.. |(version)| replace:: 0.19
=======
Geany
=======
-------------------------
A fast, light, GTK+ IDE
-------------------------
:Authors: Enrico Tröger,
Nick Treleaven,
Frank Lanitz
:Date: $Date: 2010-06-12 14:21:15 +0200 (Sat, 12 Jun 2010) $
:Version: |(version)|
Copyright © 2005-2010
This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of this
license can be found in the file COPYING included with the source code
of this program, and also in the chapter `GNU General Public License`_.
.. contents::
Introduction
============
About Geany
-----------
Geany is a small and lightweight Integrated Development Environment. It
was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few
dependencies on other packages. Another goal was to be as independent
as possible from a particular Desktop Environment like KDE or GNOME -
Geany only requires the GTK2 runtime libraries.
Some basic features of Geany:
* Syntax highlighting
* Code folding
* Autocompletion of symbols/words
* Construct completion/snippets
* Auto-closing of XML and HTML tags
* Calltips
* Many supported filetypes including C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl,
Pascal, and others
* Symbol lists
* Code navigation
* Build system to compile and execute your code
* Simple project management
* Plugin interface
Where to get it
---------------
You can obtain Geany from http://www.geany.org/ or perhaps also from
your distribution. For a list of available packages, please see
http://www.geany.org/Download/ThirdPartyPackages.
License
-------
Geany is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
the License, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of this
license can be found in the file COPYING included with the source
code of this program and in the chapter, `GNU General Public License`_.
The included Scintilla library (found in the subdirectory
``scintilla/``) has its own license, which can be found in the chapter,
`License for Scintilla and SciTE`_.
About this document
-------------------
This documentation is available in HTML and text formats.
The latest version can always be found at http://www.geany.org/.
If you want to contribute to it, see `Contributing to this document`_.
Installation
============
Requirements
------------
You will need the GTK (>= 2.8.0) libraries and their dependencies
(Pango, GLib and ATK). Your distro should provide packages for these,
usually installed by default. For Windows, you can download an installer
from the website which bundles these libraries.
Binary packages
---------------
There are many binary packages available. For an up-to-date but maybe
incomplete list see http://www.geany.org/Download/ThirdPartyPackages.
Source compilation
------------------
Compiling Geany is quite easy.
To do so, you need the GTK (>= 2.8.0) libraries and header files.
You also need the Pango, GLib and ATK libraries and header files.
All these files are available at http://www.gtk.org, but very often
your distro will provide development packages to save the trouble of
building these yourself.
Furthermore you need, of course, a C and C++ compiler. The GNU versions
of these tools are recommended.
Autotools based build system
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Autotools based build system is very mature and has been well tested.
To use it, you just need the Make tool, preferably GNU Make.
Then run the following commands::
$ ./configure
$ make
Then as root::
% make install
Waf based build system
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Waf build system is still quite young and under heavy development but already in a
usable state. In contrast to the Autotools system, Waf needs Python. So before using Waf, you need
to install Python on your system.
The advantage of the Waf build system over the Autotools based build system is that the whole
build process might be a bit faster. Especially when you use the Waf
cache feature for repetitive builds (e.g. when changing only a few source files
to test something) will become much faster since Waf will cache and re-use the
unchanged built files and only compile the changed code again. See `Waf Cache`_ for details.
To build Geany with Waf as run::
$ ./waf configure
$ ./waf build
Then as root::
% ./waf install
Waf Cache
`````````
The Waf build system has a nice and interesting feature which can help to avoid
a lot of unnecessary rebuilding of unchanged code. This often happens when developing new features
or trying to debug something in Geany.
Waf is able to store and retrieve the object files from a cache. This cache is declared
using the environment variable ``WAFCACHE``.
A possible location of the cache directory could be ``~/.cache/waf``. In order to make use of
this, you first need to create this directory::
$ mkdir -p ~/.cache/waf
then add the environment variable to your shell configuration (the following example is for
Bash and should be adjusted to your used shell)::
export WAFCACHE=/home/username/.cache/waf
Remember to replace ``username`` with your actual username.
More information about the Waf cache feature are available at
http://code.google.com/p/waf/wiki/CacheObjectFiles.
Cleaning the Cache
******************
You should be careful about the size of the cache directory as it may
grow rapidly over time.
Waf doesn't do any cleaning or other house-keeping of the cache yet, so you need to keep it
clean by yourself.
An easy way to keep it clean is to run the following command regularly to remove old
cached files::
$ find /home/username/.cache/waf -mtime +14 -exec rm {} \;
This will delete all files in the cache directory which are older than 14 days.
For details about the ``find`` command and its options, check its manual page.
Custom installation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The configure script supports several common options, for a detailed
list, type::
$ ./configure --help
or::
$ ./waf --help
(depending on which build system you use).
You may also want to read the INSTALL file for advanced installation
options.
* See also `Compile-time options`_.
Dynamic linking loader support and VTE
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In the case that your system lacks dynamic linking loader support, you
probably want to pass the option ``--disable-vte`` to the ``configure``
script. This prevents compiling Geany with dynamic linking loader
support for automatically loading ``libvte.so.4`` if available.
Build problems
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If there are any errors during compilation, check your build
environment and try to find the error, otherwise contact the mailing
list or one the authors. Sometimes you might need to ask for specific
help from your distribution.
Installation prefix
-------------------
If you want to edit any of Geany's system configuration files after
installation you will need to know the installation prefix. Usually this
is not necessary as you can just use per user configuration files and
you will not need root permissions.
Use the ``--print-prefix`` option to Geany to check - see `Command line
options`_. The first path is the prefix.
This is commonly ``/usr`` if you installed from a binary package, or
``/usr/local`` if you build from source.
Usage
=====
Getting started
---------------
You can start Geany in the following ways:
* From the Desktop Environment menu:
Choose in your application menu of your used Desktop Environment:
Development --> Geany.
* From the command line:
To start Geany from a command line, type the following and press
Return::
% geany
The Geany workspace
-------------------
The Geany window is shown in the following figure:
.. image:: ./images/main_window.png
The workspace has the following parts:
* The menu.
* An optional toolbar.
* An optional sidebar that can show the following tabs:
* Documents - A document list, and
* Symbols - A list of symbols in your code.
* The main editor window.
* An optional message window which can show the following tabs:
* Status - A list of status messages.
* Compiler - The output of compiling or building programs.
* Messages - Results of 'Find Usage', 'Find Usage' 'Find in Files' and other actions
* Scribble - A text scratchpad for any use.
* Terminal - An optional terminal window.
* A status bar
Additional tabs may be added to the sidebar and message window by plugins.
The position of the tabs can be selected in the interface preferences.
The sizes of the sidebar and message window can be adjusted by
dragging the dividers.
Command line options
--------------------
============ ======================= =================================================
Short option Long option Function
============ ======================= =================================================
*none* +number Set initial line number for the first opened file
(same as --line, do not put a space between the + sign
and the number). E.g. "geany +7 foo.bar" will open the
file foo.bar and place the cursor in line 7.
*none* --column Set initial column number for the first opened file.
-c dir_name --config=directory_name Use an alternate configuration directory. The default
configuration directory is ``~/.config/geany/`` and that
is where ``geany.conf`` and other configuration files
reside.
*none* --ft-names Print a list of Geany's internal filetype names (useful
for snippets configuration).
-g --generate-tags Generate a global tags file (see
`Generating a global tags file`_).
-P --no-preprocessing Don't preprocess C/C++ files when generating tags.
-i --new-instance Do not open files in a running instance, force opening
a new instance. Only available if Geany was compiled
with support for Sockets.
-l --line Set initial line number for the first opened file.
*none* --list-documents Return a list of open documents in a running Geany
instance.
This can be used to read the currently opened documents in
Geany from an external script or tool. The returned list
is separated by newlines (LF) and consists of the full,
UTF-8 encoded filenames of the documents.
Only available if Geany was compiled with support for
Sockets.
-m --no-msgwin Do not show the message window. Use this option if you
do not need compiler messages or VTE support.
-n --no-ctags Do not load symbol completion and call tip data. Use this
option if you do not want to use them.
-p --no-plugins Do not load plugins or plugin support.
*none* --print-prefix Print installation prefix, the data directory, the lib
directory and the locale directory (in this order) to
stdout, one line each. This is mainly intended for plugin
authors to detect installation paths.
-s --no-session Do not load the previous session's files.
-t --no-terminal Do not load terminal support. Use this option if you do
not want to load the virtual terminal emulator widget
at startup. If you do not have ``libvte.so.4`` installed,
then terminal-support is automatically disabled. Only
available if Geany was compiled with support for VTE.
*none* --socket-file Use this socket filename for communication with a
running Geany instance. This can be used with the following
command to execute Geany on the current workspace::
geany --socket-file=/tmp/geany-sock-$(xprop -root _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP | awk '{print $3}')
*none* --vte-lib Specify explicitly the path including filename or only
the filename to the VTE library, e.g.
``/usr/lib/libvte.so`` or ``libvte.so``. This option is
only needed when the auto-detection does not work. Only
available if Geany was compiled with support for VTE.
-v --verbose Be verbose (print useful status messages).
-V --version Show version information and exit.
-? --help Show help information and exit.
*none* [files ...] Open all given files at startup. This option causes
Geany to ignore loading stored files from the last
session (if enabled).
Geany also recognizes line and column information when
appended to the filename with colons, e.g.
"geany foo.bar:10:5" will open the file foo.bar and
place the cursor in line 10 at column 5.
Projects can also be opened but a project file (\*.geany)
must be the first non-option argument. All additionally
given files are ignored.
============ ======================= =================================================
You can also pass line number and column number information, e.g.::
geany some_file.foo:55:4
Geany supports all generic GTK options, a list is available on the
help screen.
General
-------
Startup
^^^^^^^
At startup, Geany loads all files from the last time Geany was
launched. You can disable this feature in the preferences dialog
(see `General Startup preferences`_). If you specify some
files on the command line, only these files will be opened, but you
can find the files from the last session in the file menu under the
"Recent files" item. By default this contains the last 10 recently
opened files. You can change the number of recently opened files in
the preferences dialog.
You can start several instances of Geany, but only the first will
load files from the last session. To run a second instance of Geany,
do not specify any filenames on the command-line, or disable opening
files in a running instance using the appropriate command line option.
Opening files from the command-line in a running instance
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Geany detects if there is an an instance of itself already running and opens files
from the command-line in that instance. So, Geany can
be used to view and edit files by opening them from other programs
such as a file manager.
You can also pass line number and column number information, e.g.::
geany some_file.foo:55:4
This would open the file ``some_file.foo`` with the cursor on line 55,
column 4.
If you do not like this for some reason, you can disable using the first
instance by using the appropriate command line option -- see the section
called `Command line options`_.
Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If you have installed ``libvte.so`` on your system, it is loaded
automatically by Geany, and you will have a terminal widget in the
notebook at the bottom.
If Geany cannot find any ``libvte.so`` at startup, the terminal widget
will not be loaded. So there is no need to install the package containing
this file in order to run Geany. Additionally, you can disable the use
of the terminal widget by command line option, for more information
see the section called `Command line options`_.
You can use this terminal (from now on called VTE) much as you would
a terminal program like xterm. There is basic clipboard support. You
can paste the contents of the clipboard by pressing the right mouse
button to open the popup menu, and choosing Paste. To copy text from
the VTE, just select the desired text and then press the right mouse
button and choose Copy from the popup menu. On systems running the
X Window System you can paste the last selected text by pressing the
middle mouse button in the VTE (on 2-button mice, the middle button
can often be simulated by pressing both mouse buttons together).
In the preferences dialog you can specify a shell which should be
started in the VTE. To make the specified shell a login shell just
use the appropriate command line options for the shell. These options
should be found in the manual page of the shell. For zsh and bash
you can use the argument ``--login``.
.. note::
Geany tries to load ``libvte.so``. If this fails, it tries to load
some other filenames. If this fails too, you should check whether you
installed libvte correctly. Again note, Geany will run without this
library.
It could be, that the library is called something else than
``libvte.so`` (e.g. on FreeBSD 6.0 it is called ``libvte.so.8``). If so
please set a link to the correct file (as root)::
# ln -s /usr/lib/libvte.so.X /usr/lib/libvte.so
Obviously, you have to adjust the paths and set X to the number of your
``libvte.so``.
You can also specify the filename of the VTE library to use on the command
line (see the section called `Command line options`_) or at compile time
by specifying the command line option ``--with-vte-module-path`` to
./configure.
Defining own widget styles using .gtkrc-2.0
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You can define your widget style for many of Geany's GUI parts. To
do this, just edit your ``.gtkrc-2.0`` (usually found in your home
directory on UNIX-like systems and in the etc subdirectory of your
Geany installation on Windows).
To have a defined style used by Geany you must assign it to
at least one of Geany's widgets. For example use the following line::
widget "Geany*" style "geanyStyle"
This would assign your style "geany_style" to all Geany
widgets. You can also assign styles only to specific widgets. At the
moment you can use the following widgets:
* GeanyMainWindow
* GeanyEditMenu
* GeanyToolbarMenu
* GeanyDialog
* GeanyDialogPrefs
* GeanyDialogProject
* GeanyDialogSearch
* GeanyMenubar
* GeanyToolbar
An example of a simple ``.gtkrc-2.0``::
style "geanyStyle"
{
font_name="Sans 12"
}
widget "GeanyMainWindow" style "geanyStyle"
style "geanyStyle"
{
font_name="Sans 10"
}
widget "GeanyPrefsDialog" style "geanyStyle"
Documents
---------
Switching between documents
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The documents list and the editor tabs are two different ways
to switch between documents using the mouse. When you hit the key
combination to move between tabs, the order is determined by the tab
order. Its is not alphabetical as shown in the documents list
(regardless of whether or not editor tabs are visible).
The tabs can be positioned at the top, bottom, left, or right of the
main editing window, by a selection in the interface preferences.
See the `Notebook tab keybindings`_ section for useful
shortcuts including for Most-Recently-Used document switching.
Character sets and Unicode Byte-Order-Mark (BOM)
------------------------------------------------
Using character sets
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Geany provides support for detecting and converting character sets. So
you can open and save files in different character sets, and even
convert a file from one character set to another. To do this,
Geany uses the character conversion capabilities of the GLib library.
Only text files are supported, i.e. opening files which contain
NULL-bytes may fail. Geany will try to open the file anyway but it is
likely that the file will be truncated because it can only be read up
to the first occurrence of a NULL-byte. All characters after this
position are lost and are not written when you save the file.
Geany tries to detect the encoding of a file while opening it, but
auto-detecting the encoding of a file is not easy and sometimes an
encoding might not be detected correctly. In this case you have to
set the encoding of the file manually in order to display it
correctly. You can this in the file open dialog by selecting an
encoding in the drop down box or by reloading the file with the
file menu item "Reload as". The auto-detection works well for most
encodings but there are also some encodings where it is known that
auto-detection has problems.
