PowerBASIC IDE
When you start PowerBASIC, you'll see the following single window. The PowerBASIC IDE does
not display the windows of the application being created - it shows only the source code for
the application.
A separate tool, PowerBASIC Forms, is available which does provide a visual
rendition of an applications windows (similar to the Visual Basic IDE).
This window is the PowerBASIC IDE - Integrated Development Environment. It consists of
a combination source code text editor that is integrated with the PowerBASIC
compiler. The editor creates/modifies source code and the compiler converts the code
into an executable (EXE) file or a dynamic link library(DLL).
The 4 lines of code you see in the editor are a template for a basic EXE application,
provided by default when PowerBASIC is opened. Other templates are available, including
one for DLLs. You saw this code as part of the sample applications in an earlier page
of this tutorial.
The IDE consists of four sections.
- Menu
- Toolbar
- Source Code Editor
- Watch Window
Each of these is discuss in more detal below.
File Menu
This is where programs are loaded and/or saved.
- Insert File
Insert a document (file) at the caret position in the current document.
- New File
Create a new empty document in the editor.
- New File As…
Create a new empty document in the editor, using a specified file template.
- Open File…
Use the Open dialog box to load an existing document.
- Save File
Save the current document using its current name.
- Save File As…
Save the current document using a new name.
- Print…
Print the current document.
- Close File
Close the current document.
- Close All Files
Closes all files open in the editor.
- [Recent Files list]
A list of the most recently loaded source code documents.
- Command Prompt
Open a command prompt window ("DOS box").
- Exit
Close all open documents and exit the IDE.
Edit Menu
This menu provides various features for making changes to the source code.
- Undo
Undo the last action.
- Clear
Delete the selection.
- Cut
Remove selection and place in clipboard.
- Copy
Copy selection to clipboard.
- Paste
Copy text from clipboard to the cursor location.
- Select All
Select all text.
- Block selection…
Take action on every selected line - comment/uncomment, indent/unindent (by tab or space).
- Insert GUID
Inserts a new unique GUID.
- Find
Search for specified text.
- Find Next
Search for next occurence of specified text.
- Replace
Replace specified text.
- Go to Line
Move caret to specified line number.
- Go to Bookmark
Move caret to a bookmark.
- Code Finder
Display all Subs/Functions/Methods/Properties/Macros. Jump to selection.
Run Menu
Use these menus to create EXEs or DLLs.
- Compile
Compile source code (either the current documents or the Primary Source File).
- Compile and Execute
Compile (as above) and then run (if EXE is result).
- Compile and Debug
Compile (as above) and then Debug
- Set Primary Source File
If multiple files are loaded in the IDE, each may have a PBMAIN() function, so the
file whose PBMAIN() will be used to start the program can be selected.
- Command Line
Allows command-line access from within IDE (normally is a run time parameter)
Tools Menu
The COM browser is the only automatic entry here. An entry also appears for PowerBASIC
Forms is that application is installed.
- PowerBASIC COM Browser
Open the PowerBASIC COM Browser (PBROW.EXE) to generate COM interface code from Object libraries.
- PowerBASIC Forms
Provides access to PowerBASIC Forms (if installed).
Window Menu
These are standard Windows MDI application submenus, plus the Options submenu.
- Cascade
Stack and overlap (with offset) all open windows.
- Tile Horizontal
Arrange open windows left to right (no overlap).
- Tile Vertical
Arrange open windows top to bottom (no overlap).
- Options
Display the PowerBASIC IDE Options dialog.
- Current Files List
A list of files currently opened in the PowerBASIC IDE.
Debug Menu
PowerBASIC provides a complete set of tools with which to identify
execution/logic errors within the source code. Programs can be walked
through line by line and variables watched for value changes. Several
settings are available to automate or otherwise make the process simple
for the programmer to use.
- Run
Edit mode: compile and debug the current source document/Primary Source File
Debug mode: runs program until it hits a breakpoint or ends.
- Run to Caret CTRL+F8
Run the program until reaching the current line or a breakpoint.
