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* Help topic listing key new features of CodeSnip 4.
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What's New
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<h1>
What's New in CodeSnip 4
</h1>
<p>
<em>CodeSnip</em> v4 is a substantial update over previous versions.
Here is a list of key new features of this version. All new features were
introduced in v4.0 unless otherwise noted.
</p>
<h2>
Database Changes
</h2>
<ul class="spaced">
<li>
New "<a href="snippet_unit.htm">unit</a>" and
"<a href="snippet_class.htm">class</a>" snippet kinds that can
include complete units and classes (and advanced records) in the
database. Both can be test compiled and classes / advanced records can
also be included in generated units.
</li>
<li>
<div>
Snippets from both the main and user databases can now be duplicated
using the <em>Snippets | Duplicate Snippet</em> menu option or
<img src="..\Images\DuplicateSnippet.gif" class="glyph"> tool button.
</div>
<div>
This is very useful if you have created a snippet and want to create
another one that shares a lot of the source code, dependencies etc.
Just duplicate the first one with a new name and edit it as required.
It saves a lot of time.
<div>
There's a second use where you can duplicate a snippet from the main
database under the same name and make any tweaks you like to the new
version: duplicate snippets are always editable.
</div>
<div>
Use the <em>Snippets | Duplicate Snippet</em> menu option, press
<span class="smallcaps">Shift+Ctrl+D</span> or click the
<img src="..\Images\DuplicateSnippet.gif" class="glyph"> tool button.
</div>
</li>
<li>
The Database now supports Unicode text for snippet names, descriptions
etc., and for source code. Using Unicode for snippet names and source
code will mean that the code will not compile on older compilers that
don't understand Unicode source code or unit file names.
</li>
<li>
There is now finer control over the control of warnings in generated
code via the <code>$WARN</code> directive. This is controlled on the
<a href="dlg_prefs_codegen.htm">Code Generation</a> tab of the
<a href="dlg_preferences.htm">Preferences</a> dialogue box.
</li>
<li>
<strong>[v4.1]</strong> There is also finer control over the comments
written to exported snippets and units, in that snippet comments can be
restricted to display only the first paragraph of multi-paragraph
snippet descriptions. Select this option from the
<a href="dlg_prefs_sourcecode.htm">Code Formatting</a> tab of the
<a href="dlg_preferences.htm">Preferences</a> dialogue box.
</li>
<li>
The names of referenced units may now contain dots so that Delphi
namespaces can be used.
</li>
<li>
<strong>[v4.3]</strong> The user defined snippets database can now be
moved to a user specified directory. This useful for ensuring the
database is backed up, for example by placing it in a <em>Dropbox</em>
or <em>GoogleDrive</em> sub-folder. (This option is not available in the
portable edition.)
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
User Interface
</h2>
<ul class="spaced">
<li>
The new multi-tab display can display details of more than one snippet,
category etc. in the main display. <span class="smallcaps">Ctrl</span>
click items in the overview pane, or links in the details pane, to
display them in a new tab. See the <a href="detail_pane.htm">Detail
Pane</a> help topic for more information.
</li>
<li>
The main menu has been re-organised and there are new menu and toolbar
glyphs.
</li>
<li>
The structure of snippet pages in the details pane is now customisable:
various page elements can be omitted and the order of elements can be
changed. Each snippet type has its own page customisation. Use the
<a href="dlg_prefs_snippetlayout.htm">Snippet Layout</a> tab of the
<a href="dlg_preferences.htm">Preferences</a> dialogue box to do the
customisation.
</li>
<li>
<strong>[v4.1]</strong> The list of required units displayed on the
<em>References</em> tab of the <a href="dlg_editsnippet.htm">Snippets
Editor</a>, is now persistent and can be edited. (The rest of the
<em>References</em> received a makeover at the same time).
</li>
<li>
The number of compilers that appear in the compile results table in the
details pane can now be limited. Use the <em>Compiler</em> tab of the
<a href="dlg_configcompilers.htm">Configure Compilers</a> dialogue box
to do this.