There are different ways to set different encodings in Geany:
* Using the file open dialog
This opens the file with the encoding specified in the encoding drop
down box. If the encoding is set to "Detect from file" auto-detection
will be used. If the encoding is set to "Without encoding (None)" the
file will be opened without any character conversion and Geany will
not try to auto-detect the encoding (see below for more information).
* Using the "Reload as" menu item
This item reloads the current file with the specified encoding. It can
help if you opened a file and found out that the wrong encoding was used.
* Using the "Set encoding" menu item
Contrary to the above two options, this will not change or reload
the current file unless you save it. It is useful when you want to
change the encoding of the file.
* Specifying the encoding in the file itself
As mentioned above, auto-detecting the encoding of a file may fail on
some encodings. If you know that Geany doesn't open a certain file,
you can add the specification line, described in the next section,
to the beginning of the file to force Geany to use a specific
encoding when opening the file.
In-file encoding specification
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Geany detects meta tags of HTML files which contain charset information
like::
and the specified charset is used when opening the file. This is useful if the
encoding of the file cannot be detected properly.
For non-HTML files you can also define a line like::
/* geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 */
or::
# geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 #
to force an encoding to be used. The #, /\* and \*/ are examples
of filetype-specific comment characters. It doesn't matter which
characters are around the string " geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 " as long
as there is at least one whitespace character before and after this
string. Whitespace characters are in this case a space or tab character.
An example to use this could be you have a file with ISO-8859-15
encoding but Geany constantly detects the file encoding as ISO-8859-1.
Then you simply add such a line to the file and Geany will open it
correctly the next time.
Since Geany 0.15 you can also use lines which match the
regular expression used to find the encoding string:
``coding[\t ]*[:=][\t ]*([a-z0-9-]+)[\t ]*``
.. note::
These specifications must be in the first 512 bytes of the file.
Anything after the first 512 bytes will not be recognized.
Some examples are::
# encoding = ISO-8859-15
or::
# coding: ISO-8859-15
Special encoding "None"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is a special encoding "None" which uses no
encoding. It is useful when you know that Geany cannot auto-detect
the encoding of a file and it is not displayed correctly. Especially
when the file contains NULL-bytes this can be useful to skip auto
detection and open the file properly at least until the occurrence
of the first NULL-byte. Using this encoding opens the file as it is
without any character conversion.
Unicode Byte-Order-Mark (BOM)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Furthermore, Geany detects a Unicode Byte Order Mark (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_Order_Mark for details). Of course,
this feature is only available if the opened file is in a Unicode
encoding. The Byte Order Mark helps to detect the encoding of a file,
e.g. whether it is UTF-16LE or UTF-16BE and so on. On Unix-like systems
using a Byte Order Mark could cause some problems for programs not
expecting it, e.g. the compiler gcc stops
with stray errors, PHP does not parse a script containing a BOM and
script files starting with a she-bang maybe cannot be started. In the
status bar you can easily see whether the file starts with a BOM or
not.
If you want to set a BOM for a file or if you want to remove it
from a file, just use the document menu and toggle the checkbox.
.. note::
If you are unsure what a BOM is or if you do not understand where
to use it, then it is probably not important for you and you can
safely ignore it.
Editing
-------
Folding
^^^^^^^
Geany provides basic code folding support. Folding means the ability to
show and hide parts of the text in the current file. You can hide
unimportant code sections and concentrate on the parts you are working on
and later you can show hidden sections again. In the editor window there is
a small grey margin on the left side with [+] and [-] symbols which
show hidden parts and hide parts of the file respectively. By
clicking on these icons you can simply show and hide sections which are
marked by vertical lines within this margin. For many filetypes nested
folding is supported, so there may be several fold points within other
fold points.
.. note::
You can customize the folding icon and line styles - see the
filetypes.common `Folding Settings`_.
If you don't like it or don't need it at all, you can simply disable
folding support completely in the preferences dialog.
The folding behaviour can be changed with the "Fold/Unfold all children of
a fold point" option in the preference dialog. If activated, Geany will
unfold all nested fold points below the current one if they are already
folded (when clicking on a [+] symbol).
When clicking on a [-] symbol, Geany will fold all nested fold points
below the current one if they are unfolded.
This option can be inverted by pressing the Shift
key while clicking on a fold symbol. That means, if the "Fold/Unfold all
children of a fold point" option is enabled, pressing Shift will disable
it for this click and vice versa.
Column mode editing (rectangular selections)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is basic support for column mode editing. To use it, create a
rectangular selection by holding down the Control and Shift keys
(or Control and Alt if it doesn't work) while
selecting some text. It is also possible to create a zero-column selection.
Once a rectangular selection exists you can start editing the text within
this selection and the modifications will be done for every line in the
selection.
Drag and drop of text
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If you drag selected text in the editor widget of Geany the text is
moved to the position where the mouse pointer is when releasing the
mouse button. Holding Control when releasing the mouse button will
copy the text instead. This behaviour was changed in Geany 0.11 -
before the selected text was copied to the new position.
Indentation
^^^^^^^^^^^
Geany allows each document to indent either with a tab character or
multiple spaces. The default indent mode is set in the `Editor Features
preferences`_ (see the link for more information). But
this can be overridden using either the *Document->Indent Type* menu,
or by using the *Detect from file* indentation preference. When enabled,
this scans each file that is opened and sets the indent mode based on
how many lines start with a tab vs. 2 or more spaces.
The indent mode for the current document is shown on the status bar
as follows:
TAB
Indent with Tab characters.
SP
Indent with spaces.
T/S
Indent with tabs and spaces, depending on how much indentation is
on a line.
Auto-indentation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
When enabled, auto-indentation happens when pressing *Enter* in the
Editor. It adds a certain amount of indentation to the new line so the
user doesn't always have to indent each line manually.
Geany has four types of auto-indentation:
None
Disables auto-indentation completely.
Basic
Adds the same amount of whitespace on a new line as on the last line.
Current chars
Does the same as *Basic* but also indents a new line after an opening
brace '{', and de-indents when typing a closing brace '}'. For Python,
a new line will be indented after typing ':' at the end of the
previous line.
Match braces
Similar to *Current chars* but the closing brace will be aligned to
match the indentation of the line with the opening brace.
Bookmarks
^^^^^^^^^
Geany provides a handy bookmarking feature that lets you mark one
or more lines in a document, and return the cursor to them using a
key combination.
To place a mark on a line, either left-mouse-click in the left margin
of the editor window, or else use Ctrl-m. This will
produce a small green plus symbol in the margin. You can have as many
marks in a document as you like. Click again (or use Ctrl-m again)
to remove the bookmark. To remove all the marks in a given document,
use "Remove Markers" in the Document menu.
To navigate down your document, jumping from one mark to the next,
use Ctrl-. (control period). To go in the opposite direction on
the page, use Ctrl-, (control comma). Using the bookmarking feature
together with the commands to switch from one editor tab to another
(Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn and Ctrl-Tab) provides a particularly fast way to
navigate around multiple files.
Code navigation history
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To ease navigation in source files and especially between
different files, Geany lets you jump between different navigation
points. Currently, this works for the following:
* `Go to tag declaration`_
* `Go to tag definition`_
* Symbol list items
* Build errors
* Message items
When using one of these actions, Geany remembers your current position
and jumps to the new one. If you decide to go back to your previous
position in the file, just use "Navigate back a location". To
get back to the new position again, just use "Navigate forward a
location". This makes it easier to navigate in e.g. foreign code
and between different files.
Sending text through custom commands
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You can define several custom commands in Geany and send the current
selection to one of these commands using the "Edit->Format->Send
Selection to" menu or keybindings.
The output of the command will be
used to replace the current selection. This makes it possible to use text
formatting tools with Geany in a general way. The selected text will
be sent to the standard input of the executed command, so the command
should be able to read from it and it should print all results to its
standard output which will be read by Geany. To help finding errors
in executing the command, the output of the program's standard error
will be printed on Geany's standard output.
To add a custom command, just go to the Set Custom Commands dialog
in the Format sub menu of the Edit and Popup menu. Then click on Add
to get a new text entry and type the command. You can also specify
some command line options. To delete a command, just clear the text
entry and press OK. It will be deleted automatically.
Context actions
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You can execute the context action command on the current word at the
cursor position or the available selection. This word or selection
can be used as an argument to the command.
The context action is invoked by a menu entry in the popup menu of the
editor and also a keyboard shortcut (see the section called
`Keybindings`_).
The command can be specified in the preferences dialog and also for
each filetype (see "context_action_cmd" in the section called
`Format`_). When the context action is invoked, the filetype
specific command is used if available, otherwise the command
specified in the preferences dialog is executed.
The current word or selection can be referred with the wildcard "%s"
in the command, it will be replaced by the current word or
selection before the command is executed.
For example a context action can be used to open API documentation
in a browser window, the command to open the PHP API documentation
would be::
firefox "http://www.php.net/%s"
when executing the command, the %s is substituted by the word near
the cursor position or by the current selection. If the cursor is at
the word "echo", a browser window will open(assumed your browser is
called firefox) and it will open the address: http://www.php.net/echo.
Autocompletion
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Geany can offer a list of possible completions for symbols defined in the
tags and for all words in a document.
The autocompletion list for symbols is presented when the first few
characters of the symbol are typed (configurable, see `Editor Completions
preferences`_, default 4) or when the *Complete word*
keybinding is pressed (configurable, see `Editor keybindings`_,
default Ctrl-Space).
When the defined keybinding is typed and the *Autocomplete all words in
document* preference (in `Editor Completions preferences`_)
is selected then the autocompletion list will show all matching words
in the document, if there are no matching symbols.
If you don't want to use autocompletion it can be dismissed until
the next symbol by pressing Escape. The autocompletion list is updated
as more characters are typed so that it only shows completions that start
with the characters typed so far. If no symbols begin with the sequence,
the autocompletion window is closed.
The up and down arrows will move the selected item. The highlighted
item on the autocompletion list can be chosen from the list by pressing
Enter/Return. You can also double-click to select an item. The sequence
will be completed to match the chosen item, and if the *Drop rest of
word on completion* preference is set (in `Editor Completions
preferences`_) then any characters after the cursor that match
a symbol or word are deleted.
Word part completion
````````````````````
By default, pressing Tab will complete the selected item by word part;
useful e.g. for adding the prefix ``gtk_combo_box_entry_`` without typing it
manually:
* gtk_com
* gtk_combo_
* gtk_combo_box_
* gtk_combo_box_entry_
* gtk_combo_box_entry_set_text_column
The key combination can be changed from Tab - See `Editor keybindings`_.
If you clear/change the key combination for word part completion, Tab
will complete the whole word instead, like Enter.
Scope autocompletion
````````````````````
E.g.::
struct
{
int i;
char c;
} foo;
When you type ``foo.`` it will show an autocompletion list with 'i' and
'c' symbols.
It only works for languages that set parent scope names for e.g. struct
members. Currently this means C-like languages. The C tag parser only
parses global scopes, so this won't work for structs or objects declared
in local scope.
User-definable snippets
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Snippets are small strings or code constructs which can be replaced or
completed to a more complex string. So you can save a lot of time when
typing common strings and letting Geany do the work for you.
To know what to complete or replace Geany reads a configuration file
called ``snippets.conf`` at startup.
Maybe you need to often type your name, so define a snippet like this::
[Default]
myname=Enrico Tröger
Every time you write ``myname`` in Geany, it will replace "myname"
with "Enrico Tröger". The key to start autocompletion can be changed
in the preferences dialog, by default it is TAB. The corresponding keybinding
is called ``Complete snippet``.
The system-wide configuration file can be found in
``$prefix/share/geany``, where ``$prefix`` is the path where Geany is
installed (see `Installation prefix`_). It is not recommended to edit the
system-wide file, because it will be overridden when Geany is updated.
To change the settings, copy the file from ``$prefix/share/geany``
in your configuration directory (usually ``~/.config/geany/``).
For example::
% cp /usr/local/share/geany/snippets.conf /home/username/.config/geany/
Then you can edit the file and the changes will remain available
after an update of Geany because the file resides in your
configuration directory. Alternatively, you can create a file
``~/.config/geany/snippets.conf`` and add only these settings you want
to change. All missing settings will be read from the global snippets
file in ``$prefix/share/geany``.
The file ``snippets.conf`` contains sections defining snippets that
are available for particular filetypes and in general.
The two sections "Default" and "Special" apply to all filetypes.
"Default" contains all snippets which are available for every
filetype and "Special" contains snippets which can only be used in
other snippets. So you can define often used parts of snippets and
just use the special snippet as a placeholder (see the
``snippets.conf`` for details).
You can define sections with the name of a filetype eg "C++". The
snippets in that section are only available for use in files with that
filetype. Snippets in filetype sections will hide snippets with the
same name in the "Default" section when used in a file of that
filetype.
To define snippets you can use several special character sequences which
will be replaced when using the snippet:
**Substitution Sequences for snippets**
================ =========================================================
\\n or %newline% Insert a new line (it will be replaced by the used EOL
char(s): LF, CR/LF, or CR).
\\t or %ws% Insert an indentation step, it will be replaced according
to the current document's indent mode.
\\s \\s to force whitespace at beginning or end of a value
('key= value' won't work, use 'key=\\svalue')
%cursor% Place the cursor at this position after completion has
been done. You can define multiple %cursor% wildcards
and use the keybinding ``Move cursor in snippet`` to jump
to the next defined cursor position in the completed
snippet.
%...% "..." means the name of a key in the "Special" section.
If you have defined a key "brace_open" in the "Special"
section you can use %brace_open% in any other snippet.
================ =========================================================
Snippet names must not contain spaces otherwise they won't
work correctly. But beside that you can define almost any
string as a snippet and use it later in Geany. It is not limited
to existing contructs of certain programming languages(like ``if``,
``for``, ``switch``). Define whatever you need.
Since Geany 0.15 you can also use most of the available templates wildcards
listed in `Template wildcards`_. All wildcards which are listed as
`available in snippets` can be used. For instance to improve the above example::
[Default]
myname=My name is {developer}
mysystem=My system: {command:uname -a}
this will replace ``myname`` with "My name is " and the value of the template
preference ``developer``.
You can change the way Geany recognizes the word to complete,
that is how the start and end of a word is recognised when the
snippet completion is requested. The section "Special" may
contain a key "wordchars" which lists all characters a string may contain
to be recognized as a word for completion. Leave it commented to use
default characters or define it to add or remove characters to fit your
needs.
Inserting Unicode characters
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With GTK 2.10 and above, you can insert Unicode code points by hitting
Ctrl-Shift-u, then still holding Ctrl-Shift, type some hex digits representing
the code point for the character you want and hit Enter or Return (still
holding Ctrl-Shift). If you release Ctrl-Shift before hitting Enter or Return
(or any other character), the code insertion is completed, but the typed
character is also entered. In the case of Enter/Return, it is a newline, as
you might expect.
