How to design undo & redo in text editor?

java text-editor undo undo-redo redo
Sajad Bahmani picture Sajad Bahmani · Aug 27, 2010 · Viewed 15.1k times · Source

Part of my project is to write a text editor that is used for typing some rules, compiling my application and running it. Writing compiler was end and release beta version. In the final version we must add undo and redo to the text editor. I use a file and save it periodically for the text editor. How to design undo and redo to my text editor? What is changed in the structure of persistent of file?

Answer

Jordão picture Jordão · Aug 27, 2010

You can model your actions as commands, that you keep in two stacks. One for undo, another for redo. You can compose your commands to create more high-level commands, like when you want to undo the actions of a macro, for example; or if you want to group individual keystrokes of a single word, or phrase, in one action.

Each action in your editor (or a redo action) generates a new undo command that goes into the undo stack (and also clears the redo stack). Each undo action generates the corresponding redo command that goes into the redo stack.

You can also, as mentioned in the comments by derekerdmann, combine both undo and redo commands into one type of command, that knows how to undo and redo its action.

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