MATE is the internal text editor for MeVisLab. MATE is an acronym that stands for MeVisLab Advanced Text Editor.

MATE supports the programming languages MDL, Python, and JavaScript, offering auto completion (with a list of suggestions), context-sensitive specific help, syntax highlighting, and indentation.

It also supports HTML, CSS, and XML with simple syntax highlighting.

Additionally, MATE has a built-in debugger for Python scripting, a GUI editor for module panels, and functions as an editor for help files for modules (.mhelp).

For .mhelp, HTML, CSS, and XML, the editor checks the spelling of written text using hunspell.

Besides all this built-in functionality, MATE offers a scripting API to configure MATE on startup by user written Python scripting, as well as adding new features to MATE's GUI by writing Python user scripts, similar to Chapter 20, User Scripts

MATE also offers direct access to a module's panel and automatic panel, and related files via the Module menu.

For quick scripting, a scripting console is available.

The following file types are supported:

Open MATE via File → Show Integrated Text Editor (to start it without files) or File → Open File in Integrated Text Editor (to start it with a file dialog for selecting a file).

MATE is also used as editor for source code by default (can be changed in the Preferences, see Section 4.3.4, “Preferences — Supportive Programs”). For example

By default, MATE runs in a process separate from MeVisLab. This especially allows using it for Python debugging, see Section 24.8, “Python Debugger”. The setting for separate processes can be changed, see Section 4.3.4, “Preferences — Supportive Programs”.