- Animate
Run program one line at a time (Step-Into) until a breakpoint is reached, the Stop button
is pressed, or the program completes. Step-to-step delay time can set.
- Stop CTRL+BREAK
Halt the debugger (if running).
- Step Into F8
Debugger follows all code lines, including into Sub/Function/Method/Property code.
Cannot step into an API call, or into an external module.
- Step Over SHIFT+F8
Debugger executes, but does not display Sub/Function/Method/Property code.
- Step Out CTRL+SHIFT+F8
Debugger stops after executing the current Sub/Function/Method/Property procedure.
- Evaluate Variable
Using the Watch window, evaluate/modify/add/remove a variable. Cannot change the length
of a string.
- Clear all Watches
Remove all variables from the Watch window.
- Toggle Breakpoint F9
Set/release breakpoint (current line).
- Clear all Breakpoints
Release all breakpoints.
- Watch CPU Registers
Show/hide Register Watcher window (displays state of CPU registers and flags when debugging).
- Variable watch window
Show/hide Variable Watcher window (displays state of ERR function and selected variables).
- Program Restart SHIFT+F5
If the current program is halted/stopped, the program will be reset, ready for debugging
to commence again.
- Exit Debugging
Halts the current program and terminates the debugger. The variable list in the Watch
window is retained between debugging sessions, until the IDE is closed.
Help Menu
PowerBASIC offers standard Help menu options, providing both local and web-based help.
The context help feature is especially useful, where the Help file is opened to
the entry corresponding to the keyword at the location of the cursor in the source
code editor.
Additionally, users can access SDK help and custom help files which have been
installed as part of a third-party vendor's add-on tool installation process.
- Dynamic Help
Displays the help file with information about the closest word to the edit caret.
- PB/Win Contents
Displays help file table of contents.
- PB/Win Index
Displays help files index.
- PB/Win Search
Displays help files search tab.
- Help for Windows SDK
Display the Win32.hlp help file (if installed).
- [other help files]
Display an add-on help file.
- PowerBASIC Web Site
Open default Web Browser to the PowerBASIC web site.
- About CCEdit
Display version information.
Context Menu
The following context menu (right mouse click) is available from within the
PowerBASIC IDE.
Here is a short description of what each of these submenu items provide.
- Undo
Reverse the most recent edit change from the undo stack. Multiple undos are supported.
The undo stack is cleared when a Save or Compile operation is performed.
- Clear
Delete selected text.
- Cut
Delete the selected text and copy it to the clipboard.
- Copy
Copy selected text to clipboard.
- Paste
Paste the contents of the clipboard at the caret position.
- Select Line
Select (highlight) the complete line at the context-menu point.
- Select Block
Select (highlight) a complete block of code. Available only when activated on the first line
of a formal block (#PBFORMS metastatement (PB/Win only), FOR/NEXT, SELECT CASE, CALLBACK,
CLASS, SUB, FUNCTION, METHOD, PROPERTY, TYPE, UNION).
- Insert GUID
Inserts a new unique GUID at the current insertion point.
- Select All
Select all text.
- Run to Caret
Run the program until reaching the current caret position (debug mode only).
- Watch Variable
Add/remove the variable at the current caret position to the Variable Watcher window.
The Variable Watcher window is visible only in debug mode.
- Evaluate Variable
Evaluate or modify the variable at the current caret position (debug mode only).
- Toggle Bookmark
Add/remove a bookmark at the current caret position.
- Toggle Breakpoint
Add/remove a breakpoint at the current caret position.
- Help
If the word at the caret is recognized, then the PowerBASIC Help file is launched.
Otherwise, the WIN32.HLP file is launched.
- Open File
Opens file specified in a #INCLUDE metastatement.
Hot Keys
Like most Windows applications, PowerBASIC provides keyboard options for
accessing the various features that are normally accessed using the mouse.
