EGL editor

The EGL editor is designed to help you write EGL source code and includes additional functions for writing code for Rich UI applications.

You can use the EGL editor—or, in relation to Rich UI, the Source tab of the EGL editor—to format code, highlight invalid syntax, and gain assistance with keystrokes. For details that are specific to Rich UI, see “EGL editor for Rich UI.”

The basics

To open an EGL source file in the EGL editor, in the Project Explorer view, either double-click the file or right-click it and then select Open with > EGL Editor.

The editor uses many of the same functions as the other text and code editors in the workbench:
  • Cut, copy, and paste code with commands in the Edit menu.
  • Save the current file by either pressing CTRL+S, clicking the Save button on the toolbar, or clicking File > Save.
  • Generate the current file by either pressing CTRL+G, or right-clicking the file in the Project Explorer view and then clicking Generate.
  • Undo your most recent change by either pressing CTRL+Z, or clicking Edit > Undo.
  • Switch between open files by clicking the tabs at the top of the editor.
  • Locate the file in a different view by clicking Navigate > Show In and then click either Project Explorer, Outline, or Navigator.
  • To indent or reverse the indent of code, select one or more lines, right-click, and click either Shift Right or Shift Left.
  • To comment or uncomment one or more lines of code, select one or more lines, right-click, and then click either Comment or Uncomment.
To use some functions of the editor, you must select one or more lines of code (sometimes referred to as a block of code). You can select code in any of these ways:
  • To select one or more lines of code, click and drag the mouse over the code.
  • To select one word, double-click the word.
  • To select a code block, put the cursor at the beginning of the code block, hold the Shift key, and use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the end of the block. You can also double-click at the beginning or end of a code block.
  • To select the entire file, Press Ctrl+A.

You can control how EGL code is displayed in the editor; for more information, see “Setting preferences for EGL text.”

Writing code faster

To decrease code development time, use content assist. Content assist searches for valid keywords, variables, or part names that begin with the first few characters that you type and the matching code. To activate content assist, press CTRL+Space and choose a keyword, variable, part, or function from the list of options. To filter the list, you can type the first few characters of a keyword, part, or variable. For more information, see “Writing code by using content assist.”

Content assist can also insert larger code templates into your code, such as a framework for a part. For more information, see “Code templates.”

With the editor, you can also use wizards to generate EGL code into the file you are editing. For example, you can use the DataItem part source assistant to set the properties for a DataItem part. For more information, see ”Editing DataItem parts with the source assistant.”

Getting help

The editor provides dynamic help for most EGL keywords. To activate dynamic help, highlight an EGL keyword, such as package, and press F1. You can also press F1 to open dynamic help when you are in most EGL-related wizards and windows.

Organizing code

You can use the EGL editor to organize your import statements. To organize import statements, right-click in the editor and then click Organize Imports. The editor changes your import statements in the following ways:
  • It arranges the import statements in the order that is specified on the Organize Imports preference page. For information, see “Setting preferences for organizing import statements in the EGL editor.”
  • It removes any unused import statements.
  • It combines multiple import statements to the same package into a single import statement with a wildcard character, based on the settings in the preference page.
  • It attempts to add import statements for any parts that are used in the file but that are not in scope.

With the editor, you can also fold code. Folding a block of code hides that code temporarily, so that you can see only the parts of the source file that you want to see. To fold a block of code, click the minus icon on the left side of the editor. To fold lines of code, select the lines, right-click, and then click Fold Text. To restore the code, click the minus icon again. Folding does not change the behavior of your code.

Depending on your folding preference settings, certain blocks of code might be folded automatically when you open a source file in the editor. For more information, see “Setting preferences for folding in the EGL editor.”

Customizing the EGL editor

The formatting preferences affect how the code is formatted in the editor, including what characters and how many characters to use for indentation, whether to use upper or lower case for keywords, and how much white space to include in the source code.

You can create one or more EGL editor profiles by using the EGL Editor Formatter preference. In EGL, two formatting profiles are defined:
  • EGL [build in]
  • VA Gen [build in]
You cannot change the formatting preferences within these two profiles or remove these profiles. Any profile that you create is added to the list of available profiles. You can change or remove any profile that you create.

For information about defining editor profile preferences, see “Setting preferences for formatting in the EGL editor.”


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