wait mode

Introduction

Sometimes it is desirable to open Textadept with a file, wait until that file is closed, and then quit Textadept. For example, this situation applies to using Textadept as a version control system's commit editor.

Put the following in your ~/.textadept/init.lua:

args.register('-w', '--wait', 1, function(filename)
  textadept.session.save_on_quit = false
  io.open_file(filename)
  filename = lfs.abspath(filename)
  events.connect(events.BUFFER_DELETED, function()
    local found = false
    for i = 1, #_BUFFERS do
      if _BUFFERS[i].filename == filename then
        found = true
        break
      end
    end
    if not found then quit() end
  end)
end, "Opens the given file and quits after closing that file")

Then invoke Textadept like this:

textadept -f -w [filename]

The -f flag forces a new instance of Textadept to open, and the -w flag is the one added above to wait for the opened file to be closed before quitting.