</li>
<li>
The colours used for Snippet and other headings can now be customised
using the <a href="dlg_prefs_display.htm">Display</a> tab of the
<a href="dlg_preferences.htm">Preferences</a> dialogue box.
</li>
<li>
<div>
Snippets can now have an optional "display name" that,
unlike the snippet's name, does not need to be unique. This is useful
for giving meaningful names to snippets such as overloaded functions.
</div>
<div>
For example snippets <em>ResizeRect_A</em> and <em>ResizeRect_B</em>
in the online database now have display names <em>ResizeRect (TSize
overload)</em> and <em>ResizeRect (Longint overload)</em> which are
much more meaningful.
</div>
</li>
<li>
Snippet descriptions can now be formatted and can contain multiple
paragraphs, just like "extra" text. Both are edited using the
new <a href="markup_editor.htm">Markup Editor</a>.
</li>
<li>
Syntax highlighting of source code of user defined snippets can now be
switched off on a per-snippet basis. This mainly of use for
<a href="snippet_freeform.htm">freeform</a> snippets that may be used
for notes or snippets in languages other than Pascal.
</li>
<li>
<div>
Information about how a snippet from the online Code Snippets Database
was tested is now displayed by means of a glyph at the top right of
the detail pane, as follows:
</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>
<li>
The Welcome page has been completely redesigned to be cleaner and to
provide more useful information about the databases and program.
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Favourites [v4.2]
</h2>
<ul class="spaced">
<li>
User's can now flag snippets as "Favourites". Press
<span class="smallcaps">Shift+Alt+F</span> or click the
<img alt="Menu icon" src="../images/Favourites.png" class="glyph">
toolbar button to make the displayed snippet a favourite.
</li>
<li>
A new non-modal <a href="dlg_favourites.htm">dialogue box</a> can be
displayed alongside the main <em>CodeSnip</em> window where favourite
snippets are listed. Snippets be quickly displayed from here. Display
the dialogue box by pressing <span class="smallcaps">F4</span>. Snippets
can also be "un-favourited" from the dialogue box.
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Test Compilation
</h2>
<ul class="spaced">
<li>
<div>
You can specify the paths to be searched by the Delphi compilers when
looking for used units. This lets you compile snippets that use units
other than those provided in the VCL and RTL. For example you can
specify a path to the Indy components to compile them.
</div>
<div>
Use the <a href="dlg_configcompilers.htm">Configure Compilers</a>
dialogue box to set the paths on a per-compiler basis.
</div>
</li>
<li>
Results of test compilations (<span class="smallcaps">F9</span>) now
appear in a <a href="dlg_testcompile.htm">dialogue box</a> instead of
in a tab in the detail pane.
</li>
<li>
<strong>[v4.3]</strong> It is easier to specify the namespaces to be
searched for unqualified RTL and VCL units names by entering the
required namespaces in the <em>Namespaces</em> tab of the
<a href="dlg_configcompilers.htm">Configure Compilers</a> dialogue box.
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
Other Features
</h2>
<ul class="spaced">
<li>
<strong>[v4.1]</strong> <em>CodeSnip</em> is now available in both
<em>standard</em> and <em>portable</em> editions. The former is the
normal version which is designed to run on one computer and be able to
maintain difference user databases for each logged on user. The new
<em>portable</em> edition will run from removable storage and maintains
a single copy of the main and user database on the same storage device.
This make it suitable for use by a single user on more than one
computer.
</li>
<li>
There is a new option on the <em>Tools</em> menu that checks
availability of new versions of CodeSnip.
</li>
<li>
Text and compiler searches can now optionally refine a previous search
rather than always searching the entire database.
<a href="task_search.htm">More information</a>.
</li>
<li>
The contents of a category can now be printed.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
For other features of v4 please read the <a
href="http://delphidabbler.com/url/codesnip-log-4"
class="weblink"
target="_blank"
>change log</a> for this release and all preceding v4 releases, including
alpha (preview) and beta releases and release candidates.
</p>
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