ScintillaQuick

ScintillaQuick is a Qt Quick-native integration of the Scintilla editing engine.

It is intended for applications that want Scintilla behavior inside a real QQuickItem.

What It Provides

• A ScintillaQuick_item that derives from QQuickItem
• Scintilla's editing model and message API on top of a Qt Quick surface
• Qt Quick-native focus, input, IME, and scene-graph rendering
• CMake package export for find_package(ScintillaQuick)
• A minimal example application, benchmark target, and validation tests

Status

ScintillaQuick is usable today, but it is still an early-stage library.

Current repository state:

• Version 0.1.0
• Qt 6.12+
• Static library build
• C++ integration first
• Optional QML type registration helper is available

Requirements

• CMake 3.25+
• A C++20 compiler
• Qt 6.12+ with:
  • Core
  • Gui
  • Qml
  • Quick

Target platforms:

• Windows
• Linux
• macOS

Build

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build

This builds:

• ScintillaQuick static library
• test executables when BUILD_TESTING=ON

Examples and benchmarks are opt-in:

cmake -S . -B build -DSCINTILLAQUICK_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON -DSCINTILLAQUICK_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=ON

To install the package:

cmake --install build --prefix <install-prefix>

Installed consumers can then use find_package(ScintillaQuick CONFIG REQUIRED).

Use From CMake

find_package(ScintillaQuick CONFIG REQUIRED)

target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE ScintillaQuick::ScintillaQuick)

Public headers:

• include/scintillaquick/scintillaquick_item.h

Installed packages expose Scintilla's public headers alongside the library. Scintilla internal implementation headers are intentionally not installed.

Minimal C++ Usage

#include <QGuiApplication>
#include <QQuickWindow>
#include <scintillaquick/scintillaquick_item.h>

#include "Scintilla.h"

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    QGuiApplication app(argc, argv);

    QQuickWindow window;
    window.resize(1100, 720);
    window.setColor(Qt::white);

    ScintillaQuick_item editor;
    editor.setParentItem(window.contentItem());
    editor.setWidth(window.width());
    editor.setHeight(window.height());
    editor.setProperty("text", "hello from ScintillaQuick\n");
    editor.send(SCI_STYLECLEARALL);

    window.show();
    editor.forceActiveFocus();
    return app.exec();
}

For a runnable example, see examples/minimal_editor/main.cpp.

Find and Replace

ScintillaQuick_item includes a bottom find panel. Ctrl+F opens its find row, Ctrl+H opens both the find and replace rows, and Escape closes it. The panel provides Find Previous, Find Next, Select All, Replace, Replace & Find, and Replace All actions. Searches wrap at the beginning or end of the document. Opening either panel seeds the search from a nonempty single-line selection. With an empty or multiline selection, the previous search text is retained.

The panel can also be controlled directly from C++ or QML with showFind(), showFindReplace(), and hideFindPanel(). Search behavior is configured with Scintilla's SCFIND_* flags through findOptions:

editor.setFindText(QStringLiteral("needle"));
editor.setFindOptions(SCFIND_MATCHCASE | SCFIND_WHOLEWORD);
editor.showFind();

The caller controls the panel font and its semantic colors:

editor.setFindPanelFont(QFont(QStringLiteral("Inter"), 10));
editor.setFindPanelBackgroundColor(QColor("#2d2d30"));
editor.setFindPanelForegroundColor(QColor("#e6e6e6"));
editor.setFindPanelFieldBackgroundColor(QColor("#252526"));
editor.setFindPanelFieldForegroundColor(QColor("#f0f0f0"));
editor.setFindPanelBorderColor(QColor("#3f3f46"));
editor.setFindPanelButtonHoverColor(QColor("#3e3e42"));

Selection and disabled-state colors are separately available through findPanelSelectionBackgroundColor, findPanelSelectionForegroundColor, and findPanelDisabledForegroundColor.

QML Registration

The library exposes register_scintilla_type() in scintillaquick_item.h, which registers:

• module: ScintillaQuick
• version: 1.0
• type: ScintillaQuick_item

Testing

CTest currently registers:

• scintillaquick_smoke_test
• scintillaquick_dispatch_table_test
• scintillaquick_embedded_benchmark when SCINTILLAQUICK_BUILD_BENCHMARKS=ON
• scintillaquick_frame_validation_test
• scintillaquick_renderer_software_1_test and scintillaquick_renderer_software_1_25_test
• scintillaquick_renderer_rhi_1_test and scintillaquick_renderer_rhi_1_25_test on Windows
• scintillaquick_visual_regression_test

Run them with:

ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

Notes:

• Stored visual baselines use Qt's software scene graph. Renderer conformance also checks the RHI scene graph on Windows; both backend checks run at device-pixel ratios 1 and 1.25 against Scintilla's drawing algorithms.
• On Windows, the visual tests use the normal windows Qt platform plugin, so they require a desktop session rather than a truly headless environment.

Repository Layout

• include/: public headers
• src/: library implementation
• examples/: sample applications
• benchmarks/: benchmark application
• tests/: validation and regression tests
• docs/: public project documentation
• third_party/: vendored dependencies

third_party/scintilla/ is a maintained Scintilla fork with capture and Qt Quick surface hooks. Its provenance record and patch ledger describe the upstream sources and local integration changes to preserve when updating the dependency.

Documentation

• Getting Started
• Architecture
• Known Limitations
• Maintenance Invariants

License

Project code is released under the BSD 2-Clause license. See LICENSE.

The repository also vendors Scintilla under its own license. See third_party/scintilla/LICENSE.

Optional Lexilla support

ScintillaQuick does not require Lexilla. Applications that use lexers can call scintillaquick_add_lexilla() after adding the ScintillaQuick subproject or finding its installed package, then link Lexilla::Lexilla. This uses an existing target or installed Lexilla package first, otherwise fetches upstream master and builds against ScintillaQuick's public Scintilla headers. Set FETCHCONTENT_SOURCE_DIR_LEXILLA or pass SOURCE_DIR <checkout> to select a local checkout. Invalid explicit paths fail configuration.

The helper installs a separate Lexilla CMake package alongside ScintillaQuick; installed applications can use find_package(Lexilla CONFIG REQUIRED) directly.

Default document syntax

The optional ScintillaQuick::Syntax companion selects Lexilla lexers, keyword sets and light/dark lexical colors for C/C++, QML/JavaScript, GLSL, JSON, Python, CMake and Rust paths. Unknown paths use plain text. The core editor remains independent of Lexilla.

Call scintillaquick_add_syntax() after adding the subproject or finding the installed package, then link ScintillaQuick::Syntax. To build and install the companion with ScintillaQuick itself, set SCINTILLAQUICK_BUILD_SYNTAX=ON. An installed core-only package can build the companion through the same helper; its source is included in the package. Repeated helper calls reuse the target.

Include <scintillaquick/scintillaquick_syntax.h> and call scintillaquick::configure_default_syntax(pane, path, dark_mode) once with the final language path and theme, then apply any application keyword, property or color overrides. Configuration preserves the host's base font, backgrounds, margins and predefined styles. Custom lexer owners can use scintillaquick::reset_syntax_styles(pane) to clear lexical colors, emphasis and keyword sets while retaining their lexer. Application-specific lexer policy belongs to the host.