In some earlier versions of Geany, you might need to first unbind Ctrl-Shift-u
in the `keybinding preferences`_, then select *Tools->Reload Configuration*
or restart Geany. Note that it works slightly differently from other GTK
applications, in that you'll need to continue to hold down the Ctrl and Shift
keys while typing the code point hex digits (and the Enter or Return to finish the code point).
For GTK < 2.10, it is also possible, but typing the first Ctrl-Shift-u
is not necessary. One problem is that you may find the alphabetic
keys conflict with other Geany keybindings.
Search, replace and go to
-------------------------
This section describes search-related commands from the Search menu
and the editor window's popup menu:
* Find
* Find usage \*
* Find in files
* Replace
* Go to tag definition \*
* Go to tag declaration \*
* Go to line
\* These items are available from the editor window's popup menu, or by
using a keyboard shortcut (see `Search keybindings`_).
Toolbar entries
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are also two toolbar entries:
* Search bar
* Go to line entry
There are keybindings to focus each of these - see `Focus
keybindings`_. Pressing Escape will then focus the editor.
Search bar
``````````
The quickest way to find some text is to use the search bar entry in
the toolbar. This performs a case-insensitive search in the current
document whilst you type. Pressing Enter will search again.
Find
^^^^
The Find dialog is used for finding text in one or more open documents.
.. image:: ./images/find_dialog.png
Matching options
````````````````
The syntax for the *Use regular expressions* option is shown in
`Regular expressions`_.
.. note::
*Use escape sequences* is implied for regular expressions.
The *Use escape sequences* option will transform any escaped characters
into their UTF-8 equivalent. For example, \\t will be transformed into
a tab character. Other recognized symbols are: \\\\, \\n, \\r, \\uXXXX
(Unicode characters).
Find all
````````
To find all matches, click on the Find All expander. This will reveal
several options:
* In Document
* In Session
* Mark
Find All In Document will show a list of matching lines in the
current document in the Messages tab of the Message Window. *Find All
In Session* does the same for all open documents.
Mark will highlight all matches in the current document with a
colored box. These markers can be removed by selecting the
Remove Markers command from the Document menu.
Change font in search dialog text fields
````````````````````````````````````````
All search related dialogs use a Monospace for the text input fields to
increase the readability of input text. This is useful when you are
typing input such as regular expressions with spaces, periods and commas which
might it hard to read with a proportional font.
If you want to change the font, you can do this easily
by inserting the following style into your ``.gtkrc-2.0``
(usually found in your home directory on UNIX-like systems and in the
etc subdirectory of your Geany installation on Windows)::
style "search_style"
{
font_name="Monospace 8"
}
widget "GeanyDialogSearch.*.GtkEntry" style:highest "search_style"
Please note the addition of ":highest" in the last line which sets the priority
of this style to the highest available. Otherwise, the style is ignored
for the search dialogs.
Find usage
^^^^^^^^^^
Find usage searches all open files. It is similar to the Find All In
Session option in the Find dialog.
If there is a selection, then it is used as the search text; otherwise
the current word is used. The current word is either taken from the
word nearest the edit cursor, or the word underneath the popup menu
click position when the popup menu is used. The search results are
shown in the Messages tab of the Message Window.
Find in files
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Find in files is a more powerful version of Find usage that searches
all files in a certain directory using the Grep tool. The Grep tool
must be correctly set in Preferences to the path of the system's Grep
utility. GNU Grep is recommended.
.. image:: ./images/find_in_files_dialog.png
The Encoding combo box can be used to define the encoding of the files
to be searched. The entered search text is converted to the chosen encoding
and the search results are converted back to UTF-8.
The Extra options field is used to pass any additional arguments to
the grep tool.
Filtering out version control files
```````````````````````````````````
When using the *Recurse in subfolders* option with a directory that's
under version control, you can set the *Extra options* field to use
grep's ``--exclude`` flag to filter out filenames.
SVN Example: ``--exclude=*.svn-base``
The --exclude argument only matches the file name part, not the path. If
you have GNU Grep >= 2.5.2 you can use the ``--exclude-dir`` argument to
filter out CVS and hidden directories like ``.svn``.
Example: ``--exclude-dir=.* --exclude-dir=CVS``
Replace
^^^^^^^
The Replace dialog is used for replacing text in one or more open
documents.
.. image:: ./images/replace_dialog.png
The Replace dialog has the same options for matching text as the Find
dialog. See the section `Matching options`_.
The *Use regular expressions* option allows regular expressions to
be used in the search string and back references in the replacement
text -- see the entry for '\\n' in `Regular expressions`_.
Replace all
```````````
To replace several matches, click on the *Replace All* expander. This
will reveal several options:
* In Document
* In Session
* In Selection
*Replace All In Document* will replace all matching text in the
current document. *Replace All In Session* does the same for all open
documents. *Replace All In Selection* will replace all matching text
in the current selection of the current document.
Go to tag definition
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the current word is the name of a tag definition (like a function
body) and the file containing the tag definition is open, this command
will switch to that file and go to the corresponding line number. The
current word is either the word nearest the edit cursor,
or the word underneath the popup menu click position when the popup
menu is used.
Go to tag declaration
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Like Go to tag definition, but for a forward declaration such as a
function prototype or ``extern`` declaration instead of a function
body.
Go to line
^^^^^^^^^^
Go to a particular line number in the current file.
Regular expressions
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You can use regular expressions in the Find and Replace dialogs
by selecting the *Use regular expressions* check box (see `Matching
options`_). The syntax is POSIX compatible, as described in the table
below.
.. note::
1. The *Use escape sequences* dialog option always applies for regular
expressions.
2. Searching backwards with regular expressions is not supported.
3. \\b, \\d, \\s, \\w are GNU extensions and may not be available
on non-GNU POSIX systems unless you built Geany with the
``--enable-gnu-regex`` option (this is always used on Windows).
**In a regular expression, the following characters are interpreted:**
======= ============================================================
. Matches any character.
( This marks the start of a region for tagging a match.
) This marks the end of a tagged region.
\\n Where n is 1 through 9 refers to the first through ninth tagged
region when searching or replacing.
Searching for (Wiki)\\1 matches WikiWiki.
If the search string was Fred([1-9])XXX and the
replace string was Sam\\1YYY, when applied to Fred2XXX this
would generate Sam2YYY.
\\0 When replacing, the whole matching text.
\\b This matches a word boundary.
\\c A backslash followed by d, D, s, S, w or W, becomes a
character class (both inside and outside sets []).
* d: decimal digits
* D: any char except decimal digits
* s: whitespace (space, \\t \\n \\r \\f \\v)
* S: any char except whitespace (see above)
* w: alphanumeric & underscore
* W: any char except alphanumeric & underscore
\\x This allows you to use a character x that would otherwise have
a special meaning. For example, \\[ would be interpreted as [
and not as the start of a character set. Use \\\\ for a literal
backslash.
[...] Matches one of the characters in the set. If the first
character in the set is ^, it matches the characters NOT in
the set, i.e. complements the set. A shorthand S-E (start
dash end) is used to specify a set of characters S up to E,
inclusive.
The special characters ] and - have no special
meaning if they appear first in the set. - can also be last
in the set. To include both, put ] first: []A-Z-].
Examples::
[]|-] matches these 3 chars
[]-|] matches from ] to | chars
[a-z] any lowercase alpha
[^]-] any char except - and ]
[^A-Z] any char except uppercase alpha
[a-zA-Z] any alpha
^ This matches the start of a line (unless used inside a set, see
above).
$ This matches the end of a line.
\* This matches 0 or more times. For example, Sa*m matches Sm, Sam,
Saam, Saaam and so on.
\+ This matches 1 or more times. For example, Sa+m matches Sam,
Saam, Saaam and so on.
\? This matches 0 or 1 time(s). For example, Joh?n matches John, Jon.
======= ============================================================
.. note::
This table is adapted from Scintilla and SciTE documentation,
distributed under the `License for Scintilla and SciTE`_.
Tags
----
Tags are information that relates symbols in a program with the
source file location of the declaration and definition.
Geany has built-in functionality for generating tag information (aka
"workspace tags") for supported filetypes when you open a file. You
can also have Geany automatically load external tag files (aka "global
tags files") upon startup, or manually using *Tools --> Load Tags*.
Geany uses its own tag file format, similar to what ``ctags`` uses
(but is incompatible with ctags). You use Geany to generate global
tags files, as described below.
Workspace tags
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tags for each document are parsed whenever a file is loaded or
saved. These are shown in the Symbol list in the Sidebar. These tags
are also used for autocompletion of symbols and calltips for all documents
open in the current session that have the same filetype.
The *Go to Tag* commands can be used with all workspace tags. See
`Go to tag definition`_.
Global tags
^^^^^^^^^^^
Global tags are used to provide autocompletion of symbols and calltips
without having to open the corresponding source files. This is intended
for library APIs, as the tags file only has to be updated when you upgrade
the library.
You can load a custom global tags file in two ways:
* Using the *Load Tags* command in the Tools menu.
* By creating a directory ``~/.config/geany/tags``, and moving or symlinking
the tags files there before starting Geany.
* By creating a directory ``$prefix/share/geany/tags``, and moving
or symlinking the tags files there before starting Geany.
``$prefix`` is the installation prefix (see `Installation prefix`_).
You can either download these files or generate your own. They have
the format::
name.lang_ext.tags
*lang_ext* is one of the extensions set for the filetype associated
with the tags. See the section called `Filetype extensions`_ for
more information.
Default global tags files
`````````````````````````
For some languages, a list of global tags is loaded when the
corresponding filetype is first used. Currently these are for:
* C -- GTK+ and GLib
* Pascal
* PHP
* HTML -- &symbol; completion, e.g. for ampersand, copyright, etc.
* LaTeX
* Python
Global tags file format
```````````````````````
Global tags files can have two different formats:
* Tagmanager format
* Pipe-separated format
The first line of global tags files should be a comment, introduced
by ``#`` followed by a space and a string like ``format=pipe``
or ``format=tagmanager`` respectively, these are case-sensitive.
This helps Geany to read the file properly. If this line
is missing, Geany tries to auto-detect the used format but this
might fail.
The Tagmanager format is a bit more complex and is used for files
created by the ``geany -g`` command. There is one tag per line.
Different tag attributes like the return value or the argument list
are separated with different characters indicating the type of the
following argument.
The Pipe-separated format is easier to read and write.
There is one tag per line and different tag attributes are separated
by the pipe character (``|``). A line looks like::
basename|string|(string path [, string suffix])|
| The first field is the tag name (usually a function name).
| The second field is the type of the return value.
| The third field is the argument list for this tag.
| The fourth field is the description for this tag but
currently unused and should be left empty.
Except for the first field (tag name), all other field can be left
empty but the pipe separator must appear for them.
You can easily write your own global tag files using this format.
Just save them in your tags directory, as described earlier in the
section `Global tags`_.
Generating a global tags file
`````````````````````````````
You can generate your own global tags files by parsing a list of
source files. The command is::
geany -g [-P]
* Tag File filename should be in the format described earlier --
see the section called `Global tags`_.
* File list is a list of filenames, each with a full path (unless
you are generating C/C++ tags and have set the CFLAGS environment
variable appropriately).
* ``-P`` or ``--no-preprocessing`` disables using the C pre-processor
to process ``#include`` directives for C/C++ source files. Use this
option if you want to specify each source file on the command-line
instead of using a 'master' header file. Also can be useful if you
don't want to specify the CFLAGS environment variable.
Example for the wxD library for the D programming language::
geany -g wxd.d.tags /home/username/wxd/wx/*.d
*Generating C/C++ tag files:*
For C/C++ tag files, gcc and grep are required, so that header files
can be preprocessed to include any other headers they depend upon.
For C/C++ files, the environment variable CFLAGS should be set with
appropriate ``-I/path`` include paths. The following example works with
the bash shell, generating tags for the GnomeUI library::
CFLAGS=`pkg-config --cflags libgnomeui-2.0` geany -g gnomeui.c.tags \
/usr/include/libgnomeui-2.0/gnome.h
You can adapt this command to use CFLAGS and header files appropriate
for whichever libraries you want.
*Replacing the default C/C++ tags file:*
Geany currently uses a default global tags file c99.tags for
C and C++, commonly installed in /usr/share/geany. This file can
be replaced with one containing tags parsed from a different set
of header files. When Geany is next started, your custom tags file
will be loaded instead of the default c99.tags. You should keep a
copy of the generated tags file because it will get overwritten when
upgrading Geany.
Ignore tags
^^^^^^^^^^^
You can also ignore certain tags if they would lead to wrong parsing of
the code. Simply create a file called "ignore.tags" in your Geany
configuration directory (usually ``~/.config/geany/``). Then list all tags
you want to ignore in this file, separated by spaces and/or newlines.
More detailed information about the usage from the Exuberant Ctags
manual page::
Specifies a list of identifiers which are to be specially handled
while parsing C and C++ source files. This option is specifically
provided to handle special cases arising through the use of
pre-processor macros. When the identifiers listed are simple identifiers,
these identifiers will be ignored during parsing of the source files.
If an identifier is suffixed with a '+' character, ctags will also
ignore any parenthesis-enclosed argument list which may immediately
follow the identifier in the source files.
If two identifiers are separated with the '=' character, the first
identifiers is replaced by the second identifiers for parsing purposes.
For even more detailed information please read the manual page of
Exuberant Ctags.
Preferences
-----------
You may adjust Geany's settings using the Edit --> Preferences
dialog. Any changes you make there can be applied by hitting either
the Apply or the OK button. These settings will persist between Geany
sessions. Note that most settings here have descriptive popup bubble
help -- just hover the mouse over the item in question to get help
on it.
You may also adjust some View settings (under the View menu) that
persist between Geany sessions. The settings under the Document menu,
however, are only for the current document and revert to defaults
when restarting Geany.
There are also some rarer `Hidden preferences`_.
.. note::
In the paragraphs that follow, the text describing a dialog tab
comes after the screenshot of that tab.
General Startup preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_gen_startup.png
Startup
```````
Load files from the last session
On startup, load the same files you had open the last time you
used Geany.
Load virtual terminal support
Load the library for running a terminal in the message window area.
Enable plugin support
Allow plugins to be used in Geany.
Shutdown
````````
Save window position and geometry
Save the current position and size of the main window so next time
you open Geany it's in the same location.
Confirm Exit
Have a dialog pop up to confirm that you really want to quit Geany.
Paths
`````
Startup path
Path to start in when opening or saving files.
It must be an absolute path.
Leave it blank to use the current working directory.
Project files
Path to start in when opening project files.
Extra plugin path
By default Geany looks in the global installation path and in the
configuration directory. In addition the path entered here will be searched
for plugins. Usually you do not need to set an additional path to search for
plugins. It might be useful when Geany is installed on a multi-user machine
and additional plugins are available in a common location for all users.
