Adding text
The editor has two text input modes:
-
Insert mode As text is entered it is inserted
at the current cursor position and any text to the right of the cursor is
shifted along.
-
Overwrite mode As text is entered it replaces
any text to the right of the cursor.
To toggle between insert and overwrite mode
- Press the Ins button to toggle input mode.
- If overwrite mode is enabled the OVR status indicator will be enabled
and the overwrite mode cursor will be visible.
Deleting text
To delete one character to the left of the cursor
To delete one character to the right of the cursor
To delete one word to the left of the cursor
- Hold Ctrl and press the Backspace key.
To delete one word to the right of the cursor
- Hold Ctrl and press the Del key.
To delete an area of selected text
- Select area of text to be deleted.
- Press Backspace or Del key.
Using the clipboard
To copy selected text from the current editor and place them onto the clipboard
- From the Edit menu, select Copy.
To copy selected text from the current editor and append them onto the end
of the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Copy Append menu item.
To copy whole lines from the current editor and place them onto the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Copy Lines menu item.
To copy whole lines from the current editor and append them onto the end
of the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Copy Lines Append menu item.
To copy bookmarked lines from the current editor place them onto the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Copy Marked Lines menu item.
To copy bookmarked lines from the current editor and append them onto the
end of the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Copy Marked Lines Append menu
item.
To cut selected text from the current editor and place them onto the clipboard
- Select Edit | Cut menu item.
To cut selected text from the current editor and append them onto the end
of the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Cut Append menu item.
To cut whole lines from the current editor and place them onto the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Cut Lines menu item.
To cut whole lines from the current editor and append them onto the end of
the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Cut Lines Append menu item.
To cut bookmarked lines from the current editor and place them onto the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Cut Marked Lines menu item.
To cut bookmarked lines from the current editor and append them onto the
end of the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Cut Marked Lines Append menu
item.
To paste text into current editor from clipboard
- Select Edit | Paste menu item.
To paste text into a new editor from clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Paste As New Document menu
item.
To clear the clipboard
- Select Edit | Clipboard | Clear Clipboard menu item.
Using the Clipboard Ring
The code editor captures all Cut and Copy operations
and stores the the cut or copied item on the Clipboard Ring.
The clipboard ring stores the last 20 text items that were cut or copied, but
you can configure the maximum number of items stored on the clipboard ring
using the environment options dialog.
To show the Clipboard Ring
- From the View menu, select Clipboard Ring.
To use the Clipboard ring
- Cut or copy some text from your code. The last item you cut or copy into
the clipboard ring is the current item for pasting.
- Type Ctrl+Shift+V to paste the clipboard ring's current
item to the current document.
- Repeatedly press Ctrl+Shift+V to cycle through the entries in the clipboard
ring until you get to the one you want to permanently paste in the document.
Each time you press Ctrl+Shift+V, the editor replaces the last entry you
pasted from the clipboard ring so that you end up with only the last one
you selected. The item you stop on then becomes the current item.
- Move to another location or cancel the selection. You can use Ctrl+Shift+V to paste the current item again or cycle the clipboard ring to a new item.
To configure the Clipboard Ring
- From the Tools menu, select Options.
- Under Environment, select Even More...
- Check Preserve Contents to save the content of the clipboard
ring between runs, or uncheck it to start with an empty clipboard ring.
- Change Maximum Items to configure the maximum number of
items stored on the clipboard ring.
Drag and drop editing
You can select text and then drag and drop it in another location. You can
drag text to a different location in the same text editor or to another text
editor.
To drag and drop text
- Select the text you want to move, either with the mouse or with the keyboard.
- Click on the highlighted text and keep the mouse button pressed.
- Move the mouse cursor to where you want to place the text.
- Release the mouse button to drop the text.
Dragging text moves it to the new location. You can copy the text to a new
location by holding down the Ctrl key while moving the text:
the mouse cursor changes to indicate a copy. Pressing the Esc key
while dragging text will cancel a drag and drop edit.
To enable or disable drag and drop editing
- From the Tools menu, select Options.
- Under Text Editor, click General.
- In the Editing section, check Drag/drop editing to
enable drag and drop editing or uncheck it to disable drag and drop editing.
Undo and redo
The editor has an undo facility to undo previous editing actions. The redo
feature can be used to re-apply previously undone editing actions.
To undo one editing actions
- From the Edit menu, select Undo.
—or—
- On the Standard toolbar, click the Undo tool
button.
—or—
- Type Ctrl+Z or Alt+Backspace.
To undo multiple editing actions
- On the Standard toolbar, click the arrow next to the Undo tool
button.
- From the menu, select the editing operations to undo.
To redo one editing action
- From the Edit menu, select Redo.
—or—
- On the Standard toolbar, click the Redo tool
button.
—or—
- Type Ctrl+Y or Alt+Shift+Backspace.
To redo multiple editing actions
- On the Standard toolbar, click the arrow next to the Redo tool
button.
- From the menu, select the editing operations to redo.
Indentation
The editor uses the Tab key to increase or decrease the indentation
level. The indentation size can be altered in the editor's Language Properties window.
To change the indentation size
- Select the Properties Window.
- Select the Language Properties pane.
- Set the Indent Size property for the required language.
The editor can optionally use tab characters to fill whitespace when indenting.
The use of tabs for filling whitespace can be selected in the editor's Language
Properties window.
To enable or disable the use of tab characters when indenting
- Select the Properties Window.
- Select the Language Properties pane.
- Set the Use Tabs property for the required language. Note that changing
this setting does not add or remove existing tabs from files, the change
will only effect new indents.
The editor can provide assistance with source code indentation while inserting
text. There are three levels of indentation assistance:
- None. The indentation of the source code is left to the user.
- Indent (default). The editor maintains the current indentation level. When Return or Enter are
pressed the editor automatically moves the cursor to the indentation level
of the previous line.
- Smart. The editor analyses the source code to compute the appropriate indentation
level for the line. The number of lines before the current cursor position
that are analysed for context can be altered. The smart indent mode can be
configured to either indent open and closing braces or the lines following
the braces.
To change the indentation mode
- Select the Properties Window.
- Select the Language Properties pane.
- Set the Indent Mode property for the required language.
To change whether opening braces are indented in smart indent mode
- Select the Properties Window.
- Select the Language Properties pane.
- Set the Indent Opening Brace property for the required language.
To change whether closing braces are indented in smart indent mode
- Select the Properties Window.
- Select the Language Properties pane.
- Set the Indent Closing Brace property for the required language.
To change number of previous line used for context in smart indent mode
- Select the Properties Window.
- Select the Language Properties pane.
- Set the Indent Context Lines property for the required language.