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Forum Discussion
Ed
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffiOS text editor is now available!
Please add an option to show text files with a fixed width font or change the text editor to use a fixed width font like text editors usually do. How can you have neglected such a trivial and important feature?
- Thank God I've been waiting forever for that feature
Telefonnumber deleted by superUser
!!!don´t post personal data here!!!!
- The ability to edit text is great. However, it is missing a vital component. How to CREATE a text file in the first place? I think Dropbox is the perfect place to keep notes that is accessible on any device. However, I need to be able to CREATE the text file on the iOS device first, rather than to create it on the MacOS and then edit it on iOS. Thanks.
Guest_47,
You can CREATE a new text file (and some other types too).
From the home screen, on the bottom see icons with:
Home Files Create Photos Account
Tap Create (plus sign icon)
Then select Create or Upload File
Then select file type you want (Text File)
Now you get a New Text File window
type some stuff in there (or you can paste from the clipboard too)
Tap on Next at the upper right
Tap on File Name and enter a name (whatever.txt),
Tap on Done at upper right
Choose a Save Location,
Tap Create at the upper right
Congratulations you just created a file!
This works on both iPhone and iPad in my experience.
However, the Dropbox App can not display text files in a fixed-width format which is a major shortcoming for my use.
This editing of .txt files already existing and stored in Dropbox is a great feature! Thank you.
However, I need to be able to see (and edit) my .txt files contents in a fixed width font. In the editor I am using right here to write this request, there is a drop down Font selection feature - and one of the fonts is Courier. That's precisely what I need (could be Menlo or some other fixed width font).
Is there any way to do this?
What I get now looks like
123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs.
What I need would look like:
123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs.I am on an iPad 2, iOS 11, current Dropbox App (or can run browser, too)
Help!
Cardinal2B wrote:However, I need to be able to see (and edit) my .txt files contents in a fixed width font.
Curious... While ".txt" files are displayed/edited using a proportional font, ".md" (MarkDown / Plain text) files are "displayed" in a fixed width font! However, ".md" files still don't appear to be editable in the Dropbox iOS app (as requested by earlier posters)? Although ".md" files do show the same text-file-like icon as ".txt" files.
(The Dropbox app on Android allows ".md" files to be edited.)
It would be useful to have a customizable list of file extensions (within "Settings") that can be associated with the text editor. Also, an option to toggle a fixed-width font in the editor would be very useful (a "font selection" is probably overkill IMO). When reading/editing "text files", a fixed-width font is generally preferred. You can do everything with a fixed-width font (indentation, aligning, tabular data) - which you simply cannot do with a proportional font.
Dropbox iOS App Version 74.2.2
- Great feature! However I need to both display and edit files in a fixed width format. Is there a way to do that? I run iOS 11 on iPad2, currrent Dropbox app.
It seems it's impossible to simply place the cursor within a text file after opening up the file for editing. A tap anywhere in the text file should place the cursor at the tapped location, but instead does nothing.
This makes it impossible to insert text anywhere in the file other than at the end.
- Can you tell me exactly what encoding DB iOS text editor uses when it creates a .txt file? ASCII, UTF-8??
I have a Unicode .txt file that comes up totally blank if I open it DB - in order to view & edit in DB what encoding should I use to save that file?Biggles,
I cannot tell you exactly what encoding the Dropbox App uses when it creates a text file.
However, I have some related information which maybe will help...
I use Notedpad on a Windows PC to make text files, and store them in Dropbox.
Notepad defaults to ANSI encoding.
Sometimes files I make are not editable in Dropbox App. They display in a different, psuedo fixed-width courier font (it is NOT truly fixed width), and there is no edit icon to invoke the Dropbox App editor. I think this has to do with specific characters I use in my files, but I am no ASCII maven.
The workarounds:
1. When saving the file on Notepad, select UTF-8 encoding. The file will be editable. You can also open a previously uneditable file in Notepad, save it with UTF-8 encoding, and it will be editable.
2. Using only the Dropbox App:
open the file. tap and hold a word to select it.
Select All.
Copy.
Create a new file (plus sign icon bottom of screen)
choose Create or Upload File, choose Text File
window opens, tap in it, then Paste (contents of your uneditable file)
tap Next (upper right)
tap and enter a File Name that is not your original one (whatever new.txt)
tap Create to actually make the file - it will be editable
optionally Delete the original file / Rename the new file
Hope that helps somehow.
- Thank you!! I have been waiting for this for years. This makes ios so much more usable for me, and I’ll be in dropbox a lot more.
Not sure how hard it would be, but support for markdown .md files would be great. (They’re effectively plain text)