Leave blank to not set an additional lookup path.
General Miscellaneous preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_gen_misc.png
Miscellaneous
`````````````
Beep on errors when compilation has finished
Have the computer make a beeping sound when compilation of your program
has completed or any errors occurred.
Switch status message list at new message
Switch to the status message tab (in the notebook window at the bottom)
once a new status message arrives.
Suppress status messages in the status bar
Remove all messages from the status bar. The messages are still displayed
in the status messages window.
.. tip::
Another option is to use the *Switch to Editor* keybinding - it
reshows the document statistics on the status bar. See `Focus
keybindings`_.
Use Windows File Open/Save dialogs
Defines whether to use the native Windows File Open/Save dialogs or
whether to use the GTK default dialogs.
Auto-focus widgets (focus follows mouse)
Give the focus automatically to widgets below the mouse cursor.
This works for the main editor widget, the scribble, the toolbar search field
goto line fields and the VTE.
Search
``````
Always wrap search and hide the Find dialog
Always wrap search around the document and hide the Find dialog after clicking
Find Next/Previous.
Use the current word under the cursor for Find dialogs
Use current word under the cursor when opening the Find, Find in Files or Replace dialog and
there is no selection. When this option is disabled, the search term last used in the
appropriate Find dialog is used.
Use the current file's directory for Find in Files
When opening the Find in Files dialog, set the directory to search to the directory of the current
active file. When this option is disabled, the directory of the last use of the Find in Files
dialog is used.
Projects
````````
Use project-based session files
Save your current session when closing projects. You will be able to
resume different project sessions, automatically opening the files
you had open previously.
Store project file inside the project base directory
When creating new projects, the default path for the project file contains
the project base path. Without this option enabled, the default project file
path is one level above the project base path.
In either case, you can easily set the final project file path in the
*New Project* dialog. This option provides the more common
defaults automatically for convenience.
Interface preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_interface.png
Sidebar
```````
Show sidebar
Whether to show the sidebar at all.
Show symbol list
Show the list of functions, variables, and other information in the
current document you are editing.
Show documents list
Show all the documents you have open currently. This can be used to
change between documents (see `Switching between documents`_) and
to perform some common operations such as saving, closing and reloading.
Position
Whether to place the sidebar on the left or right of the editor window.
Fonts
`````
Editor
Change the font used to display documents.
Symbol list
Change the font used for the Symbols sidebar tab.
Message window
Change the font used for the message window area.
Editor tabs
```````````
Show editor tabs
Show a notebook tab for all documents so you can switch between them
using the mouse (instead of using the Documents window).
Show close buttons
Make each tab show a close button so you can easily close open
documents.
Placement of new file tabs
Whether to create a document with its notebook tab to the left or
right of all existing tabs.
Next to current
Whether to place file tabs next to the current tab
rather than at the edges of the notebook.
Double-clicking hides all additional widgets
Whether to call the View->Toggle All Additional Widgets command
when double-clicking on a notebook tab.
Tab positions
`````````````
Editor
Set the positioning of the editor's notebook tabs to the right,
left, top, or bottom of the editing window.
Sidebar
Set the positioning of the sidebar's notebook tabs to the right,
left, top, or bottom of the sidebar window.
Message window
Set the positioning of the message window's notebook tabs to the
right, left, top, or bottom of the message window.
Miscellaneous
`````````````
Show status bar
Show the status bar at the bottom of the main window. It gives information about
the file you are editing like the line and column you are on, whether any
modifications were done, the file encoding, the filetype and other information.
Toolbar preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Affects the main toolbar underneath the menu bar.
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_toolbar.png
Toolbar
```````
Show Toolbar
Whether to show the toolbar.
Append Toolbar to the Menu
Allows to append the toolbar to the main menu bar instead of placing it below.
This is useful to save vertical space.
Customize Toolbar
See `Customizing the toolbar`_.
Appearance
``````````
Icon Style
Select the toolbar icon style to use - either icons and text, just
icons or just text.
The choice System default uses whatever icon style is set by GTK.
Icon size
Select the size of the icons you see (large, small or very small).
The choice System default uses whatever icon size is set by GTK.
Editor Features preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_edit_features.png
Features
````````
Line wrapping
Show long lines wrapped around to new display lines.
Enable "smart" home key
Whether to move the cursor to the first non-whitespace character
on the line when you hit the home key on your keyboard. Pressing it
again will go to the very start of the line.
Disable Drag and Drop
Do not allow the dragging and dropping of selected text in documents.
Enable folding
Allow groups of lines in a document to be collapsed for easier
navigation/editing.
Fold/Unfold all children of a fold point
Whether to fold/unfold all child fold points when a parent line
is folded.
Use indicators to show compile errors
Underline lines with compile errors using red squiggles to indicate
them in the editor area.
Newline strip trailing spaces
Remove any white space at the end of the line when you hit the
Enter/Return key.
Line breaking column
The editor column number to insert a newline at when Line Breaking
is enabled for the current document.
Comment toggle marker
A string which is added when toggling a line comment in a source file.
It is used to mark the comment as toggled.
Editor Indentation preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_edit_indentation.png
Indentation group
`````````````````
See `Indentation`_ for more information.
Type
When Geany inserts indentation, whether to use:
* Just Tabs
* Just Spaces
* Tabs and Spaces, depending on how much indentation is on a line
The *Tabs and Spaces* indent type is also known as *Soft tab
support* in some other editors.
Width
The width of a single indent size in spaces. By default the indent
size is equivalent to 4 spaces.
Detect from file
Try to detect and set the indent type based on file content, when
a file is opened.
Auto-indent mode
The type of auto-indentation you wish to use after pressing Enter,
if any.
Basic
Just add the indentation of the previous line.
Current chars
Add indentation based on the current filetype and any characters at
the end of the line such as ``{``, ``}`` for C, ``:`` for Python.
Match braces
Like *Current chars* but for C-like languages, make a closing
``}`` brace line up with the matching opening brace.
Tab key indents
If set, pressing tab will indent the current line or selection, and
unindent when pressing Shift-tab. Otherwise, the tab key will
insert a tab character into the document (which can be different
from indentation, depending on the indent type).
.. note::
There are also separate configurable keybindings for indent &
unindent, but this preference allows the tab key to have different
meanings in different contexts - e.g. for snippet completion.
Editor Completions preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_edit_completions.png
Completions
```````````
Snippet Completion
Whether to replace special keywords after typing Tab into a
pre-defined text snippet.
See `User-definable snippets`_.
XML tag autocompletion
When you open an XML tag automatically generate its completion tag.
Automatic continuation multi-line comments
Continue automatically multi-line comments in languages like C, C++
and Java when a new line is entered inside such a comment.
With this option enabled, Geany will insert a ``*`` on every new line
inside a multi-line comment, for example when you press return in the
following C code::
/*
* This is a C multi-line comment, press
then Geany would insert::
*
on the next line with the correct indentation based on the previous line,
as long as the multi-line is not closed by ``*/``.
Autocomplete symbols
When you start to type a symbol name, look for the full string to
allow it to be completed for you.
Autocomplete all words in document
When you start to type a word, Geany will search the whole document for
words starting with the typed part to complete it, assuming there
are no tag names to show.
Drop rest of word on completion
Remove any word part to the right of the cursor when choosing a
completion list item.
Characters to type for autocompletion
Number of characters of a word to type before autocompletion is
displayed.
Completion list height
The number of rows to display for the autocompletion window.
Max. symbol name suggestions
The maximum number of items in the autocompletion list.
Auto-close quotes and brackets
``````````````````````````````
Geany can automatically insert a closing bracket and quote characters when
you open them. For instance, you type a ``(`` and Geany will automatically
insert ``)``. With the following options, you can define for which
characters this should work.
Parenthesis ( )
Auto-close parenthesis when typing an opening one
Curly brackets { }
Auto-close curly brackets (braces) when typing an opening one
Square brackets [ ]
Auto-close square brackets when typing an opening one
Single quotes ' '
Auto-close single quotes when typing an opening one
Double quotes " "
Auto-close double quotes when typing an opening one
Editor Display preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is for visual elements displayed in the editor window.
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_edit_display.png
Display
```````
Invert syntax highlighting colors
Invert all colors, by default this makes white text on a black
background.
Show indendation guides
Show vertical lines to help show how much leading indentation there
is on each line.
Show whitespaces
Mark all tabs with an arrow "-->" symbol and spaces with dots to
show which kinds of whitespace are used.
Show line endings
Display a symbol everywhere that a carriage return or line feed
is present.
Show line numbers
Show or hide the Line Number margin.
Show markers margin
Show or hide the small margin right of the line numbers, which is used
to mark lines.
Stop scrolling at last line
When enabled Geany stops scrolling when at the last line of the document.
Otherwise you can scroll one more page even if there are no real lines.
Long line marker
````````````````
The long line marker helps to indicate overly-long lines, or as a hint
to the user for when to break the line.
Type
Line
Show a thin vertical line in the editor window at the given column
position.
Background
Change the background color of characters after the given column
position to the color set below. (This is recommended over the
*Line* setting if you use proportional fonts).
Disabled
Don't mark long lines at all.
Long line marker
Set this value to a value greater than zero to specify the column
where it should appear.
Long line marker color
Set the color of the long line marker.
Virtual spaces
``````````````
Virtual space is space beyond the end of each line.
The cursor may be moved into virtual space but no real space will be
added to the document until there is some text typed or some other
text insertion command is used.
Disabled
Do not show virtual spaces
Only for rectangular selections
Only show virtual spaces beyond the end of lines when drawing a rectangular selection
Always
Always show virtual spaces beyond the end of lines
Files preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_files.png
New files
`````````
Open new documents from the command-line
Whether to create new documents when passing filenames that don't
exist from the command-line.
Default encoding (new files)
The type of file encoding you wish to use when creating files.
Used fixed encoding when opening files
Assume all files you are opening are using the type of encoding specified below.
Default encoding (existing files)
Opens all files with the specified encoding instead of auto-detecting it.
Use this option when it's not possible for Geany to detect the exact encoding.
Default end of line characters
The end of line characters to which should be used for new files.
On Windows systems, you generally want to use CR/LF which are the common
characters to mark line breaks.
On Unix-like systems, LF is default and CR is used on MAC systems.
Saving files
````````````
Perform formatting operations when a document is saved. These
can each be undone with the Undo command.
Ensure newline at file end
Add a newline at the end of the document if one is missing.
Strip trailing spaces
Remove the trailing spaces on each line of the document.
Replace tabs by space
Replace all tabs in the document with the equivalent number of spaces.
.. note::
It is better to use spaces to indent than use this preference - see
`Indentation`_.
Miscellaneous
`````````````
Recent files list length
The number of files to remember in the recently used files list.
Disk check timeout
The number of seconds to periodically check the current document's
file on disk in case it has changed. Setting it to 0 will disable
this feature.
.. note::
These checks are only performed on local files. Remote files are
not checked for changes due to performance issues
(remote files are files in ``~/.gvfs/``).
Tools preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_tools.png
Tool paths
``````````
Terminal
The location of your terminal executable.
Browser
The location of your web browser executable.
Grep
The location of the grep executable.
.. note::
For Windows users: at the time of writing it is recommended to use
the grep.exe from the UnxUtils project
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/unxutils). The grep.exe from the
Mingw project for instance might not work with Geany at the moment.
Commands
````````
Context action
Set this to a command to execute on the current word.
You can use the "%s" wildcard to pass the current word below the cursor
to the specified command.
Template preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This data is used as meta data for various template text to insert into
a document, such as the file header. You only need to set fields that
you want to use in your template files.
.. note::
For changes made here to take effect, you must either select
*Tools->Reload Configuration* or restart Geany.
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_templ.png
Template data
`````````````
Developer
The name of the developer who will be creating files.
Initials
The initials of the developer.
Mail address
The email address of the developer.
.. note::
You may wish to add anti-spam markup, e.g. ``namesiteext``.
Company
The company the developer is working for.
Initial version
The initial version of files you will be creating.
Year
Specify a format for the the {year} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers
which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see
http://man.cx/strftime.
Date
Specify a format for the the {date} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers
which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see
http://man.cx/strftime.
Date & Time
Specify a format for the the {datetime} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers
which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see
http://man.cx/strftime.
Keybinding preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_keys.png
There are some commands listed in the keybinding dialog that are not, by default,
bound to a key combination, and may not be available as a menu item.
.. note::
For more information see the section `Keybindings`_.
Printing preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_printing.png
Use external command for printing
Use a system command to print your file out.
Use native GTK printing
Let the GTK GUI toolkit handle your print request.
Print line numbers
Print the line numbers on the left of your paper.
Print page number
Print the page number on the bottom right of your paper.
Print page header
Print a header on every page that is sent to the printer.
Use base name of the printed file
Don't use the entire path for the header, only the filename.
Date format
How the date should be printed. You can use the same format
specifiers as in the ANSI C function strftime(). For details please
see http://man.cx/strftime.
Terminal (VTE) preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
See also: `Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE)`_.
.. image:: ./images/pref_dialog_vte.png
Terminal widget
```````````````
Terminal font
Select the font that will be used in the terminal emulation control.
Foreground color
Select the font color.
Background color
Select the background color of the terminal.
Scrollback lines
The number of lines buffered so that you can scroll though the history.
Shell
The location of the shell on your system.
Scroll on keystroke
Scroll the terminal to the prompt line when pressing a key.
Scroll on output
Scroll the output down.
Cursor blinks
Let the terminal cursor blink.
Override Geany keybindings
Allow the VTE to receive keyboard shortcuts (apart from focus commands).
Disable menu shortcut key (F10 by default)
Disable the menu shortcut when you are in the virtual terminal.
Follow path of the current file
Make the path of the terminal change according to the path of the
current file.
Execute programs in VTE
Execute programs in the virtual terminal instead of using the external
terminal tool. Note that if you run multiple execute commands at once
the output may become mixed together in the VTE.
Don't use run script
Don't use the simple run script which is usually used to display
the exit status of the executed program.
This can be useful if you already have a program running in the VTE
like a Python console (e.g. ipython). Use this with care.
Project Management
------------------
Project Management is optional in Geany. Currently it can be used for:
* Storing and opening session files on a project basis.
* Configuring the Build menu on a project basis.
A list of session files can be stored and opened with the project
when the *Use project-based session files* preference is enabled,
in the *Project* group of the `Preferences`_ dialog.
As long as a project is open, the Build menu will use
the items defined in project's settings, instead of the defaults.
See `Build Menu Configuration`_ for information on configuring the menu.
The current project's settings are saved when it is closed, or when
Geany is shutdown. When restarting Geany, the previously opened project
file that was in use at the end of the last session will be reopened.
The project menu items are detailed below.
