CODEWITHSUNDEEP
menusublimetext3
Lee Jenkins
Lee Jenkins

Reputation: 2470

How do I add items to a menu in Sublime 3?

I want to add a couple of items to the Edit menu in Sublime 3. In fact, I just want to copy the Find and the Replace menu items from the Find menu. Call me lazy, but I just want to use the same Alt-E menu shortcuts I've grown accustomed to across so many other programs. I don't like making the mental switch from Alt-E to Alt-I when I switch from Sublime to anything else.

Anyway, from the sublime documentation I read that I can create a file Main.sublime-menu in the Packages/Default (or Packages/User) directory. The JSON format is easy enough to follow. But the problem is that there is no such file by default. If I add one (and I did) then sumblime replaces the entire main menu, which is not the result I want.

I don't want to replace the entire menu, I just want to add two entries to the Edit menu. Ideally, I would like to copy & paste the Find and Replace entries from the Find menu. That would save me the time of figuring out the command names.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 337

Answers (1)

OdatNurd
OdatNurd

Reputation: 22791

Resource files that ship with Sublime are stored in sublime-package files that exist in a special folder stored in the installation folder of Sublime (where the executable is), which keeps them safe from modification because Sublime will replace them wholesale when it updates.

You can view the content of any resource file currently known to Sublime by using the View Package File command from the command palette. It will show you a list of every resource, and you can filter the list the same as the command palette entries to drill down to find what you need:

Sample Menu List

Choosing an item from this list will open the file for you to look at. If it's coming from a sublime-package file, it will be a read-only buffer that you can't modify to remind you that you can't edit the file. Resources that come from your Packages folder directly will be editable, however (such as your User package).

The Default package is where things like the default settings, key bindings and menus are defined. So although what you see in the list depends on the packages you have installed, the item you want here is Default/Main.sublime-menu.

Note that if your intention is to just add some items, you want to put your modifications into your User package. Any items you add here will augment the existing menu; that is, you can only add items, you can't modify or remove them.

If you put the file into the Default package folder (which you may or may not have to create), the file you create will override the one that's provided inside of the sublime-package file. You would do this if you want to remove entries, change what command they execute, etc.

If you go that route, note that Sublime will use this file forever even if a future update modifies the file. In that case I would recommend the OverrideAudit package (disclaimer: I am the author of said package) as it will warn you when that happens.

If this is your intention, OverrideAudit's Create Override command will allow you to seamlessly open the file and save it to create the override, saving you the trouble of finding the right place to put the file.

Upvotes: 1

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