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Add / Edit Snippet Dialogue Box
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<h1>
<a name="dlg_editsnippet"></a>Add Snippet Dialogue Box<br>
Edit Snippet Dialogue Box
</h1>
<p>
This dialogue box is displayed when either the <em>Snippets | New
Snippet</em> or <em>Snippets | Edit Snippet</em> menu options are
selected. It is used to enter details of a new user defined code snippet
or to edit the details of an existing user-defined snippet.
</p>
<p>
If a new snippet is being added all controls are blank or set to default
values. When an existing snippet is being edited the controls are
populated with the snippet's existing properties.
</p>
<h2>
Editing the snippet
</h2>
<p>
The dialogue has multiple tabs. All but the <em>Code</em> tab are optional
– others can be used to provide additional information about the
snippet. However, if you plan to test compile the snippet you must ensure
that the snippet's dependencies and units are properly set up on the
<em>References</em> tab.
</p>
<h3>
Code Tab
</h3>
<p>
This tab gathers all the information needed to define a snippet. All the
fields are required. They are:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<div>
<em>Name</em>
</div>
<div>
Enter a name for the snippet in the edit box. The name must be a valid
Unicode Pascal identifier. It must also be unique within the user
database, it may duplicate names in the main database.
</div>
<div>
It is customary to name functions or procedures using the routine's
name. Overloaded routines are often named by suffixing the routine
name with '_A', '_B', '_C' and so on.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Display Name</em>
</div>
<div>
Enter a display name for the snippet. When present this name will be
displayed in the main display instead of the snippet's name entered
above. This name may contain any characters and does not have to be
unique.
</div>
<div>
This is an optional entry. If it is not supplied the value of the
<em>Name</em> control is used as the display name.
</div>
<div>
The display name is useful where the entry in <em>Name</em> field does
not display well. For example overloaded snippets named
"Foo" may have names "Foo_A", "Foo_B",
"Foo_C" etc., which are not too friendly. To improve this
you could use display names like "Foo (Integer overload)",
"Foo (string overload)", "Foo (Integer,string
overload)" etc.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Description</em>
</div>
<div>
Enter a description of the code snippet in the
<a href="markup_editor.htm">markup editor</a>. You can use more than
one paragraph of text. You have the choice of styling the text and
using hyperlinks.
</div>
<div>
The description field should not contain "}" characters
since the field's text is used in comments in exported Pascal code and
the "}" character will terminate the comment early.
</div>
<div>
The description can be previewed using the <em>Preview</em> button.
Clicking this button also validates markup if you have used it.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Kind</em>
</div>
<div>
Select the <a href="snippet_kinds.htm">kind of snippet</a> from the
drop down list.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Category</em>
</div>
<div>
Select the category to which the snippet belongs from the drop down
list.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Source code</em>
</div>
<div>
Enter the snippet's source code in this text box. The format of the
source code is important unless you are using the freeform snippet
kind. <a
href="snippet_kinds.htm"
>Learn more</a>.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Syntax highlight this snippet as Pascal code</em>
</div>
<div>
Tick this box if your snippet is written in Pascal and you would like
the source to be syntax highlighted. Otherwise clear the box. Note
that the built in highlighter only understands Pascal code and will
not render code in other languages correctly.
</div>
<div>
If you prefer to turn off syntax highlighting completely go to the <a
href="dlg_prefs_hiliter.htm"
>Syntax Highlighter</a> tab of the <a
href="dlg_preferences.htm"
>Preferences</a> dialogue box, click the <em>Use Predefined
Styles</em> button and select the <em>No Highliter</em> option.
</div>
</ul>
<h3>
References Tab
</h3>
<p>
Use this tab to specify the snippets and units that are associated with
the snippet being edited. If it is intended to test compile the snippet
then the <em>Dependencies</em> and <em>Units</em> list boxes must be
completed if the snippet depends on a Delphi unit or if it uses another
snippet from the database.
</p>
<p>
The available controls are:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<div>
<em>Cross-references</em> list box
</div>
<div>
Use this list box to specify any other snippets to be cross-referenced
from this snippet. Check the boxes next to desired snippets. Cross
references are for information only. All snippets are listed, except
for the one being edited.
</div>
<div>
User defined snippets are displayed in blue.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Dependencies</em> list box
</div>
<div>
Specify any other snippets that this snippet depends upon by checking
the boxes next to the desired snippets in this list box. If this
snippet is to be test compiled then any other snippets it requires
must be specified here or the test compile will fail. The exception is
that <a href="snippet_unit.htm">unit snippets</a> never have any
dependencies.
</div>
<div>
The available entries in this list box will vary according to the
<a href="snippet_kinds.htm">snippet kind</a> and the kind of snippets
it can depend on. For example, <a href="snippet_constant.htm">constant
snippets</a> can't depend on <a href="snippet_routine.htm">routine</a>
snippets and <a href="snippet_unit.htm">unit snippets</a> can't depend
on anything, so the list is empty.