New Project
^^^^^^^^^^^
To create a new project, fill in the *Name* field. By default this
will setup a new project file ``~/projects/name.geany``. Usually it's
best to store all your project files in the same directory (they are
independent of any source directory trees).
The Base path text field is setup to use ``~/projects/name``. This
can safely be set to any existing path -- it will not touch the file
structure contained in it.
Project Properties
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You can set an optional description for the project, but it is not
used elsewhere by Geany.
The *Base path* field is used as the directory to run the Build menu commands.
The specified path can be an absolute path or it is considered to be
relative to the project's file name.
Set Base Path Button
````````````````````
This button is a convenience to set the working directory fields
in the non-filetype Build menu items to %p to use the project base path.
.. note::
Pressing the 'set' button will override any working directories
you have configured for the project.
Open Project
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Open command displays a standard file chooser, starting in
``~/projects``. Choose a project file named with the ``.geany``
extension.
When project session support is enabled, Geany will close the currently
open files and open the session files associated with the project.
Close Project
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Project file settings are saved when the project is closed.
When project session support is enabled, Geany will close the project
session files and open any previously closed default session files.
Build Menu
----------
After editing code with Geany, the next step is to compile, link, build,
interpret, run etc. As Geany supports many languages each with a different
approach to such operations, and as there are also many language independent
software building systems, Geany does not have a built-in build system, nor
does it limit which system you can use. Instead the build menu provides
a configurable and flexible means of running any external commands to
execute your preferred build system.
This section provides a description of the default configuration of the
build menu and then covers how to configure it, and where the defaults fit in.
Running the commands from within Geany has two benefits:
* The current file is automatically saved before the command is run.
* The output is captured in the Compiler notebook tab and parsed for
warnings or errors.
Warnings and errors that can be parsed for line numbers will be shown in
red in the Compiler tab and you can click on them to switch to the relevant
source file (or open it) and mark the line number. Also lines with
warnings or errors are marked in the source, see `Indicators`_ below.
.. tip::
If Geany's default error message parsing does not parse errors for
the tool you're using, you can set a custom regex in the Build Commands
Dialog, see `Build Menu Configuration`_.
Indicators
^^^^^^^^^^
Indicators are red squiggly underlines which are used to highlight
errors which occurred while compiling the current file. So you can
easily see where your code failed to compile. You can remove them by
selecting *Remove Error Indicators* in the Document menu.
If you do not like this feature, you can disable it - see `Editor Features
preferences`_.
Default Build Menu Items
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Depending on the current file's filetype, the default Build menu will contain
the following items:
* Compile
* Build
* Make All
* Make Custom Target
* Make Object
* Next Error
* Previous Error
* Execute
* Set Build Menu Commands
Compile
```````
The Compile command has different uses for different kinds of files.
For compilable languages such as C and C++, the Compile command is
set up to compile the current source file into a binary object file.
Java source files will be compiled to class file bytecode.
Interpreted languages such as Perl, Python, Ruby will compile to
bytecode if the language supports it, or will run a syntax check,
or if that is not available will run the file in its language interpreter.
Build
`````
For compilable languages such as C and C++, the Build command will link
the current source file's equivalent object file into an executable. If
the object file does not exist, the source will be compiled and linked
in one step, producing just the executable binary.
Interpreted languages do not use the Build command.
.. note::
If you need complex settings for your build system, or several
different settings, then writing a Makefile and using the Make
commands is recommended; this will also make it easier for users to
build your software.
Make
````
This runs "make" in the same directory as the
current file.
Make custom target
``````````````````
This is similar to running 'Make' but you will be prompted for
the make target name to be passed to the Make tool. For example,
typing 'clean' in the dialog prompt will run "make clean".
Make object
```````````
Make object will run "make current_file.o" in the same directory as
the current file, using the filename for 'current_file'. It is useful
for building just the current file without building the whole project.
Next Error
``````````
The next error item will move to the next detected error in the file.
Previous Error
``````````````
The previous error item will move to the previous detected error in the file.
Execute
```````
Execute will run the corresponding executable file, shell script or
interpreted script in a terminal window. Note that the Terminal tool
path must be correctly set in the Tools tab of the Preferences dialog -
you can use any terminal program that runs a Bourne compatible shell
and accept the "-e" command line argument to start a command or can be
selected to use the built-in VTE if it is available - see
`Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE)`_.
After your program or script has finished executing, you will be
prompted to press the return key. This allows you to review any text
output from the program before the terminal window is closed.
.. note::
The execute command output is not parsed for errors.
Stopping running processes
``````````````````````````
When there is a running program, the Execute menu item in the menu and
the Run button in the toolbar
each become a stop button so you can stop the current running program (and
any child processes). This works by sending the SIGQUIT signal to the process.
Depending on the process you started it is possible that the process
cannot be stopped. For example this can happen when the process creates
more than one child process.
Terminal emulators
******************
Xterm is known to work properly. If you are using "Terminal"
(the terminal program of Xfce), you should add the command line
option ``--disable-server`` otherwise the started process cannot be
stopped. Just add this option in the preferences dialog on the Tools
tab in the terminal field.
Set Build Commands
``````````````````
By default the Compile and Build commands invoke the GCC compiler and
linker with only the basic arguments needed by all programs. Using
*Set Build Commands* you can add any include paths and compile
flags for the compiler, any library names and paths for the linker,
and any arguments you want to use when running Execute.
Build Menu Configuration
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The build menu has considerable flexibility and configurability, allowing
both menu labels the commands they execute and the directory they execute
in to be configured.
For example, if you change one of the default make commands to run say 'waf'
you can also change the label to match.
These settings are saved automatically when Geany is shut down.
The build menu is divided into four groups of items each with different
behaviors:
* File items - are configurable and depend on the filetype of the current
document; they capture output in the compiler tab and parse it for
errors.
* Non-file items - are configurable and mostly don't depend on the filetype
of the current document; they also capture output in the compiler tab and
parse it for errors.
* Execute items - are configurable and intended for executing your
program or other long running programs. The output is not parsed for errors
and is directed to the terminal selected in preferences.
* Fixed items - these perform built-in actions:
* Go to the next error.
* Go to the previous error.
* Show the build menu commands dialog.
The maximum numbers of items in each of the configurable groups can be
configured when Geany starts using hidden settings (see `Preferences File Format`_).
Even though the maximum number of items may have been increased, only
those menu items that have values configured are shown in the menu.
The groups of menu items obtain their configuration from four potential
sources. The highest priority source that has the menu item defined will
be used. The sources in decreasing priority are:
* A project file if open
* The user preferences
* The system filetype definitions
* The defaults
The detailed relationships between sources and the configurable menu item groups
is shown in the following table.
+--------------+---------------------+--------------------------+-------------------+-------------------------------+
| Group | Project File | Preferences | System Filetype | Defaults |
+==============+=====================+==========================+===================+===============================+
| Filetype | Loads From: project | Loads From: | Loads From: | None |
| | file | filetype.xxx file in | filetype.xxx in | |
| | | ~/.config/geany/filedefs | Geany install | |
| | Saves To: project | | | |
| | file | Saves to: as above, | Saves to: as user | |
| | | creating if needed. | preferences left. | |
+--------------+---------------------+--------------------------+-------------------+-------------------------------+
| Non-Filetype | Loads From: project | Loads From: | Loads From: | 1: |
| | file | geany.conf file in | filetype.xxx in | Label: _Make |
| | | ~/.config/geany | Geany install | Command: make |
| | Saves To: project | | | |
| | file | Saves to: as above, | Saves to: as user | 2: |
| | | creating if needed. | preferences left. | Label: Make Custom _Target |
| | | | | Command: make |
| | | | | |
| | | | | 3: |
| | | | | Label: Make _Object |
| | | | | Command: make %e.o |
+--------------+---------------------+--------------------------+-------------------+-------------------------------+
| Execute | Loads From: project | Loads From: | Loads From: | Label: _Execute Command: ./%e |
| | file or else | geany.conf file in | filetype.xxx in | |
| | filetype defined in | ~/.config/geany or else | Geany install | |
| | project file | filetype.xxx file in | | |
| | | ~/.config/geany/filedefs | Saves To: as user | |
| | Saves To: | | preferences left | |
| | project file | Saves To: | | |
| | | filetype.xxx file in | | |
| | | ~/.config/geany/filedefs | | |
+--------------+---------------------+--------------------------+-------------------+-------------------------------+
The following notes on the table reference cells by coordinate as (group,source):
* General - for filetype.xxx substitute the filetype name of the
current document for xxx.
* System Filetypes - Labels loaded from these sources are locale sensitive
and can contain translations.
* (Filetype, Project File) and (Filetype, Preferences) - preferences use a full
filetype file so that users can configure all other filetype preferences
as well. Projects can only configure menu items per filetype. Saving
in the project file means that there is only one file per project not
a whole directory.
* (Non-Filetype, System Filetype) - although conceptually strange, defining
non-filetype commands in a filetype file, this provides the ability to
define filetype dependent default menu items.
* (Execute, Project File) and (Execute, Preferences) - the project filetype based execute
configuration and preferences non-filetype based execute can only be set by hand editing the
appropriate file, see `Preferences File Format`_ and `Project File Format`_.
Build Menu Commands Dialog
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Most of the configuration of the build menu is done through the Build Menu
Commands Dialog. You edit the configuration sourced from preferences in the
dialog opened from the Build->Build Menu Commands item and you edit the
configuration from the project in the build tab of the project preferences
dialog. Both use the same form shown below.
.. image:: ./images/build_menu_commands_dialog.png
The dialog is divided into three sections:
* Filetype menu items which will be selected based on the filetype of the
currently open document.
* Non-filetype menu items.
* Execute menu items.
The filetype and non-filetype sections also each contain a field for the regular
expression used for parsing command output for error and warning messages.
The columns in the first three sections allow setting of the label, command,
and working directory to run the command in.
An item with an empty label will not be shown in the menu.
An empty working directory will default to the directory of the current document.
If there is no current document then the command will not run.
The dialog will always show the command selected by priority, not just the
commands configured in this configuration source. This ensures that you always
see what the menu item is going to do if activated.
If the current source of the menu item is higher priority than the
configuration source you are editing then the command will be shown
in the dialog but will be insensitive (greyed out). This can't happen
with the project source but can with the preferences source dialog.
The clear buttons remove the definition from the configuration source you are editing.
When you do this the command from the next lower priority source will be shown.
To hide lower priority menu items without having anything show in the menu
configure with a nothing in the label but at least one character in the command.
Substitutions in Commands and Working Directories
`````````````````````````````````````````````````
The first occurance of each of the following character sequences in each of the
command and working directory fields is substituted by the items specified below
before the command is run.
* %d - substituted by the absolute path to the directory of the current file.
* %e - substituted by the name of the current file without the extension or path.
* %f - substituted by the name of the current file without the path.
* %p - if a project is open, substituted by the base path from the project.
.. note::
If the basepath set in the project preferences is not an absolute path , then it is
taken as relative to the directory of the project file. This allows a project file
stored in the source tree to specify all commands and working directories relative
to the tree itself, so that the whole tree including the project file, can be moved
and even checked into and out of version control without having to re-configure the
build menu.
Build Menu Keyboard Shortcuts
`````````````````````````````
Keyboard shortcuts can be defined for the first two filetype menu items, the first three
non-filetype menu items, the first two execute menu items and the fixed menu items.
In the keybindings configuration dialog (see `Keybinding preferences`_)
these items are identified by the default labels shown in the `Build Menu`_ section above.
It is currently not possible to bind keyboard shortcuts to more than these menu items.
You can also use underlines in the labels to set mnemonic characters.
Configuration Files
```````````````````
The configurable Build Menu capability was introduced in Geany V0.19 and
required a new section to be added to the configuration files (See
`Preferences File Format`_). Geany will still load older format project,
preferences and filetype file settings and will attempt to map them into the new
configuration format. There is not a simple clean mapping between the formats.
The mapping used produces the most sensible results for the majority of cases.
However, if they do not map the way you want, you may have to manually
configure some settings using the Build Commands
Dialog or the Build tab of the project preferences dialog.
Any setting configured in either of these dialogs will override settings mapped from
older format configuration files.
Printing support
----------------
Since Geany 0.13 there has been printing support using GTK's printing API.
The printed page(s) will look nearly the same as on your screen in Geany.
Additionally, there are some options to modify the printed page(s).
You can define whether to print line numbers, page numbers at the bottom of
each page and whether to print a page header on each page. This header
contains the filename of the printed document, the current page number and
the date and time of printing. By default, the file name of the document
with full path information is added to the header. If you prefer to add
only the basename of the file(without any path information) you can set it
in the preferences dialog. You can also adjust the format of the date and
time added to the page header. The available conversion specifiers are the
same as the ones which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function.
All of these settings can also be changed in the print dialog just before
actual printing is done.
On Unix-like systems the provided print dialog offers a print preview. The
preview file is opened with a PDF viewer and by default GTK uses ``evince``
for print preview. If you have not installed evince or just want to use
another PDF viewer, you can change the program to use in the file
``.gtkrc-2.0`` (usually found in your home directory). Simply add a line
like::
gtk-print-preview-command = "epdfview %f"
at the end of the file. Of course, you can also use xpdf, kpdf or whatever
as the print preview command.
Unfortunately, native GTK printing support is only available if Geany was
built against GTK 2.10 (or above) **and** is running with GTK 2.10 (or above).
If not, Geany provides basic printing support. This means you can print a
file by passing the filename of the current file to a command which
actually prints the file. However, the printed document contains no syntax
highlighting. You can adjust the command to which the filename is
passed in the preferences dialog. The default command is::
% lpr %f
``%f`` will be substituted by the filename of the current file. Geany
will not show errors from the command itself, so you should make
sure that it works before(e.g. by trying to execute it from the
command line).
A nicer example, which many prefer is::
% a2ps -1 --medium=A4 -o - %f | xfprint4
But this depends on a2ps and xfprint4. As a replacement for xfprint4,
gtklp or similar programs can be used.
Plugins
-------
Plugins are loaded at startup, if the *Enable plugin support*
general preference is set. There is also a command-line option,
``-p``, which prevents plugins being loaded. Plugins are scanned in
the following directories:
* ``$prefix/lib/geany`` (see `Installation prefix`_)
* ``~/.config/geany/plugins``
Most plugins add menu items to the *Tools* menu when they are loaded.
Since Geany 0.13, there is a Plugin Manager to let you choose which plugins
should be loaded at startup. You can also load and unload plugins on the
fly using this dialog. Once you click the checkbox for a specific plugin
in the dialog, it is loaded or unloaded according to its previous state.
By default, no plugins are loaded at startup until you select some.
You can also configure some plugin specific options when the plugin
provides some.
See also `Plugin documentation`_ for information about single plugins
which are included in Geany.
Keybindings
-----------
Geany supports the default keyboard shortcuts for the Scintilla
editing widget. For a list of these commands, see `Scintilla
keyboard commands`_. The Scintilla keyboard shortcuts will be overridden
by any custom keybindings with the same keyboard shortcut.
