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<title>
Detail Pane
</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/codesnip.css" type="text/css">
</head>
<body>
<h1>
Detail Pane
</h1>
<h2>
Introduction
</h2>
<p>
This pane appears on the right hand side of the display and shows
detailed information about the currently selected snippet or section
heading, along with some other information (see below).
</p>
<h2>
Tabs
</h2>
<p>
Information is be displayed in one or more tabs. Items selected in the
<a href="overview_pane.htm">Overview pane</a> are normally displayed in
the currently selected tab, overwriting previous contents. This behaviour
can be changed as follows:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<span class="smallcaps">Ctrl</span> clicking items in the <a
href="overview_pane.htm"
>Overview pane</a> causes them to be displayed in a new tab.
</li>
<li>
Pressing <span class="smallcaps">Ctrl+T</span>, or choosing the <em>View
| New Tab</em> menu option opens a new empty tab ready to display the
next item chosen in the <a href="overview_pane.htm">Overview pane</a>,
for example.
</li>
<li>
<span class="smallcaps">Ctrl</span> clicking snippet and category links
in the detail pane displays them in a new tab.
</li>
<li>
Newly created snippets and categories may be displayed in new tabs.
This happens only if the feature is selected in the <a
href="dlg_prefs_display.htm"
>Display</a> tab of the <a
href="dlg_preferences.htm"
>Preferences</a> dialogue box.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
When more than one tab is displayed you can quickly cycle through them
from left to right by pressing <span class="smallcaps">Ctrl+Tab</span> or
from right to left using <span class="smallcaps">Shift+Ctrl+Tab</span>.
</p>
<p>
You can close tabs in one of three ways:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Close the selected tab using <em>Close Tab</em> menu option displayed on
the <a href="menu_view.htm">View</a> menu, the detail pane's context
menu and any tab's context menu. Alternatively press
<span class="smallcaps">Ctrl+F4</span>.
</li>
<li>
Close all except the selected tab by right clicking the tab and
selecting the <em>Close All Other Tabs</em> option from the tab's
context menu. Pressing <span class="smallcaps">Shift+Ctrl+F4</span> has
the same effect.
</li>
<li>
Close all open tabs using the <em><a href="menu_view.htm">View</a> |
Close All Tabs</em> menu option.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Some other types of information are always displayed in new tabs. See
below for details.
</p>
<h2>
Views
</h2>
<p>
There are various types of item that can be displayed in a details pane
tab. These are referred to as "Views".
</p>
<p>
Every view has a context menu displayed by right clicking or by pressing
<span class="smallcaps">Alt+F10</span>. The content of this menu various
according to the view or the selected element within it.
</p>
<p>
Each type of view is described below.
</p>
<h3>
Snippet View
</h3>
<p>
The snippet view displays detailed information about a snippet. The
display can be customised and may include the following components:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
The snippet's name. This component is always present and its placing is
fixed.
</li>
<li>
<div>
For snippets downloaded from the <em>Code Snippets Database</em> an
image is displayed at the right hand end of the line containing the
snippet name that gives information about the level of testing applied
to the snippet. The images are:
</div>
<ul style="list-style: none;" class="unspaced">
<li>
<img
src="..\Images\TestingBasic.png"
class="glyph"
> the snippet has been given some basic testing before
uploading to the database.
</li>
<li>
<img
src="..\Images\TestingAdvanced.png"
class="glyph"
> the snippet has been more rigorously tested, for
example by unit testing.
</li>
<li>
<img
src="..\Images\TestingNone.png"
class="glyph"
> the snippet has not been tested and should be used with
care.
</li>
</ul>
<div>
This information is not displayed for user-defined snippets. In the
place of the images is a link that can be clicked to edit the snippet.
</div>
</li>
<li>
A brief description of the snippet.
</li>
<li>
Additional information about the snippet, if present.
</li>
<li>
The snippet's source code (syntax highlighted).
