Wedit for Linux

1 Basics

This chapted describes the basics of using Wedit for Linux. You'll learn how program's workspace is organized and how to use the editor. For description of features accesible from main menu, please refer to specific area in the Menu chapter.

1.1 Layout

Wedit for Linux workspace is divided into several parts:

Please note that layout of the workspace is highly customizable,and your actual layout may vary. Also, the color combinations, fonts, and window decorations may differ in your environment.

1.1.1 Opened Files Area

In the Opened Files area, you can see all files that are currently open. File you're working on is selected. Use mouse to switch among opened files.

To adjust the width of Opened files area, drag the bar (1) on the right side of the area to desired position.

To hide the area quickly, click button in the lower part of the bar (2). To show the area, click the button again.

1.1.2 Status Area

Status area is a multi-purpose view that is used to display results of various Wedit for Linux actions, such as :

Tabs at the top of the area may be used to switch among different categories of output. Status area display is always organized by lines. In many cases, clicking a line will result in opening the specific file in editor, and/or moving cursor to specific source line.

Status area's size can be adjusted much like the Open Files area, dragging bar (1), or clicking the snap button (2). Please note that if Status areas is hidden, it'll become visible automatically after Wedit for Linux writes some information to it.

At the bottom of Status area is the Status Bar. It displays line and column position for current file, current function name (if applicable), and an asterisk denoting that current file has been modified (if applicable). Also, during lenghty operations (such as grepping), progress is displayed in the Status Bar.

1.1.3 Editor Area

1.1.3.1 Panes

Editor Area in Wedit for Linux consists of four independent panes, each of which can contain many file buffers. To arrange the panes, use icons on the top-right side of editor area, or drag bars that separate them. See pictures bellow that explain how 'Arrange Panes' icons work.

First, we click the icon.

All four panes are visible at once. Now make top-left pane active (click into it) and click on

The top-left and bottom-left panes are visible at once. Now make bottom-left pane active (click into it) and click on

The bottom-left and bottom-right panes are visible at once. Now make bottom-right pane active (click into it) and click on

Only bottom-right pane is visible.

1.1.3.2 Moving Files

To move files from one pane to another, click the tab with the name of the file and drag it to different pane.

1.1.4 Button bar

Button bar allows you to perform frequent actions in one mouse click. If you don't want Button bar to appear, deselect the 'Toolbar' item in 'Edit' menu.

You can tear-off the Button Bar from the main workspace and place in anywhere on your desktop. To do this, drag tear-off handle (1)

In current version of Wedit for Linux, Button bar is not customizable.

1.1.5 Menubar (defining shortcuts)

As with the Button Bar, Menubar can be torn-off the main workspace dragging the tear-off handle (1).

Wedit for Linux Menubar comes with predefined keyboard shortcuts (Ctl+F for Find, for example). Due to variety of window managers available for Linux (which trap some key combinations), or just because of personal preference, there's often need to redefine some of them, or define other.

To assign a new keyboard shortcut to menu item, do following:

Click the menu group with mouse, highlight the menu item and press the desired key combination. Wedit for Linux will remember the shortcut for future sessions.

1.2 Editing

Editing source files and other documents in Wedit for Linux is similar to other modern text editors. In following sections, we'll describe basic features (how to move around) as well as features that make editor efficient for editing source files (auto-indent, auto completion, etc.)

1.2.1 Moving around

Following table lists editor key combinations.

Up Arrowmove one line up
Down Arrowmove one line down
Left Arrowmove one character left
Right Arrowmove one character right
Homemove to the beginning of code on the line / move to the beginning of line
Endmove to the end of line
Page Upmove one page up
Page Downmove one page down
Inserttoggle insert/override mode
Deletedelete character under cursor / delete selected block
Backspacedelete character to the left of cursor / delete selected block
Shift + Arrowsmark block
Ctl + Left Arrowjump one word left
Ctl + Right Arrowjump one work right
Ctl + Up Arrowscroll up
Ctl + Down Arrowscroll down
Ctl + Homemove to the beginning of file
Ctl + Endmove to the end of file

1.2.2 Auto-Indent

When editing source file in a language Wedit for Linux is aware of (such as C, Eiffel, Fortran), editor indents the text automatically as you type. Editor uses filename extension to determine what type of file is being edited.

1.2.3 Auto completion

When editing source file in a language Wedit for Linux is aware of (such as C, Eiffel, Fortran), Wedit for Linux automatically parses the source code as you type.

Type first couple of letters of the symbol (such as fuction name) and hit 'Escape' key. Wedit will present you with possible completions for the symbol.

1.2.4 Right-click menu

Clicking right mouse button in the editor will present you a context-sensitive menu. Contents of the menu depends on the type of file your're editing and on the position within the file.

1.2.5 Clipboard (X Selections)

Linux applications usually support one (or both) of the following selection-handling mechanisms:

To copy to external applications, always use 'Copy' function of Wedit for Linux, or the respective keyboard shortcut.

To paste to Wedit from external applications supporting Copy & Paste (Netscape Communicator, XEmacs, etc.), use 'Paste' function, or respective keyboard shortcut.

To paste to Wedit from external applications supporting Select & Paste only (xterm, terminal emulators, vi), click middle mouse button in Wedit for Linux.

Note: You can also use X selection managers (like xclipboard) to manage selections for you.