Editing Options

Applies to TestComplete 14.72, last modified on April 22, 2021

The Editing group of the Code Editor options controls text formatting in the Code Editor. Like all Editor options, these settings apply to all projects that use the same scripting language the current project uses. They do not apply to projects that use a different scripting language. Therefore, there is a separate configuration for each scripting language.

Editing

  • Persistent block - This option has effect on the selected blocks. If this option is on, the Editor does not cancel the selection on keystrokes. Otherwise, the selection is canceled. This option cannot be used together with the Overwrite block option.

  • Overwrite block - This option has effect on the selected blocks. If this option is off, the Editor does not replace the selection upon typing a symbol. Otherwise, the selection is replaced with the typed symbol. This option cannot be used together with the Persistent block option.

  • Select line by double-clicking - If this option is set, a double-clicking on a word selects the entire line. Otherwise, the double-click only selects the word.

  • Group undo - Specifies whether the Editor groups similar operations, for example, keypresses, so that a user can undo the whole group of operations at once. If this option is off, a user can only undo a single operation at a time.

  • Undo changes only - If this option is turned off, TestComplete undoes cursor movements in the Editor as well as other changes. If this option is turned on, TestComplete does not track the cursor movements, so it is only able to undo changes.

  • Enable Ctrl-click navigation - Specifies whether the Code Editor supports navigation by Ctrl-click. See Code Navigation.

  • Smart formatting - This option affects the auto-formatting and auto-adding of code in the Code Editor. If this option is enabled (by default) and you type an opening bracket, quotation mark, or code statement, the editor automatically inserts the appropriate closing elements. Otherwise, you have to format your code manually.

  • Auto indent - If this option is not set, pressing Enter returns the cursor to the left margin. Otherwise, pressing Enter returns the cursor to the same column on which the last preceding non-blank line begins.

  • Backspace unindents - This option specifies how the Editor positions the line that contains the insertion point when you press Backspace and the insertion point is before the first non-blank character of the line.

    If the option is enabled, the Editor automatically aligns the current line to the beginning of the previous one. If both lines already start at the same position or if the current line's indent is smaller than that of the upper line, the Editor aligns the current line to the beginning of the line previous to the upper one.

    If the option is disabled, pressing Backspace works as usual: the Editor deletes the character to the left of the insertion point.

  • Enable dragging - If this option is on, the Editor supports drag-and-drop operations with the selected text. Otherwise, these operations are not supported.

  • Cursor beyond EOL - If this option is on, the Editor positions the cursor beyond the end-of-line character. This option has no effect if the Word wrap option is enabled.

  • Block indent - Once selected, text blocks can be indented or unindented using specific key combinations that are specified by the current key mapping scheme (See Key Mapping). The Block indent is the number of spaces that will be used for indenting and undenting.

Tab stop

  • Use tab characters - If this option is set, the Editor inserts tab characters when you press the Tab key. Otherwise, it inserts spaces instead of tab characters.

  • Smart tabs - If this option is not set, or if Use tab characters is on, pressing Tab moves the cursor to the next tab stop. If the option is active, Tab works like Auto-Indent - it positions the cursor at the start of the “next column” on the last preceding non-blank line. “Next column” is the first column, after the current one, where this line resumes after a blank. This option facilitates aligning lists.

  • Tab stop columns - This option specifies the tab stop positions in characters from the left margin.

Note for Japanese, Chinese and Korean users: Code Editor uses the length of a space character as a measure for the tab length. However, the space character length is typically much smaller than the length of hieroglyphs. As a result, the actual pixel position of a tab stop may vary for different Code Editor lines (depending on the symbols that are already typed in).

Code completion

  • Auto Pop-Up - Specifies whether the Code Completion window should appear automatically while the user is typing text in the editor. If the option is disabled, the Code Completion window is invoked manually via the Ctrl+Space shortcut. To learn more about how to use the Code Completion window effectively, see Code Completion.

  • Show full tree - (This option is obsolete, we do not recommend that you use it.) If the option is enabled, the Code Completion window lists all available objects, properties, methods, script statements, routines and global variables. If the option is disabled, the Code Completion window only lists those items that are suitable for the current context. Note that if this option is enabled, the Sys.Process object’s properties, methods and child objects are not displayed in the Code Completion window. To learn more about the Code Completion feature, see Code Completion.

See Also

Code Editor Options
Code Editor
About Code Editor

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