</li>
<li>
The <a
href="snippet_kinds.htm"
>kind</a> of snippet this is.
</li>
<li>
The category to which the snippet belongs. This forms a link to the
category's contents.
</li>
<li>
A list of standard Delphi units required by the snippet. <em>Not
displayed by default for <a
href="snippet_unit.htm"
>unit</a> snippets.</em>
</li>
<li>
A list of other snippets called by the selected snippet. This list
contains links to the snippets. <em>Not displayed by default for <a
href="snippet_unit.htm"
>unit</a> snippets.</em>
</li>
<li>
A cross reference to other similar snippets, labelled "See
also". Again, this list contains links to the snippets.
</li>
<li>
A table indicating which compilers the snippet is compatible with. The
compilers whose results are displayed in this table can be changed using
the <a
href="dlg_configcompilers.htm"
>Configure Compilers</a> dialogue box. <em>Not displayed by default for
<a
href="snippet_freeform.htm"
>freeform</a> snippets.</em>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
The components present in a snippet view are specific to the <a
href="snippet_kinds.htm"
>snippet kind</a>. The program's default settings for these views can be
customised using the <a
href="dlg_prefs_snippetlayout.htm"
>Snippet Layout</a> tab of the <a
href="dlg_preferences.htm"
>Preferences</a> dialogue box.
</p>
<h3>
Section Contents View
</h3>
<p>
Selecting a section header (a category, an intial letter or a <a
href="snippet_kinds.htm"
>snippet kind</a> in the <a
href="overview_pane.htm"
>Overview Pane</a> causes a table to be displayed in the detail pane that
lists the name of the snippets contained in the section, along with their
descriptions. Following a search, the listed snippets are just those
contained in the current database selection, if any.
</p>
<p>
Snippet names are links that, when clicked, displays the chosen snippet
in the detail pane.
</p>
<p>
If the section contains no snippets, a message to that effect is displayed
instead of a table of contents.
</p>
<h3>
Welcome Page View
</h3>
<p>
The Welcome Page is displayed when the program starts and may also be
re-displayed at any time from the <em>View | Welcome Page</em> menu item.
This view is always displayed in a new tab.
</p>
<h3>
Database Update View
</h3>
<p>
When the database has been updated, all open tabs are closed and a new tab
created that simply informs that the database has been updated
successfully.
</p>
<h3>
Empty Tab View
</h3>
<p>
When a new tab is created (<em>View | New Tab</em> or <span
class="smallcaps"
>Ctrl+T</span>, nothing is displayed except "Empty Tab" in light
grey.
</p>
<h2>
View History
</h2>
<p>
Whenever a snippet or section contents view is displayed, it is added to
the view history list. You can return to the immediatly preceeding view by
clicking the <img
alt="Previous button"
src="../Images/GoBack.png"
class="glyph"
><em>Previous</em> toolbar button or by pressing <span
class="smallcaps"
>Alt+Left</span>. Once you have gone back in the history list you can go
forward once again using the <img
alt="Next button"
src="../Images/GoForward.png"
class="glyph"
><em>Next</em> toolbar button or by pressing <span
class="smallcaps"
>Alt+Right</span>.
</p>
<p>
You can also jump directly to some recent views by selecting its name from
the drop-down menus adjacent to the <img
alt="Previous button"
src="../Images/GoBack.png"
class="glyph"
><em>Previous</em> and <img
alt="Next button"
src="../Images/GoForward.png"
class="glyph"
><em>Next</em> buttons.
</p>
<p>
Deleting or editing an existing snippet or category will clear the
history.
</p>
<h2>
Snippet and Category Links
</h2>
<p>
Links to snippets or categories may be displayed as part of snippet or
section contents views.
</p>
<p>
Clicking a snippet link displays a snippet view for that snippet in the
current tab of the details pane, Clicking a category link causes a
section contents view to be displayed for the contents of the category,
again in the current tab.
</p>
<p>
Views displayed in this way are added to the history list.
</p>
</body>
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