Editors

Editors control how you interact with project files that are opened in the editor pane.

You can open a file by:
  • Selecting File > Open File, then browsing to and selecting the appropriate file in the file selector.
  • Right-clicking the file's entry in the Project Explorer (or any of the navigation views) and selecting Open from the context menu.
  • Double-clicking the file's entry in any navigation view.
Note: If you open a file using this first method, the IDE uses the default editor. If you use either of these last two methods, the IDE uses the last editor selected for the file.

The default editor depends on the file type. For example, header files (.h) and source code files (.c and .cpp) are opened with the C/C++ editor, makefiles with the Makefile editor, and binary files with the Default Binary File editor. This last editor displays the assembly code with the corresponding program statements in comments.

The C/C++ editor facilitates coding in C and C++, providing features such as syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and auto-indenting. It also provides tooltip (hover-based) help; when you position the pointer over the name of a function or macro defined in the standard library, a popup window shows the component's definition.

To open a file using a particular editor:
  • Right-click the file's entry in the Project Explorer, select Open With, then select the desired editor.
    The list of available editors varies with the file type but there are always entries of:
    System Editor
    Use an external program to open the file. Clicking this entry brings up a list of available system programs, similar to Windows Explorer when you select Open With on a file.
    Default Editor
    Use the default editor for this file type. This option is handy if you previously selected another editor but want to revert to the default editor.
    Other
    Clicking this entry brings up the Editor Selection window, which lists all editors built into the IDE. Note that most file types can be opened only with certain editors.
The file is then displayed in the editor pane. You can open the same file with multiple editors but each editor will display the file in a separate window.

For general information about editors, see the Concepts > Editors entry in the Workbench User Guide.