The PowerBASIC User Interface

The PowerBASIC IDE was designed to provide you with the tools you need to quickly and intuitively develop high-performance applications.  This section briefly describes each element of the IDE.

• File Menu

  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

  Undo	Undo the last action or deletion.
  Clear	Delete the selected text.
  Cut	Remove selected text and place it in the Clipboard.
  Copy	Copy the selected text and place it in the Clipboard.
  Paste	Copy text from the Clipboard into the current document.
  Select All	Select all the text in the current document.
  Block selection…	Perform the selected operation on every line in the selected block.  Operations include comment/uncomment, indent/unindent by a tab level, and indent/unindent by one space.
  Find	Search the current document for a selected word or phrase.  See Find dialog for more information.
  Find Next	Search the current document for the next occurrence of the previous word or phrase used in Find.
  Replace	Search the current document for a selected word or phrase and replace it.  See Replace dialog for more information.
  Go to Line	Move the caret to the selected line number in the current document.  See Go to Line dialog for more information.
  Go to Bookmark	Move the caret to the selected bookmark in an open document.
  Code Finder	The Code Finder dialog presents a list of Subs, Functions, and Macros in current document, to quickly jump to a selected section of code.

   

• Run Menu

  Compile	Compile the current source document or, if you’ve chosen one, the Primary Source File.
  Compile and Execute	Compile and then Run the current source document or, if you’ve chosen one, the Primary Source File.
  Compile and Debug	Compile and then Debug the current source document or, if you’ve chosen one, the Primary Source File.
  Set Primary Source File	Define which module to compile when the Compile or Debug options are selected.  The Primary Source File can also be specified via the /P: IDE command-line switch.
  Command Line	Set the command-line to pass to the program when debugging or executing from within the IDE.  See COMMAND$.

   

• Tools Menu

  PowerBASIC COM Browser

  Open the PowerBASIC COM Browser (PBROW.EXE) to generate COM interface code from Object libraries.

   

• Window Menu

  Cascade	Stack all open windows and overlap them so that part of each underlying window is visible.
  Tile Horizontal	Arrange your open windows from top to bottom without overlapping one another.
  Tile Vertical	Arrange your open windows from left to right so that they display next to each other.
  Options	Display the Options dialog, for configuring the PowerBASIC IDE.
  [current files list]	A list of files currently opened in the PowerBASIC IDE.

   

• Debug Menu

  Run	In edit mode, this will compile and then debug the current source document or, if you’ve chosen one, the Primary Source File.  In debug mode, this causes your program to run until it hits a breakpoint or ends.
  Run to Caret	Begin running the program.  It continues to run until the debugger either reaches the current line, or encounters a breakpoint, etc.  CTRL+F8 is the hot-key for the Run to Caret option.
  Animate	The debugger runs the program using an automated Step-Into technique.  Execution continues until a breakpoint is reached, the Stop button is pressed, or the program completes.  The Animate delay can be set through the IDE's Options Dialog.
  Stop	Halt the debugger.  If the debugger is already halted, this has no effect.  CTRL+BREAK is the Stop hot-key.
  Step Into	If the current line contains a call to a Sub or Function, the debugger traces execution into that Sub or Function.  You cannot step into an API call, or into an external module.  F8 is the Step Into hot-key.
  Step Over	The debugger executes the current line of code.  If the line contains a reference to a Sub or a Function, the debugger executes that code without tracing into the Sub or Function.  SHIFT+F8 is the Step Over hot-key.
  Step Out	The debugger runs the code until the current Sub or Function exits.  If the current function is PBMAIN or WINMAIN, the code is executed until the program is finished or another breakpoint is encountered.  CTRL+SHIFT+F8 is the Step Out hot-key.
  Evaluate Variable	Evaluate or modify a variable, or add/remove a variable in the Watch window.  It is not possible to use this to change the length of a string.  Also see Watch CPU Registers.
  Clear all Watches	Remove all variables from the Watch window.
  Toggle Breakpoint	Set or release a breakpoint on the current line.  F9 is the Toggle Breakpoint hot-key.
  Clear all Breakpoints	Release all breakpoints in the program.
  Console on Top	Set or release the permanent "Always on Top" or "topmost" property of the console window created by the debugger.  When the console is not permanently topmost, it can be temporarily brought into the foreground (above the debuggers windows) by the Console button on the toolbar.
  Watch CPU Registers	Show or hide the Register Watcher window, which lets you see the state of the CPU registers and flags when debugging.
  Variable watch window	Show or hide the Variable Watcher window, which lets you see the state of the ERR function and any variables you choose to watch when debugging.
  Program Restart	If the current program is halted/stopped, the program will be reset, ready for debugging to commence again.  SHIFT+F5 is the Reset hot-key.
  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

  Dynamic Help	Displays the help file with information about the closest word to the edit caret.
  PB/CC Contents	Displays the PB/CC help files table of contents tab.
  PB/CC Index	Displays the PB/CC help files index tab.
  PB/CC Search	Displays the PB/CC 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	Launch your default Web Browser and connect to the PowerBASIC web site.
  About CCEdit	Display version information for the PowerBASIC IDE.