Switching documents
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are a few non-configurable bindings to switch between documents,
listed below. These can also be overridden by custom keybindings.
=============== ==================================
Key Action
=============== ==================================
Alt-[1-9] Select left-most tab, from 1 to 9.
Alt-0 Select right-most tab.
Ctrl-Shift-PgUp Select left-most tab.
Ctrl-Shift-PgDn Select right-most tab.
=============== ==================================
Configurable keybindings
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For all actions listed below you can define your own keybindings. Open
the Preferences dialog, select the desired action and click on
change. In the resulting dialog you can press the key combination you
want to assign to the action and it will be saved when you press OK.
You can define only one key combination for each action and each key
combination can only be defined for one action.
Some of the default key combinations are common across many
applications, for example *Ctrl-N* for New and *Ctrl-O* for Open.
Because they are so common it is not advisable to change these, but
you can add other key combinations for these actions. For example
*Ctrl-O* is set to execute menu_open by default, but you can also
define *Alt-O*, so that the file open dialog is shown by pressing
either *Ctrl-O* or *Alt-O*.
The following tables list all customizable keyboard shortcuts, those
which are common to many applications are marked with (C) after the
shortcut.
File keybindings
````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
New Ctrl-N (C) Creates a new file.
Open Ctrl-O (C) Opens a file.
Open selected file Ctrl-Shift-O Opens the selected filename.
Re-open last closed tab Re-opens the last closed document tab.
Save Ctrl-S (C) Saves the current file.
Save As Saves the current file under a new name.
Save all Ctrl-Shift-S Saves all open files.
Close all Ctrl-Shift-W Closes all open files.
Close Ctrl-W (C) Closes the current file.
Reload file Ctrl-R (C) Reloads the current file. All unsaved changes
will be lost.
Print Ctrl-P (C) Prints the current file.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Editor keybindings
``````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Undo Ctrl-Z (C) Un-does the last action.
Redo Ctrl-Y Re-does the last action.
Delete current line(s) Ctrl-K Deletes the current line (and any lines with a
selection).
Delete to line end Ctrl-Shift-Delete Deletes from the current caret position to the
end of the current line.
Duplicate line or selection Ctrl-D Duplicates the current line or selection.
Transpose current line Ctrl-T Transposes the current line with the previous one.
Scroll to current line Ctrl-Shift-L Scrolls the current line into the centre of the
view. The cursor position and or an existing
selection will not be changed.
Scroll up by one line Alt-Up Scrolls the view.
Scroll down by one line Alt-Down Scrolls the view.
Complete word Ctrl-Space Shows the autocompletion list. If already showing
tag completion, it shows document word completion
instead, even if it is not enabled for automatic
completion. Likewise if no tag suggestions are
available, it shows document word completion.
Show calltip Ctrl-Shift-Space Shows a calltip for the current function or
method.
Show macro list Ctrl-Return Shows a list of available macros and variables in
the workspace.
Complete snippet Tab If you type a construct like if or for and press
this key, it will be completed with a matching
template.
Suppress snippet completion If you type a construct like if or for and press
this key, it will not be completed, and a space or
tab will be inserted, depending on what the
construct completion keybinding is set to. For
example, if you have set the construct completion
keybinding to space, then setting this to
Shift+space will prevent construct completion and
insert a space.
Context Action Executes a command and passes the current word
(near the cursor position) or selection as an
argument. See the section called `Context
actions`_.
Move cursor in snippet Jumps to the next defined cursor positions in a
completed snippets if multiple cursor positions
where defined.
Word part completion Tab When the autocompletion list is visible, complete
the currently selected item up to the next word
part.
Move line(s) up Move the current line or selected lines up by
one line.
Move line(s) down Move the current line or selected lines down by
one line.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Clipboard keybindings
`````````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Cut Ctrl-X (C) Cut the current selection to the clipboard.
Copy Ctrl-C (C) Copy the current selection to the clipboard.
Paste Ctrl-V (C) Paste the clipboard text into the current document.
Cut current line(s) Ctrl-Shift-X Cuts the current line (and any lines with a
selection) to the clipboard.
Copy current line(s) Ctrl-Shift-C Copies the current line (and any lines with a
selection) to the clipboard.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Select keybindings
``````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Select all Ctrl-A (C) Makes a selection of all text in the current
document.
Select current word Alt-Shift-W Selects the current word under the cursor.
Select current paragraph Alt-Shift-P Selects the current paragraph under the cursor
which is defined by two empty lines around it.
Select current line(s) Alt-Shift-L Selects the current line under the cursor (and any
partially selected lines).
Select to previous word part (Extend) selection to previous word part boundary.
Select to next word part (Extend) selection to next word part boundary.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Insert keybindings
``````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Insert date Shift-Alt-D Inserts a customisable date.
Insert alternative whitespace Inserts a tab character when spaces should
be used for indentation and inserts space
characters of the amount of a tab width when
tabs should be used for indentation.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Format keybindings
``````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Toggle case of selection Ctrl-Alt-U Changes the case of the selection. A lowercase
selection will be changed into uppercase and vice
versa. If the selection contains lower- and
uppercase characters, all will be converted to
lowercase.
Comment line Comments current line or selection.
Uncomment line Uncomments current line or selection.
Toggle line commentation Ctrl-E Comments a line if it is not commented or removes
a comment if the line is commented.
Increase indent Ctrl-I Indents the current line or selection by one tab
or by spaces in the amount of the tab width
setting.
Decrease indent Ctrl-U Removes one tab or the amount of spaces of
the tab width setting from the indentation of the
current line or selection.
Increase indent by one space Indents the current line or selection by one
space.
Decrease indent by one space Deindents the current line or selection by one
space.
Smart line indent Indents the current line or all selected lines
with the same indentation as the previous line.
Send to Custom Command 1 (2,3) Ctrl-1 (2,3) Passes the current selection to a configured
external command (available for the first
three configured commands, see
`Sending text through custom commands`_ for
details).
Send Selection to Terminal Sends the current selection or the current
line (if there is no selection) to the
embedded Terminal (VTE).
Reflow lines/block Reformat selected lines or current
(indented) text block,
breaking lines at the long line marker or the
line breaking column if line breaking is
enabled for the current document.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Settings keybindings
````````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Preferences Ctrl-Alt-P Opens preferences dialog.
Plugin Preferences Opens plugin preferences dialog.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Search keybindings
``````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Find Ctrl-F (C) Opens the Find dialog.
Find Next Ctrl-G Finds next result.
Find Previous Ctrl-Shift-G Finds previous result.
Replace Ctrl-H (C) Opens the Replace dialog.
Find in files Ctrl-Shift-F Opens the Find in files dialog.
Next message Jumps to the line with the next message in
the Messages window.
Previous message Jumps to the line with the previous message
in the Messages window.
Find Usage Finds all occurrences of the current word (near
the keyboard cursor) or selection in all open
documents and displays them in the messages
window.
Find Document Usage Finds all occurrences of the current word (near
the keyboard cursor) or selection in the current
document and displays them in the messages
window.
Mark All Ctrl-Shift-M Highlight all matches of the current
word/selection in the current document
with a colored box. If there's nothing to
find, highlighted matches will be cleared.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Go to keybindings
`````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Navigate forward a location Switches to the next location in the navigation
history. See the section called `Code Navigation
History`_.
Navigate back a location Switches to the previous location in the
navigation history. See the section called
`Code navigation history`_.
Go to line Ctrl-L Focuses the Go to Line entry (if visible) or
shows the Go to line dialog.
Goto matching brace Ctrl-B If the cursor is ahead or behind a brace, then it
is moved to the brace which belongs to the current
one. If this keyboard shortcut is pressed again,
the cursor is moved back to the first brace.
Toggle marker Ctrl-M Set a marker on the current line, or clear the
marker if there already is one.
Goto next marker Ctrl-. Goto the next marker in the current document.
Goto previous marker Ctrl-, Goto the previous marker in the current document.
Go to tag definition Jump to the definition of the current word (near
the keyboard cursor). If the definition cannot be
found (e.g. the relevant file is not open) Geany
will beep and do nothing. See the section called
`Go to tag definition`_.
Go to tag declaration Jump to the declaration of the current word (near
the keyboard cursor). If the declaration cannot be
found (e.g. the relevant file is not open) Geany
will beep and do nothing. See the section called
`Go to tag declaration`_.
Go to Start of Line Home Move the caret to the end of the line indentation
unless it is already there, in which case it moves
it to the start of the line.
Go to End of Line End Move the caret to the end of the line.
Go to End of Display Line Alt-End Move the caret to the end of the display line.
This is useful when you use line wrapping and
want to jump to the end of the wrapped, virtual
line, not the real end of the whole line.
If the line is not wrapped, it behaves like
`Go to End of Line`, see above.
Go to Previous Word Part Ctrl-/ Goto the previous part of the current word.
Go to Next Word Part Ctrl-\ Goto the next part of the current word.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
View keybindings
````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Fullscreen F11 (C) Switches to fullscreen mode.
Toggle Messages Window Toggles the message window (status and compiler
messages) on and off.
Toggle Sidebar Shows or hides the sidebar.
Toggle all additional widgets Hide and show all additional widgets like the
notebook tabs, the toolbar, the messages window
and the status bar.
Zoom In Ctrl-+ (C) Zooms in the text.
Zoom Out Ctrl-- (C) Zooms out the text.
Zoom Reset Ctrl-0 Reset any previous zoom on the text.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Focus keybindings
`````````````````
================================ ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
================================ ========================= ==================================================
Switch to Editor F2 Switches to editor widget.
Also reshows the document statistics line
(after a short timeout).
Switch to Scribble F6 Switches to scribble widget.
Switch to VTE F4 Switches to VTE widget.
Switch to Search Bar F7 Switches to the search bar in the toolbar (if
visible).
Switch to Sidebar Focus the Sidebar.
Switch to Compiler Focus the Compiler message window tab.
Switch to Messages Focus the Messages message window tab.
Switch to Message Window Focus the Message Window's current tab.
Switch to Sidebar Document List Focus the Document list tab in the Sidebar
(if visible).
Switch to Sidebar Symbol List Focus the Symbol list tab in the Sidebar
(if visible).
================================ ========================= ==================================================
Notebook tab keybindings
````````````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Switch to left document Ctrl-PageUp (C) Switches to the previous open document.
Switch to right document Ctrl-PageDown (C) Switches to the next open document.
Switch to last used document Ctrl-Tab Switches to the previously shown document (if it's
still open).
Holding Ctrl (or another modifier if the keybinding
has been changed) will show a dialog, then repeated
presses of the keybinding will switch to the 2nd-last
used document, 3rd-last, etc. Also known as
Most-Recently-Used documents switching.
Move document left Alt-PageUp Changes the current document with the left hand
one.
Move document right Alt-PageDown Changes the current document with the right hand
one.
Move document first Moves the current document to the first position.
Move document last Moves the current document to the last position.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Document keybindings
````````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Replace tabs by space Replaces all tabs with the right amount of spaces.
Replace spaces by tabs Replaces all spaces with tab characters.
Toggle current fold Toggles the folding state of the current code block.
Fold all Folds all contractible code blocks.
Unfold all Unfolds all contracted code blocks.
Reload symbol list Ctrl-Shift-R Reloads the tag/symbol list.
Toggle Line wrapping Enables or disables wrapping of long lines.
Toggle Line breaking Enables or disables automatic breaking of long
lines at a configurable column.
Remove Markers Remove any markers on lines or words which
were set by using 'Mark All' in the
search dialog or by manually marking lines.
Remove Error Indicators Remove any error indicators in the
current document.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Build keybindings
`````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Compile F8 Compiles the current file.
Build F9 Builds (compiles if necessary and links) the
current file.
Make all Shift-F9 Builds the current file with the Make tool.
Make custom target Ctrl-Shift-F9 Builds the current file with the Make tool and a
given target.
Make object Compiles the current file with the Make tool.
Next error Jumps to the line with the next error from the
last build process.
Previous error Jumps to the line with the previous error from
the last build process.
Run F5 Executes the current file in a terminal emulation.
Set Build Commands Opens the build commands dialog.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Tools keybindings
`````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Show Color Chooser Opens the Color Chooser dialog.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Help keybindings
````````````````
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Action Default shortcut Description
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Help F1 (C) Opens the manual.
=============================== ========================= ==================================================
Configuration files
===================
.. warning::
You must use UTF-8 encoding *without BOM* for configuration files.
Tools menu items
----------------
There's a *Configuration files* submenu in the *Tools* menu that
contains items for some of the available user configuration files.
Clicking on one opens it in the editor for you to update. Geany will
reload the file after you have saved it.
.. note::
Other configuration files not shown here will need to be opened
manually, and will not be automatically reloaded when saved.
(see *Reload Configuration* below).
There's also a *Reload Configuration* item which can be used if you
updated one of the other configuration files, or modified or added
template files.
*Reload Configuration* is also necessary to update syntax highlighting colors.
.. note::
Syntax highlighting colors aren't updated in open documents after
saving filetypes.common as this can possibly take a significant
amount of time.
Global configuration file
-------------------------
There is a global configuration file for Geany which will be used for
any settings not defined in the users local configuration file.
Settings present in the local configuration file override those in the global
file.
The global configuration file is read from
``$prefix/share/geany/geany.conf`` (where ``$prefix`` is the path where
Geany is installed, see `Installation prefix`_) when starting Geany and
an user configuration file does not exist. It can contain any settings
which are found in the usual configuration file created by Geany but
does not have to contain all settings.
.. note::
This feature is mainly intended for package maintainers or system
admins who want to set up Geany in a multi user environment and
set some sane default values for this environment. Usually users won't
need to do that.
Filetype definition files
-------------------------
All color definitions and other filetype specific settings are
stored in the filetype definition files. Those settings are colors
for syntax highlighting, general settings like comment characters or
word delimiter characters as well as compiler and linker settings.
Custom filetypes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
At startup Geany looks for ``filetypes.*.conf`` files in the system and
user filetype paths, adding any filetypes found with the name matching
the '``*``' wildcard.
Custom filetypes are not as powerful as built-in filetypes, but the following
have been implemented:
* Recognizing and setting the filetype (after the user has manually edited
``filetype_extensions.conf``).
* Filetype settings in the [settings] section (see `Format`_).
* Using existing tag parsing (``tag_parser`` key).
* Using existing syntax highlighting (``lexer_filetype`` key).
* Build commands.
* Loading global tags files (namespace will be shared with tag_parser
type).
System files
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The system-wide configuration files can be found in
``$prefix/share/geany`` and are called ``filetypes.$ext``,
where ``$prefix`` is the path where Geany is installed (see
`Installation prefix`_) and $ext is the name of the filetype. For every
filetype there is a corresponding definition file. There is one
exception: ``filetypes.common`` -- this file is for general settings,
which are not specific to a certain filetype.