<a href="snippet_freeform.htm">Freeform</a> snippets are never
included.
</div>
<div>
User defined snippets are displayed in blue.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>View Dependencies</em> button
</div>
<div>
Click this button to see all dependencies for the snippet being edited
in the <a href="dlg_dependencies.htm">Dependencies dialogue box</a>.
All entries checked in the <em>Dependencies</em> list box are
included, along with all their dependencies, and so on. You must not
create a circular dependency; the <em>Dependencies</em> dialogue box
will help you detect them.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Units</em> list box
</div>
<div>
Select any units that this snippet requires in order to compile using
this list box. Required units must be specified if test compilation is
to be attempted. A selection of common units is provided, along with
any units already associated with the snippet. More units can be added
to the list – see below.
</div>
<div>
Units are "used" in the order they appear in the list. If
this order causes namespace clashes you should prefix ambiguous
identifiers in the source code with the unit name, e.g.
<code>Graphics.TBitmap</code>.
</div>
<div>
If you intend to test compile your snippet with Delphi XE2 or XE3 you
will need to make sure it is configured to search the namespaces
containing the units you list here. Do this in the
<a href="dlg_configcompilers.htm">Configure Compilers</a> dialogue
box. Use the <em>Command Line</em> tab to enter an <code>-NS</code>
"switch" that has a semi-colon separated list of namespaces
appended to it, for example <code>-NSSystem;WinAPI</code>. You can see
a list of namespaces with the units they contain in the <a
href="http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/en/Unit_Scope_Names"
class="weblink"
target="_blank"
>Unit Scope Names</a> topic of the Embarcadero RADStudio
documentation.
</div>
<div>
<strong>Notes:</strong> <a href="snippet_unit.htm">Unit snippets</a>
must declare their used units in the unit source code, so this list
box is disabled when the snippet kind is <em>unit</em>.
</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>
<em>Add Unit</em> edit box and button
</div>
<div>
If additional units are required in the <em>Units</em> check list box
type the name of the unit in the edit box and click the <em>Add
Unit</em> button. The unit will be added to the <em>Units</em> check
list box and its check box will be checked.
</div>
<div>
This button is disabled for <a href="snippet_unit.htm">unit
snippets</a>.
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Extra Information Tab
</h3>
<p>
This tab is used to provide additional descriptive information about the
snippet. Use it for information that supplements the snippet's
description or for crediting authors etc.
</p>
<p>
Enter the required information in the <em>Extra information</em>
<a href="markup_editor.htm">markup editor</a>. You can enter either plain
text of formatted text and hyperlinks using the custom
<a href="reml.htm">REML</a> markup language.
</p>
<p>
The information can be previewed using the <em>Preview</em> button.
Clicking this button also validates markup if you have used it.
</p>
<h3>
Compile Results Tab
</h3>
<p>
Use this tab to specify any known compiler results for the snippet. You
can specify the required compiler in several ways:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Manually, one compiler at a time using the <em>Set a compile
results</em> list box. Click the drop down button next to the required
compiler then choose the required compile result from the drop down
menu, i.e. one of <em>Success</em>, <em>Warning</em>, <em>Error</em> and
<em>Unknown</em>. To use the keyboard to modify compile results proceed
as follows:
<ol>
<li>
Move the keyboard focus to the list box using the
<span class="smallcaps">Tab</span> key.
</li>
<li>
Select the required compiler using the
<span class="smallcaps">Up</span> and
<span class="smallcaps">Down</span> keys.
</li>
<li>
Press <span class="smallcaps">Space</span> to drop down the menu.
</li>
<li>
Select the required result with the
<span class="smallcaps">Up</span> and
<span class="smallcaps">Down</span> keys.
</li>
<li>
Press <span class="smallcaps">Enter</span> to select the compile
result or <span class="smallcaps">Cancel</span> to abort.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>
Click the <em>Set All To Success</em> button to set every compiler's
result to "success" (green LED).
</li>
<li>
Click the <em>Set All To Query</em> button to set every compiler's
result "query" (grey LED).
</li>
<li>
<div>
Use the <em>Test Compile</em> button to compile the snippet and set
the compile results accordingly. This button is disabled if no
compilers are configured or if the snippet is
<a href="snippet_freeform.htm">freeform</a>.
</div>
<div>
If one or more compilers report warnings or errors, a link appears
below the <em>Test Compile</em> button that can be clicked to display
details of the warnings or errors.
</div>
<div>
You can display the unit used to perform the test compilation by
clicking the <em>View Test Unit</em> button. This can be useful when
tracking down errors.
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Commiting the edit
</h2>
<p>
Clicking <em>OK</em> causes the edited snippet to be validated. If an
error is found the control where the error is located is selected and an
error message is displayed. If the snippet is valid the dialogue box
closes and the user database is updated.
</p>
<p>
Click <em>Cancel</em> to abort the edit.
</p>
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