Editing | Includes the Explorer and Properties windows. When you open a file, the Source Editor automatically opens. You use the Source Editor to edit Java, HTML, and plain text files. Source code is syntactically colored--default keywords, for example, are in blue. The Source Editor supports dynamic code completion; that is, you can type the first few characters of an expression and then view a list of classes, methods, and variables that can be used to complete the expression. |
GUI Editing | Includes the Explorer, Form Editor, Component Inspector, and the Source Editor. You use the GUI Editing workspace to design and develop graphical user interfaces. The Component Inspector enables you to view the components in your application and set their properties. The Form Editor window is the primary area for creating and modifying a graphical interface. Code generated by the Form Editor appears with a shaded background in the Source Editor and cannot be edited manually. If you open the Form Editor window in another workspace, the IDE automatically switches to the GUI Editing workspace. |
Browsing | Includes the three-paned Object Browser and the Properties window. In the Object Browser, you can view the hierarchy of packages, objects (classes and interfaces), and members (methods, variables, and constructors) in your program. From the Object Browser, you can open the source code of your application by double-clicking a name in either the Objects or Members pane. The Properties window enables you to view and edit the properties of the object selected in the Object Browser. |
Running | Includes the Execution View window and the Output window. When you run your program, the IDE automatically switches to the Running workspace. If there are no execution errors, your application is launched so that you can test it. If there are execution errors, they are displayed in the Output window. |
Debugging | Includes the Debugger window and the Output window. The Debugger window has tabbed panes for setting breakpoints, monitoring threads, and watching the value of variables. The Output window displays messages from the debugger. If you have a file open, the Debugging workspace also includes the Source Editor, which highlights breakpoints in magenta. |
Your current workspace does not constrain the number or types of windows that you can have open. You can use the View menu on the main window to open any window at any time. When you exit the IDE, it saves the state of each workspace. The next time you launch the program, the windows in your workspaces appear exactly as you left them. You can add or delete workspaces, remove or rename existing workspaces, and change which windows are contained in a workspace.
See also | |
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Managing Workspaces and
Windows
Editing Source Files Debugging a Program The Explorer The Object Browser |