.. warning::
It is not recommended that users edit the system-wide files,
because they will be overridden when Geany is updated.
User files
^^^^^^^^^^
To change the settings, copy a file from ``$prefix/share/geany`` to
the subdirectory filedefs in your configuration directory (usually
``~/.config/geany/``).
For example::
% cp /usr/local/share/geany/filetypes.c /home/username/.config/geany/filedefs/
Then you can edit the file and the changes are also
available after an update of Geany because they reside in your
configuration directory. Alternatively, you can create a file
``~/.config/geany/filedefs/filetypes.X`` and add only these settings you want
to change. All missing settings will be read from the corresponding
global definition file in ``$prefix/share/geany``.
As well as the sections listed below, each filetype file can contain
a [build-menu] section as described in `[build-menu] Section`_.
Format
^^^^^^
[styling] Section
`````````````````
In this section the colors for syntax highlighting are defined. The
manual format is:
* ``key=foreground_color;background_color;bold_flag;italic_flag``
Colors have to be specified as RGB hex values prefixed by
0x. For example red is 0xff0000, blue is 0x0000ff. The values are
case-insensitive, but it is a good idea to use small letters. Bold
and italic are flags and should only be "true" or "false". If their
value is something other than "true" or "false", "false" is assumed.
You can omit fields to use the values from the style named ``"default"``.
E.g. ``key=0xff0000;;true``
This makes the key style have red foreground text, default background
color text and bold emphasis.
Using a named style
*******************
The second format uses a *named style* name to reference a style
defined in filetypes.common.
* ``key=named_style``
* ``key2=named_style2,bold,italic``
The bold and italic parts are optional, and if present are used to
toggle the bold or italic flags to the opposite of the named style's
flags. In contrast to style definition booleans, they are a literal
",bold,italic" and commas are used instead of semi-colons.
E.g. ``key=comment,italic``
This makes the key style match the ``"comment"`` named style, but with
italic emphasis.
To define named styles, see the filetypes.common `[named_styles]
Section`_.
[keywords] Section
``````````````````
This section contains keys for different keyword lists specific to
the filetype. Some filetypes do not support keywords, so adding a
new key will not work. You can only add or remove keywords to/from
an existing list.
.. important::
The keywords list must be in one line without line ending characters.
[lexer_properties] Section
``````````````````````````
Here any special properties for the Scintilla lexer can be set in the
format ``key.name.field=some.value``.
[settings] Section
``````````````````
extension
This is the default file extension used when saving files, not
including the period character (``.``). The extension used should
match one of the patterns associated with that filetype (see
`Filetype extensions`_).
*Example:* ``extension=cxx``
wordchars
These characters define word boundaries when making selections
and searching using word matching options.
*Example:* (look at system filetypes.\* files)
comment_open
A character or string which is used to comment code. If you want to
use multiline comments, also set comment_close, otherwise leave it
empty.
*Example:* ``comment_open=/*``
comment_close
If multiline comments are used, this is the character or string to
close the comment.
*Example:* ``comment_close=*/``
comment_use_indent
Set this to false if a comment character or string should start at
column 0 of a line. If set to true it uses any indentation of the
line.
Note: Comment indentation
``comment_use_indent=true`` would generate this if a line is
commented (e.g. with Ctrl-D)::
#command_example();
``comment_use_indent=false`` would generate this if a line is
commented (e.g. with Ctrl-D)::
# command_example();
Note: This setting only works for single line comments (like '//',
'#' or ';').
*Example:* ``comment_use_indent=true``
context_action_cmd
A command which can be executed on the current word or the current
selection.
Example usage: Open the API documentation for the
current function call at the cursor position.
The command can
be set for every filetype or if not set, a global command will
be used. The command itself can be specified without the full
path, then it is searched in $PATH. But for security reasons,
it is recommended to specify the full path to the command. The
wildcard %s will be replaced by the current word at the cursor
position or by the current selection.
Hint: for PHP files the following could be quite useful:
context_action_cmd=firefox "http://www.php.net/%s"
*Example:* ``context_action_cmd=devhelp -s "%s"``
tag_parser
The TagManager language name, e.g. "C".
lexer_filetype
A filetype name to setup syntax highlighting from another filetype.
This must not be recursive, i.e. it should be a filetype name that
doesn't use the lexer_filetype key itself.
[build_settings] Section
````````````````````````
As of Geany v0.19 this section is supplemented by the `[build-menu] Section`_.
Values that are set in the [build-menu] section will override those in this section.
error_regex
This is a GNU-style extended regular expression to parse a filename
and line number from build output. If undefined, Geany will fall
back to its default error message parsing.
Only the first two matches will be read by Geany. Geany will look for
a match that is purely digits, and use this for the line number. The
remaining match will be used as the filename.
*Example:* ``error_regex=(.+):([0-9]+):[0-9]+``
This will parse a message such as:
``test.py:7:24: E202 whitespace before ']'``
**Build commands**
If any build menu item settings have been configured in the Build Menu Commands
dialog or the Build tab of the project preferences dialog then these
settings are stored in the [build-menu] section and override the settings in
this section for that item.
compiler
This item specifies the command to compile source code files. But
it is also possible to use it with interpreted languages like Perl
or Python. With these filetypes you can use this option as a kind of
syntax parser, which sends output to the compiler message window.
You should quote the filename to also support filenames with
spaces. The following wildcards for filenames are available:
* %f -- complete filename without path
* %e -- filename without path and without extension
*Example:* ``compiler=gcc -Wall -c "%f"``
linker
This item specifies the command to link the file. If the file is not
already compiled, it will be compiled while linking. The -o option
is automatically added by Geany. This item works well with GNU gcc,
but may be problematic with other compilers (esp. with the linker).
*Example:* ``linker=gcc -Wall "%f"``
run_cmd
Use this item to execute your file. It has to have been built
already. Use the %e wildcard to have only the name of the executable
(i.e. without extension) or use the %f wildcard if you need the
complete filename, e.g. for shell scripts.
*Example:* ``run_cmd="./%e"``
Special file filetypes.common
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There is a special filetype definition file called
filetypes.common. This file defines some general non-filetype-specific
settings.
See the `Format`_ section for how to define styles.
[named_styles] Section
``````````````````````
Named styles declared here can be used in the [styling] section of any
filetypes.* file.
For example:
*In filetypes.common*::
[named_styles]
foo=0xc00000;0xffffff;false;true
bar=foo
*In filetypes.c*::
[styling]
comment=foo
This saves copying and pasting the whole style definition into several
different files.
.. note::
You can define aliases for named styles, as shown with the ``bar``
entry in the above example, but they must be declared after the
original style.
[styling] Section
`````````````````
default
This is the default style. It is used for styling files without a
filetype set.
*Example:* ``default=0x000000;0xffffff;false;false``
selection
The style for coloring selected text. The format is:
* Foreground color
* Background color
* Use foreground color
* Use background color
The colors are only set if the 3rd or 4th argument is true. When
the colors are not overridden, the default is a dark grey
background with syntax highlighted foreground text.
*Example:* ``selection=0xc0c0c0;0x00007F;true;true``
brace_good
The style for brace highlighting when a matching brace was found.
*Example:* ``brace_good=0xff0000;0xFFFFFF;true;false``
brace_bad
The style for brace highlighting when no matching brace was found.
*Example:* ``brace_bad=0x0000ff;0xFFFFFF;true;false``
caret
The style for coloring the caret(the blinking cursor). Only first
and third argument is interpreted.
Set the third argument to true to change the caret into a block caret.
*Example:* ``caret=0x000000;0x0;false;false``
caret_width
The width for the caret(the blinking cursor). Only the first
argument is interpreted. The width is specified in pixels with
a maximum of three pixel. Use the width 0 to make the caret
invisible.
*Example:* ``caret=1;0;false;false``
current_line
The style for coloring the background of the current line. Only
the second and third arguments are interpreted. The second argument
is the background color. Use the third argument to enable or
disable background highlighting for the current line (has to be
true/false).
*Example:* ``current_line=0x0;0xe5e5e5;true;false``
indent_guide
The style for coloring the indentation guides. Only the first and
second arguments are interpreted.
*Example:* ``indent_guide=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;false;false``
white_space
The style for coloring the white space if it is shown. The first
both arguments define the foreground and background colors, the
third argument sets whether to use the defined foreground color
or to use the color defined by each filetype for the white space.
The fourth argument defines whether to use the background color.
*Example:* ``white_space=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;true;true``
.. _Folding Settings:
folding_style
The style of folding icons. Only first and second arguments are
used.
Valid values for the first argument are:
* 1 -- for boxes
* 2 -- for circles
* 3 -- for arrows
* 4 -- for +/-
Valid values for the second argument are:
* 0 -- for no lines
* 1 -- for straight lines
* 2 -- for curved lines
*Default:* ``folding_style=1;1;``
*Arrows:* ``folding_style=3;0;``
folding_horiz_line
Draw a thin horizontal line at the line where text is folded. Only
first argument is used.
Valid values for the first argument are:
* 0 -- disable, do not draw a line
* 1 -- draw the line above folded text
* 2 -- draw the line below folded text
*Example:* ``folding_horiz_line=0;0;false;false``
line_wrap_visuals
First argument: drawing of visual flags to indicate a line is wrapped.
This is a bitmask of the values:
* 0 -- No visual flags
* 1 -- Visual flag at end of subline of a wrapped line
* 2 -- Visual flag at begin of subline of a wrapped line. Subline is
indented by at least 1 to make room for the flag.
Second argument: wether the visual flags to indicate a line is wrapped
are drawn near the border or near the text. This is a bitmask of the values:
* 0 -- Visual flags drawn near border
* 1 -- Visual flag at end of subline drawn near text
* 2 -- Visual flag at begin of subline drawn near text
Only first and second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``line_wrap_visuals=3;0;false;false``
line_wrap_indent
First argument: sets the size of indentation of sublines for wrapped lines
in terms of the width of a space, only used when the second argument is ``0``.
Second argument: wrapped sublines can be indented to the position of their
first subline or one more indent level. Possible values:
* 0 - Wrapped sublines aligned to left of window plus amount set by the first argument
* 1 - Wrapped sublines are aligned to first subline indent (use the same indentation)
* 2 - Wrapped sublines are aligned to first subline indent plus one more level of indentation
Only first and second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``line_wrap_indent=0;1;false;false``
translucency
Translucency for the current line (first argument) and the selection
(second argument). Values between 0 and 256 are accepted.
Note for Windows 95, 98 and ME users:
keep this value at 256 to disable translucency otherwise Geany might crash.
Only the first and second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``translucency=256;256;false;false``
marker_line
The style for a highlighted line (e.g when using Goto line or goto tag).
The foreground color (first argument) is only used when the Markers margin
is enabled (see View menu).
Only the first and second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``marker_line=0x000000;0xffff00;false;false``
marker_search
The style for a marked search results (when using "Mark" in Search dialogs).
The second argument sets the background colour for the drawn rectangle.
Only the second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``marker_search=0x000000;0xb8f4b8;false;false``
marker_mark
The style for a marked line (e.g when using the "Toggle Marker" keybinding
(Ctrl-M)). The foreground color (first argument) is only used
when the Markers margin is enabled (see View menu).
Only the first and second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``marker_mark=0x000000;0xb8f4b8;false;false``
marker_translucency
Translucency for the line marker (first argument) and the search marker
(second argument). Values between 0 and 256 are accepted.
Note for Windows 95, 98 and ME users:
keep this value at 256 to disable translucency otherwise Geany might crash.
Only the first and second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``marker_translucency=256;256;false;false``
line_height
Amount of space to be drawn above and below the line's baseline.
The first argument defines the amount of space to be drawn above the line, the second
argument defines the amount of space to be drawn below.
Only the first and second argument is interpreted.
*Example:* ``line_height=0;0;false;false``
calltips
The style for coloring the calltips. The first two arguments
define the foreground and background colors, the third and fourth
arguments set whether to use the defined colors.
*Example:* ``calltips=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;false;false``
[settings] Section
``````````````````
whitespace_chars
Characters to treat as whitespace. These characters are ignored
when moving, selecting and deleting across word boundaries
(see `Scintilla keyboard commands`_).
This should include space (\\s) and tab (\\t).
*Example:* ``whitespace_chars=\s\t!\"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\\]^`{|}~``
Filetype extensions
-------------------
To change the default filetype extension used when saving a new file,
see `Filetype definition files`_.
You can override the list of file extensions that Geany uses for each
filetype using the ``filetype_extensions.conf`` file.
To override the system-wide configuration file, copy it from
``$prefix/share/geany`` to your configuration directory, usually
``~/.config/geany/``. ``$prefix`` is the path where Geany is installed
(see `Installation prefix`_).
For example::
% cp /usr/local/share/geany/filetype_extensions.conf /home/username/.config/geany/
Then edit it and remove all the lines for filetype extensions that
you do not want to override. The remaining lines can be edited after
the ``=`` sign, using a semi-colon separated list of patterns which
should be matched for that filetype.
For example, to set the filetype extensions for Make, the
``/home/username/.config/geany/filetype_extensions.conf`` file should
look like::
[Extensions]
Make=Makefile*;*.mk;Buildfile;
Preferences File Format
-----------------------
The preferences file ``~/.config/geany/geany.conf`` holds settings for all the items configured
in the preferences dialog. This file should not be edited while Geany is running
as the file will be overwritten when the preferences in Geany are changed or Geany
is quitted.
Hidden preferences
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are some rarely used preferences that are not shown in the Preferences
dialog. These can be set by editing the preferences file, then
selecting *Tools->Reload Configuration* or restarting Geany. Search for the
key name, then edit the value. Example:
``brace_match_ltgt=true``
The table below show the key names of hidden preferences in the
configuration file.
================================ =========================================== ==================
Key Description Default
================================ =========================================== ==================
**Editor related**
brace_match_ltgt Whether to highlight <, > angle brackets. false
show_editor_scrollbars Whether to display scrollbars. If set to true
false, the horizontal and vertical
scrollbars are hidden completely.
use_gtk_word_boundaries Whether to look for the end of a word when true
using word-boundary related Scintilla
commands (see `Scintilla keyboard
commands`_).
complete_snippets_whilst_editing Whether to allow completion of snippets false
when editing an existing line (i.e. there
is some text after the current cursor
position on the line). Only used when the
keybinding ``Complete snippet`` is set to
``Space``.
**Interface related**
show_symbol_list_expanders Whether to show or hide the small expander true
icons on the symbol list treeview (only
available with GTK 2.12 or above).
allow_always_save Whether files can be saved always, even if false
they don't have any changes. By default,
the Save buttons and menu items are
disabled when a file is unchanged. When
setting this option to true, the Save
buttons and menu items are always active
and files can be saved.
compiler_tab_autoscroll Whether to automatically scroll to the true
last line of the output in the Compiler
tab.
