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Archive for the ‘Productivity’ Category

Sometimes when you have a project with a large number of makefiles, you may notice that menus are slow to respond. This happens because SlickEdit collects the names of all the targets in each makefile and adds them to menus for build purposes (whether or not you are using SlickEdit to build). To resolve this issue, change the def_show_makefile_target_menu configuration variable to either 0 or 2. The default value, 1, specifies that all makefile submenus are enabled. A value of 0 disables all makefile submenus (Build menu and Project tool window), and a value of 2 enables makefile submenus only in the Project tool window (Build menu makefile targets are disabled).

To change the value of a configuration variable, from the main menu, click Macro > Set Macro Variable. Select the variable to change from the drop-down list, enter the value in the Value field, then click OK.

NOTE This behavior will be changed in the next release so that despite the number of makefiles in your project, there will not be a slow-down in menu response times.

Directory Aliases

If you’re constantly opening files from certain directories, create aliases for those directories to save time. To create a directory alias, from the main menu, click Tools > Options, expand Editing and select Global Aliases. Click New, enter a short text snippet that you can easily remember for the Alias Name, then click OK. Back on the Options dialog, select the new alias, then enter the complete directory path for the alias in the text box on the right.  Click OK on the Options dialog. Now you can use the alias in directory fields on various dialogs in SlickEdit (like File > Open): simply type the Alias Name and press Ctrl+Space to expand it.

Language-Specific Aliases

Language-specific aliases are similar to directory aliases except they can be used in edit windows for any frequently used text, like comment headers and language structures.

To create a language-specific alias, from the main menu, click Tools > Options > Languages, expand your language category and language, then select Aliases. On the Alias option page, click New and enter a short text snippet that you can easily remember for the alias name, then click OK. Back on the Options dialog, select the new alias, then enter the text substitution for the alias in the text box on the right. Click OK on the Options dialog.

Now when you have a buffer or file open in that language, you can use the alias by typing the identifier and pressing Ctrl+Space.

Alias from Selection

A quick way to create a language-specific alias is to create it from a selection. Select some text in the editor, then right-click and select Create Alias from the context menu. Enter a name for the alias and click OK. The Options dialog appears, open to the Language-Specific Alias Options for the current language, and showing the new alias. Click OK on the Options dialog.

Greg Christopher of VMware has written an article for DevX.com: Hey, Check Out My Slick New Editor!

In the article he discussing some of his favorite features of SlickEdit and why SlickEdit is his code editor of choice for programming.

On objections on switching editors

If your current editor works well enough for you, why switch? The answer depends on how you define “well enough.” Your current editor probably handles every editing command you think you need now, but consider the possibility that something could make you far more productive. You’ll see a few examples in a moment, but first, here are some of the reasons you might decide not to switch editors.

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