Features of the IDE

Outline

When a Rell editor is open, the structure of its file (tree of definitions) is shown in the Outline view (which is by default on the right side of the IDE).

../_images/outline_view_2.png

There is also a Quick outline window, which is activated by the CTRL-O (⌘O) shortcut. Type a name to find its definition in the file.

../_images/outline_popup_ed.png ../_images/outline_popup_4.png

Problems View

Problems view shows compiler warnings and errors found in all projects in the IDE. The list is updated when saving a file.

../_images/problems_view.png

Global Text Search

Press CTRL-H (⌘H) to open the Search dialog. It allows to search for a string in all files in the IDE. Select the File Search tab, enter the text to search for and file name pattern.

../_images/search_dialog.png

Results are shown in the Search view, as a tree.

../_images/search_results.png

Git

Git operations are available via a context menu: right-click on a file and choose Team.

../_images/git_menu_ed.png

To commit file(s), click Add to Index, then Commit...

File icon in the Project Explorer indicates whether the file is a new, changed or an unmodified file.

../_images/git_files_ed.png

Changed files do not look very nice. To change the way how they are displayed, go to the Window - Preferences (macOS: Eclipse - Preferences) menu, then Team - Git - Label Decorations:

  • on the Text Decorations tab: delete the “>” character in all text fields

    ../_images/git_preferences_text_decorations_ed.png

  • on the Icon Decoartions tab: check the Dirty resources checkbox

    ../_images/git_preferences_icon_decorations_ed.png

  • click Apply and Close

Now files look much better:

../_images/git_files_4_ed.png

Spaces vs. Tabs

Eclipse uses tabs instead of spaces by default. It is recommented to use spaces. A few settings have to be changed:

  1. Open the Preferences dialog: menu Window - Preferences (macOS: Eclipse - Preferences).

  2. Type “tabs” in the search box.

  3. Go to General - Editors - Text Editors and check Insert spaces for tabs.

    ../_images/preferences_text_editors_ed.png

  4. Go to XML - XML Files - Editor, select Indent using spaces, specify Indentation size: 4.

    ../_images/preferences_xml_editor_ed.png

Miscellaneous

  • To show or hide line numbers: right-click on the left margin of an editor, click Show Line Numbers.

    ../_images/menu_show_line_numbers_ed.png

  • To comment a code fragment, select it and press CTRL-/ (⌘/).

  • Activate the Link with Editor icon, and the IDE will automatically select a file in the Project Explorer when its editor is focused.

    ../_images/link_with_editor_ed.png

  • CTRL-SHIFT-R (⇧⌘R) invokes the Open Resource dialog, which allows to search project files by name. Glob patterns (with * and ?) are supported.

    ../_images/open_resource_dialog_ed.png

  • The Show Whitespace Characters (paragraph) icon in the main toolbar allows to distinguish tabs from spaces.

    ../_images/show_whitespace_ed.png

  • To see the full list of Eclipse keyboard shortcuts, press CTRL-SHIFT-L (⇧⌘L). Some shortcuts are for the Java editor, and do nothing in Rell.

    ../_images/keyboard_shortcuts_ed.png

Keyboard shortcuts

Most useful keyboard shortcuts (subjectively):

Action Linux/Windows macOS
Run the file shown in the active editor CTRL-F11 ⇧⌘F11

   
Show the New wizard CTRL-N ⌘N
Show the New menu ALT-SHIFT-N ⌥⌘N
Save the current file CTRL-S ⌘S
Close the active editor tab CTRL-W ⌘W
Close all editor tabs CTRL-SHIFT-W ⇧⌘W

   
Quick outline CTRL-O ⌘O
Find text in the active editor CTRL-F ⌘F
Globally search for the selected text fragment CTRL-ALT-G ⌥⌘G
Show global text search dialog CTRL-H ^H
Find a file by name CTRL-SHIFT-R ⇧⌘R

   
Go to a line number CTRL-L ⌘L
Go to a previous location ALT-Left ⌥⌘←
Go to a next location (can be used after Alt-Left) ALT-Right ⌥⌘→
Go to the last edit location CTRL-Q ⌘Q

   
Comment the selected code fragment with // CTRL-/ ⌘/
Convert selected text to upper case CTRL-SHIFT-X ⇧⌘X
Convert selected text to lower case CTRL-SHIFT-Y ⇧⌘Y

   
Show the full list of keyboard shortcuts CTRL-SHIFT-L ⇧⌘L