The supported Hot Keys include:
| Keystroke | Description
|
|---|
| F1
| Dynamic Help
|
| CTRL+ALT+F1
| Display the Help Table of Contents
|
| CTRL+ALT+F2
| Display the Help Index
|
| CTRL+ALT+F3
| Display the Help Search
|
| F2
| Code Finder dialog
|
| F3
| Find dialog/Find next
|
| SHIFT+F3
| Find previous
|
| F4
| Duplicate current line
|
| CTRL+F4
| Close current document
|
| ALT+F4
| Exit PBEDIT
|
| F5
| Compile/debug (edit mode) or Run (debug mode)
|
| CTRL+F5
| Animate program.
|
| F6
| Clear to end-of-line
|
| CTRL+F6
| Switch to the next document window
|
| F8
| Step into next program line (when debugging)
|
| CTRL+SHIFT+F8
| Step out of current procedure (when debugging)
|
| SHIFT+F8
| Step over next program line (when debugging)
|
| CTRL+F8
| Run to caret (when debugging)
|
| F9
| Break (stop the program being debugged)
|
| ALT+BACKSPACE
| Undo
|
| SHIFT+INSERT
| Paste text from clipboard
|
| SHIFT+DELETE
| Cut text to clipboard
|
| CTRL+DELETE
| Cut text to clipboard
|
| CTRL+INSERT
| Copy text to clipboard
|
| CTRL+HOME
| Move to start of document
|
| CTRL+END
| Move to end of document
|
| CTRL+PAGEUP
| Move to start of document (keep caret onscreen)
|
| CTRL+PAGEDOWN
| Move to end of document (keep caret onscreen)
|
| CTRL+0
| Go to bookmark 0
|
| ALT+0
| Set bookmark 0
|
| CTRL+1
| Go to bookmark 1
|
| ALT+1
| Set bookmark 1
|
| CTRL+2
| Go to bookmark 2
|
| ALT+2
| Set bookmark 2
|
| CTRL+3
| Go to bookmark 3
|
| ALT+3
| Set bookmark 3
|
| CTRL+4
| Go to bookmark 4
|
| ALT+4
| Set bookmark 4
|
| CTRL+5
| Go to bookmark 5
|
| ALT+5
| Set bookmark 5
|
| CTRL+6
| Go to bookmark 6
|
| ALT+6
| Set bookmark 6
|
| CTRL+7
| Go to bookmark 7
|
| ALT+7
| Set bookmark 7
|
| CTRL+8
| Go to bookmark 8
|
| ALT+8
| Set bookmark 8
|
| CTRL+9
| Go to bookmark 9
|
| ALT+9
| Set bookmark 9
|
| TAB
| Indent marked block by one tab level
|
| SHIFT+TAB
| Outdent marked block by one tab level
|
| SPACE
| Indent marked block by one space
|
| SHIFT+SPACE
| Outdent marked block by one space
|
| CTRL+A
| Select all
|
| CTRL+B
| Go to Bookmark dialog
|
| CTRL+C
| Copy text to clipboard
|
| CTRL+D
| Duplicate current line
|
| CTRL+E
| Build and Execute
|
| CTRL+F
| Find dialog
|
| CTRL+G
| Go to Line dialog
|
| CTRL+I
| Toggle auto-indent mode
|
| CTRL+K
| Clear to end-of-line
|
| CTRL+L
| Select current line
|
| CTRL+M
| Compile (document or primary source file)
|
| CTRL+N
| Create new document (default file template)
|
| CTRL+O
| Open an existing document
|
| CTRL+P
| Print the current source document
|
| CTRL+Q
| Comment-out marked block
|
| CTRL+SHIFT+Q
| Uncomment-out marked block
|
| CTRL+R
| Find and Replace dialog
|
| CTRL+S
| Save the current document
|
| CTRL+T
| Delete the word at the caret
|
| CTRL+U
| Paste text from clipboard
|
| CTRL+V
| Paste text from clipboard
|
| CTRL+X
| Cut text to clipboard
|
| CTRL+Y
| Cut current line to clipboard
|
| CTRL+Z
| Undo last change
|
| CTRL+ALT+G
| Insert a GUID
|
If you have any suggestions or corrections, please let me know.
