Xojo IDE Gems

During the past couple of weeks, while reading the new docs and beta forum postings, I came to realize that the Xojo/Real IDE has a lot of neat ways to do things more efficiently.

  1. Hold in Ctrl and then clicking on a function name to go into the code of the function.
  2. Using the “break” statement to set debugger break points. (Beats typing Beep and then setting a breakpoint on the Beep instruction).
  3. Ctrl+’ to comment/uncomment a selected block of code.

Had I known about these gems years ago, I would have saved myself a lot of clicks.

Perhaps others know of more IDE gems that makes development tasks easier?

“break” exists from… forever I think.

Alas, none of these things are new to Xojo, although they may be new to the User Guide :slight_smile:

What??? These were my secret weapons in the speed IDE user challenge. You mean that others are now aware because you added them to the docs? Blast you, Paul Lefebvre! Blast you.

(sorry, twiddling my thumbs waiting for B6 to “reappear”… :slight_smile: )

I used all of these but I can’t recall, for the life of me, where I learned them originally.

I use it, but would prefer if it was a hotkey, such as Shift-F2 (as in VB6) because your hands are already on the keyboard most of the time when you are coding.

This is where different coding styles come into play, and we all have our own unique way of doing things.

I’m probably more of a keyboard-mouse hybrid coder (using both keyboard and mouse), so the Ctrl+Click works nicely with my style of coding.

I realize that a lot developers prefers to use the keyboard more heavily than the mouse however. So I suppose a Shift+F2 would be a nice improvement for coders adopting such a style of work. (Especially those who grew up with bashing out scripts in the vim text editor).

There are a whole lot of neat things in the new IDE that I think are brilliant. But I must admit I’m finding the retraining “fun”. I rarely use any keyboard shortcuts & I suspect that comes from my days programming in COBOL.

Xojo & it’s predecessors have increased my productivity hugely. I will not go back to the day’s of DLL hell - NEVER. This product while it doesn’t do some things as well as others does most MUCH better.

There is a new IDE & we need to learn it. Yes we need to tell Geoff what we miss and we need to listen to him & team the new way of achieving that task.

The biggest shortcoming to this beta is the lack of new users, but I can see why there wouldn’t be.

Open your minds peeps!

Same here. I’m standing with my one foot in Real Studio (when it comes to my larger projects) and my other foot in Xojo (with my new smaller upcoming projects). During the past couple of days, each time I work in Real Studio, I find myself searching for the Library and Inspector buttons (these buttons already latched onto my habitual behavior).

Yes, there is a fractional learning curve for the new IDE, but IMO it is definitely worth it.

Mine as well. I’m able to develop AND deploy production quality products in a fraction of the time when compared to other tools. Any person running a small business (or even I large one I suspect), will be able to appreciate the positive difference Xojo makes to development timelines.

[quote=4158:@Alwyn Bester]1. Hold in Ctrl and then clicking on a function name to go into the code of the function.
2. Using the “break” statement to set debugger break points. (Beats typing Beep and then setting a breakpoint on the Beep instruction).[/quote]

When I ctrl-click on a function name and I get a popup then I need to pick go to Function from the contextual menu.

I think Alwyn is talking about Windows. On Mac you can do the same double-clicking on a function while holding the CMD key. This works not only for functions but for everything. Just CMD+DoubleClick on a control name and you go to the window editor with that control selected.

I’ve started using this and, yes, now I see the need for a back button.

Yes, didn’t realize it’s different on OS X.

Those back and forward navigation buttons are definitely sorely missed in Xojo. I use them all the time as I pop from one item to another and back - especially when I refactor old code.

I miss the Back/Forth buttons, but miss the Bookmark bar even more. When I am working on a problem it is usually related to 4-6 methods. In RS I just put all four in the Bookmark and I can get to the exact one I want in one click instead of cycling through the list.

On a somewhat related note (looking for methods), I have decided I don’t like the location of the new Find window. The list is usually too long so I have to grab the scroll bar, which is annoying. Or I have to make the Find window bigger to see more of what it found, but that covers up code (and you can’t make as big as I would like it be sometimes). I spend way to much time screwing with that window. I would MUCH rather have it pop up in a new Tab like it was in RS. I could always see the entire list in one click.

Perhaps this should be configurable setting. I like the new way, but can imagine that long lists of results could potentially be a problem.

You get long lists when you are refactoring code.

Found another gem…

In the IDE, on a window with a button click down on the button. While holding in the mouse button, now press the Ctrl key (Option key on OS X). While holding in the Ctrl key, drag the mouse.

Sweet! A tad tricky to make sure you have the focus first, but I like that a lot better than righ-clicking, copy, paste, etc…

[quote=4422:@Alwyn Bester]Found another gem…

In the IDE, on a window with a button click down on the button. While holding in the mouse button, now press the Ctrl key (Option key on OS X). While holding in the Ctrl key, drag the mouse.[/quote]

I’m not sure if this existed back in RS but this is standard behaviour in OS X. Option key when moving usually copies. The finder itself is like this, as well as most programs (alternatively, a default copy turns to move when option is pressed).

This is also standard in drawing and illustration programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Powerpoint, SketchUp). Along with Shift for constraining move to vertical or 45% axes.