the files you wish to modify.
How can I edit really big files in BBEdit?
Handling large files presents no intrinsic problems for BBEdit, though some specific operations may be limited when dealing with files over 2GB in size.
How do I select a column of text within BBEdit?
Hold down the Option key (the mouse cursor will change to a cross shape) and then drag to make a rectangular selection.
(In versions of BBEdit prior to 13.0, please note the “Soft Wrap Text” option must be turned off in order to make a rectangular selection. You can turn off soft wrapping in the current document via the Text Options item in the navigation bar, or in the Text Options sheet.)
Why does BBEdit’s syntax checker say my HTML files contain errors?
Short Answer: Because they contain errors! :-)
Long Answer: BBEdit’s syntax checker is based on language templates generated from published DTDs and when it reports an error, the odds are good that the checker is correct.
If you don’t believe that it is correct in doing so, please check the most recent available on-line HTML references, and contact technical support.
Why do I get an alert from Little Snitch when checking for updates, with a web site that I don’t recognize?
We use Amazon’s AWS S3 cloud download service to serve updates (and many other downloads that we provide), and the IP address for “s3.amazonaws.com” (the hostname for Amazon’s S3 service) may reverse-resolve to any one of a number of domains that also use this service.
Thus, this alert from Little Snitch is not reporting anything untoward — instead, Little Snitch is being diligent but inaccurate in not telling you the actual requested host name of the DNS lookup. In order to download and install updates using the built-in Check for Updates, you will need to give permission to access Amazon S3, even if the name that Little Snitch reports is not correct.
If you would like to verify this, you may do so as follows, using the Terminal application or a BBEdit shell worksheet:
Run this command: dig StrangeServerName.
In place of “StrangeServerName”, substitute the name that LittleSnitch reported in its alert. For example, if the server name was “assets.huffingtonpost.com”, run the command: dig assets.huffingtonpost.com.
Note that in the “ANSWER SECTION”, you’ll see an entry with the server’s IP address. Note also that there are additional server names listed, including “s3.amazonaws.com” and possibly other names in the amazonaws.com domain.
If you wish to verify further: Use that IP address in the following command: dig -x a.b.c.d (substitute the actual address for “a.b.c.d”). In the “ANSWER SECTION” you will see one of the Amazon host names (in the “amazonaws.com” domain) that appeared in the previous command that provided the server’s IP address.
When I edit Unix scripts, I can’t run them because the OS says “not permitted.” How do I fix this?
macOS frequently insists on adding a “quarantine” attribute to executable files that you edit and save in BBEdit. You can resolve this by granting BBEdit sandbox access, as described in our technical note.
Why does my name appear in the list of “Unindicted Co-Conspirators”?
This entry in the list is an Easter Egg, based on the “Full Name” of your Mac login account.
