by Kevin H. Patterson
11-15-2001
Supplemental Information
BeIDE is highly customizable. Here's a few ideas to make development with BeIDE easier, especially if you're used to development under Microsoft Windows.
First, choose "Preferences..." from the "Edit" menu of your Project window or any Code Editor window in BeIDE.
On the left, you have a list of categories. Pick "Font" from the list, and you'll get a "Font Preferences" page on the right. The default editor font and size are good choices. The only think I like to change is the "Tab Size"; I prefer a tab width of 2 spaces, rather than 4 or 5. It helps keep code more compact. Auto Indent is also a nice feature that I like to leave on.
The "Key Bindings" section controls how your keyboard works when using the Code Editor. You can choose one or more keys or key combinations to perform common editing tasks like selecting text, scrolling, etc. The default Key Bindings are for people who are used to Apple Macintosh systems. For someone used to Microsoft Windows systems, they can be quite frustrating. If you're not familiar with Apple Macintosh systems, I highly recommend changing them.
I've included a Key Bindings file that you can import. I created it myself, and it's pretty flexible and comfortable for people who are used to Windows applications. Download the CoolBeIDEKeyBindings.zip file to your hard drive, and then unzip it to a known location. Then click BeIDE's "Import" button and find the "Cool BeIDE Key Bindings" file (not the zip file), select it, and click "Open."
Here's a sample of some of the Key Bindings:
You might take a few minutes to study the new Key Bindings on your computer. Your dexterity within BeIDE will depend on how familiar you are with them. You can also change one or more of them to your liking, and you can even set up "alternate" key bindings for the same action.
I just wanted you to notice the "Shift Left" and "Shift Right" key bindings. These will allow you to indent (and outdent) a block of selected text in one operation. (This is very useful). In this case, ShortcutKey-[ will "outdent" a block of text, and ShortcutKey-] will "indent" it. The key for "ShortcutKey" will depend on the "Menu" Preferences Shortcut Key setting for your system. BeIDE does not reflect your choice of Shortcut Key in its display; in other words, [A] will always represent your Shortcut Key, even if you've chosen [Ctrl] instead of [Alt] for your Shortcut Key. More information on how to change your shortcut key can be found here.
On my system, I've chosen [Ctrl] as my Shortcut Key. You can see at the right side of the window, that [Shift]-[Tab] will also "outdent" text, and [Ctrl]-[Tab] will indent the text. Keep in mind that you have to have a block of text selected for this to work.
"Balance" will automatically highlight all the code between two matching brackets.
When you're done examining or changing your Key Bindings, click "Save".
That's it. You can close the Preferences window by clicking the "Close Box" in the upper left-hand corner of the window.
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