**VTE related**
emulation Terminal emulation mode. Only change this xterm
if you have VTE termcap files other than
``vte/termcap/xterm``.
send_selection_unsafe By default, Geany strips any trailing false
newline characters from the current
selection before sending it to the terminal
to not execute arbitrary code. This is
mainly a security feature.
If, for whatever reasons, you really want
it to be executed directly, set this option
to true.
**File related**
use_safe_file_saving Defines the mode how Geany saves files to false
disk. If disabled, Geany directly writes
the content of the document to disk. This
might cause in loss of data when there is
no more free space on disk to save the
file. When set to true, Geany first saves
the contents into a temporary file and if
this succeeded, the temporary file is
moved to the real file to save.
This gives better error checking in case of
no more free disk space. But it also
destroys hard links of the original file
and its permissions (e.g. executable flags
are reset). Use this with care as it can
break things seriously.
The better approach would be to ensure your
disk won't run out of free space.
**Build Menu related**
number_ft_menu_items The maximum number of menu items in the 2
filetype section of the Build menu.
number_non_ft_menu_items The maximum number of menu items in the 3
non-filetype section of the Build menu.
number_exec_menu_items The maximum number of menu items in the 2
execute section of the Build menu.
================================ =========================================== ==================
[build-menu] Section
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The [build-menu] section contains the configuration of the build menu.
This section can occur in filetype, preferences and project files and
always has the format described here. Different menu items are loaded
from different files, see the table in the `Build Menu Configuration`_
section for details. All the settings can be configured from the dialogs
except the execute command in filetype files and filetype definitions in
the project file, so these are the only ones which need hand editing.
The build-menu section stores one entry for each setting for each menu item that
is configured. The keys for these settings have the format:
``GG_NN_FF``
where:
* GG - is the menu item group,
- FT for filetype
- NF for non-filetype
- EX for execute
* NN - is a two decimal digit number of the item within the group,
starting at 00
* FF - is the field,
- LB for label
- CM for command
- WD for working directory
Project File Format
-------------------
The project file contains project related settings and possibly a
record of the current session files.
[build-menu] Additions
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The project file also can have extra fields in the [build-menu] section
in addition to those listed in `[build-menu] Section`_ above.
When filetype menu items are configured for the project they are stored
in the project file.
The ``filetypes`` entry is a list of the filetypes which exist in the
project file.
For each filetype the entries for that filetype have the format defined in
`[build-menu] Section`_ but the key is prefixed by the name of the filetype
as it appears in the ``filetypes`` entry, eg the entry for the label of
filetype menu item 0 for the C filetype would be
``CFT_00_LB=Label``
Templates
---------
Geany supports the following templates:
* ChangeLog entry
* File header
* Function description
* Short GPL notice
* Short BSD notice
* File templates
To use these templates, just open the Edit menu or open the popup menu
by right-clicking in the editor widget, and choose "Insert Comments"
and insert templates as you want.
Some templates (like File header or ChangeLog entry) will always be
inserted at the top of the file.
To insert a function description, the cursor must be inside
of the function, so that the function name can be determined
automatically. The description will be positioned correctly one line
above the function, just check it out. If the cursor is not inside
of a function or the function name cannot be determined, the inserted
function description won't contain the correct function name but "unknown"
instead.
.. note::
Geany automatically reloads template information when it notices you
save a file in the user's template configuration directory. You can
also force this by selecting *Tools->Reload Configuration*.
Template meta data
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Meta data can be used with all templates, but by default user set
meta data is only used for the ChangeLog and File header templates.
In the configuration dialog you can find a tab "Templates" (see
`Template preferences`_). You can define the default values
which will be inserted in the templates. You should select
*Tools->Reload Configuration* or restart Geany after making changes.
File templates
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File templates are templates used as the basis of a new file. To
use them, choose the *New (with Template)* menu item from the *File*
menu.
By default, file templates are installed for some filetypes. Custom
file templates can be added by creating the appropriate template file
and then selecting *Tools->Reload Configuration* or restarting Geany. You can
also edit the default file templates.
The file's contents are just the text to place in the document, with
optional template wildcards like ``{fileheader}``. The fileheader
wildcard can be placed anywhere, but it's usually put on the first
line of the file, followed by a blank line.
Custom file templates
`````````````````````
These are read from the following directories:
* ``$prefix/share/geany/templates/files`` (see `Installation prefix`_)
* ``~/.config/geany/templates/files`` (created the first time
Geany is started).
The filetype to use is detected from the template file's extension, if
any. For example, creating a file ``module.c`` would add a menu item
which created a new document with the filetype set to 'C'.
The template file is read from disk when the corresponding menu item is
clicked.
Filetype templates
``````````````````
.. note::
It's recommended to use custom file templates instead.
Filetype template files are read from the ``~/.config/geany/templates``
directory, and are named "filetype." followed by the filetype
name, e.g. "filetype.python", "filetype.sh", etc. If you are
unsure about the filetype name extensions, they are the same as
the filetype configuration file extensions, commonly installed in
``/usr/share/geany``, with the prefix "filetypes.".
There is also a template file ``filetype.none`` which is used when
the New command is used without a filetype. This is empty by default.
Customizing templates
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Each template can be customized to your needs. The templates are
stored in the ``~/.config/geany/templates/`` directory (see the section called
`Command line options`_ for further information about the configuration
directory). Just open the desired template with an editor (ideally,
Geany ;-) ) and edit the template to your needs. There are some
wildcards which will be automatically replaced by Geany at startup.
Template wildcards
``````````````````
All wildcards must be enclosed by "{" and "}", e.g. {date}.
**Wildcards for character escaping**
============== ============================================= =======================================
Wildcard Description Available in
============== ============================================= =======================================
ob { Opening Brace (used to prevent other file templates, file header, snippets.
wildcards being expanded).
cb } Closing Brace. file templates, file header, snippets.
pc \% Percent (used to escape e.g. %block% in
snippets). snippets.
============== ============================================= =======================================
**Global wildcards**
These are configurable, see `Template preferences`_.
============== ============================================= =======================================
Wildcard Description Available in
============== ============================================= =======================================
developer The name of the developer. file templates, file header,
function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
initial The developer's initials, e.g. "ET" for file templates, file header,
Enrico Tröger or "JFD" for John Foobar Doe. function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
mail The email address of the developer. file templates, file header,
function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
company The company the developer is working for. file templates, file header,
function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
version The initial version of a new file. file templates, file header,
function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
============== ============================================= =======================================
**Date & time wildcards**
The format for these wildcards can be changed in the preferences
dialog, see `Template preferences`_. You can use any conversion
specifiers which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function.
For details please see http://man.cx/strftime.
============== ============================================= =======================================
Wildcard Description Available in
============== ============================================= =======================================
year The current year. Default format is: YYYY. file templates, file header,
function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
date The current date. Default format: file templates, file header,
YYYY-MM-DD. function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
datetime The current date and time. Default format: file templates, file header,
DD.MM.YYYY HH:mm:ss ZZZZ. function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
============== ============================================= =======================================
**Dynamic wildcards**
============== ============================================= =======================================
Wildcard Description Available in
============== ============================================= =======================================
untitled The string "untitled" (this will be file templates, file header,
translated to your locale), used in function description, ChangeLog entry,
file templates. bsd, gpl, snippets.
geanyversion The actual Geany version, e.g. file templates, file header,
"Geany |(version)|". function description, ChangeLog entry,
bsd, gpl, snippets.
filename The filename of the current file. file header, snippets, file
For new files, it's only replaced when templates.
first saving if found on the first 3 lines
of the file.
project The current project's name, if any. file header, snippets, file templates.
description The current project's description, if any. file header, snippets, file templates.
functionname The function name of the function at the function description.
cursor position. This wildcard will only be
replaced in the function description
template.
command:path Executes the specified command and replace file templates, file header,
the wildcard with the command's standard function description, ChangeLog entry,
output. See `Special {command:} wildcard`_ bsd, gpl, snippets.
for details.
============== ============================================= =======================================
**Template insertion wildcards**
============== ============================================= =======================================
Wildcard Description Available in
============== ============================================= =======================================
gpl This wildcard inserts a short GPL notice. file header.
bsd This wildcard inserts a BSD licence notice. file header.
fileheader The file header template. This wildcard snippets, file templates.
will only be replaced in filetype
templates.
============== ============================================= =======================================
Special {command:} wildcard
***************************
The {command:} wildcard is a special one because it can execute
a specified command and put the command's output (stdout) into
the template.
Example::
{command:uname -a}
will result in::
Linux localhost 2.6.9-023stab046.2-smp #1 SMP Mon Dec 10 15:04:55 MSK 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Using this wildcard you can insert nearly any arbitrary text into the
template.
In the environment of the executed command the variables
``GEANY_FILENAME``, ``GEANY_FILETYPE`` and ``GEANY_FUNCNAME`` are set.
The value of these variables is filled in only if Geany knows about it.
For example, ``GEANY_FUNCNAME`` is only filled within the function
description template. However, these variables are ``always`` set,
just maybe with an empty value.
You can easily access them e.g. within an executed shell script using::
$GEANY_FILENAME
.. note::
If the specified command could not be found or not executed, the wildcard is substituted
by an empty string. In such cases, you can find the occurred error message on Geany's
standard error and in the Help->Debug Messages dialog.
Customizing the toolbar
-----------------------
You can add, remove and reorder the elements in the toolbar by using the toolbar editor
by manually editing the file ``ui_toolbar.xml``.
The toolbar editor can be opened from the preferences editor on the Toolbar tab or
by right-clicking on the toolbar itself and choosing it from the menu.
Manually editing of the toolbar layout
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To override the system-wide configuration file, copy it from
``$prefix/share/geany`` to your configuration directory, usually
``~/.config/geany/``. ``$prefix`` is the path where Geany is installed
(see `Installation prefix`_).
For example::
% cp /usr/local/share/geany/ui_toolbar.xml /home/username/.config/geany/
Then edit it and add any of the available elements listed in the file or remove
any of the existing elements. Of course, you can also reorder the elements as
you wish and add or remove additional separators.
This file must be valid XML, otherwise the global toolbar UI definition
will be used instead.
Your changes are applied once you save the file.
.. note::
(1) You cannot add new actions which are not listed below.
(2) Everything you add or change must be inside the /ui/toolbar/ path.
Available toolbar elements
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
================== ==============================================================================
Element name Description
================== ==============================================================================
New Create a new file
Open Open an existing file
Save Save the current file
SaveAll Save all open files
Reload Reload the current file from disk
Close Close the current file
CloseAll Close all open files
Print Print the current file
Cut Cut the current selection
Copy Copy the current selection
Paste Paste the contents of the clipboard
Delete Delete the current selection
Undo Undo the last modification
Redo Redo the last modification
NavBack Navigate back a location
NavFor Navigate forward a location
Compile Compile the current file
Build Build the current file, includes a submenu for Make commands. Geany
remembers the last chosen action from the submenu and uses this as default
action when the button itself is clicked.
Run Run or view the current file
Color Open a color chooser dialog, to interactively pick colors from a palette
ZoomIn Zoom in the text
ZoomOut Zoom out the text
UnIndent Decrease indentation
Indent Increase indentation
Replace Replace text in the current document
SearchEntry The search field belonging to the 'Search' element (can be used alone)
Search Find the entered text in the current file (only useful if you also
use 'SearchEntry')
GotoEntry The goto field belonging to the 'Goto' element (can be used alone)
Goto Jump to the entered line number (only useful if you also use 'GotoEntry')
Preferences Show the preferences dialog
Quit Quit Geany
================== ==============================================================================
Plugin documentation
====================
Save Actions
------------
Instant Save
^^^^^^^^^^^^
This plugin sets on every new file (File->New or File-> New (with template))
a randomly chosen filename and set its filetype appropriate to the used template
or when no template was used, to a configurable default filetype.
This enables you to quickly compile, build and/or run the new file without the
need to give it an explicit filename using the Save As dialog. This might be
useful when you often create new files just for testing some code or something
similar.
Backup Copy
^^^^^^^^^^^
This plugin creates a backup copy of the current file in Geany when it is
saved. You can specify the directory where the backup copy is saved and
you can configure the automatically added extension in the configure dialog
in Geany's plugin manager.
After the plugin was loaded in Geany's plugin manager, every file is
copied into the configured backup directory when the file is saved in Geany.
Contributing to this document
=============================
This document (``geany.txt``) is written in `reStructuredText`__
(or "reST"). The source file for it is located in Geany's ``doc``
subdirectory. If you intend on making changes, you should grab the
source right from SVN to make sure you've got the newest version. After
editing the file, to build the HTML document to see how your changes
look, run "``make doc``" in the subdirectory ``doc`` of Geany's source
directory. This regenerates the ``geany.html`` file. To generate a PDF
file, use the command "``make pdf``" which should generate a file called
geany-|(version)|.pdf.
__ http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html
After you are happy with your changes, create a patch::
% svn diff geany.txt > foo.patch
and then submit that file to the mailing list for review.
Note, you will need the Python docutils software package installed
to build the docs. The package is named ``python-docutils`` on Debian
and Fedora systems.
Scintilla keyboard commands
===========================
Copyright © 1998, 2006 Neil Hodgson
This appendix is distributed under the terms of the License for
Scintilla and SciTE. A copy of this license can be found in the file
``scintilla/License.txt`` included with the source code of this
program and in the appendix of this document. See `License for
Scintilla and SciTE`_.
20 June 2006
Keyboard commands
-----------------
Keyboard commands for Scintilla mostly follow common Windows and GTK+
conventions. All move keys (arrows, page up/down, home and end)
allows to extend or reduce the stream selection when holding the
Shift key, and the rectangular selection when holding the Shift and
Ctrl keys. Some keys may not be available with some national keyboards
or because they are taken by the system such as by a window manager
or GTK. Keyboard equivalents of menu commands are listed in the
menus. Some less common commands with no menu equivalent are:
============================================= ======================
Action Shortcut key
============================================= ======================
Magnify text size. Ctrl+Keypad+
Reduce text size. Ctrl+Keypad-
Restore text size to normal. Ctrl+Keypad/
Indent block. Tab
Dedent block. Shift+Tab
Delete to start of word. Ctrl+BackSpace
Delete to end of word. Ctrl+Delete
Delete to start of line. Ctrl+Shift+BackSpace
Go to start of document. Ctrl+Home
Extend selection to start of document. Ctrl+Shift+Home
Go to start of display line. Alt+Home
Extend selection to start of display line. Alt+Shift+Home
Go to end of document. Ctrl+End
Extend selection to end of document. Ctrl+Shift+End
Extend selection to end of display line. Alt+Shift+End
Previous paragraph. Shift extends selection. Ctrl+Up
Next paragraph. Shift extends selection. Ctrl+Down
Previous word. Shift extends selection. Ctrl+Left
Next word. Shift extends selection. Ctrl+Right
============================================= ======================
Tips and tricks
===============
Document notebook
-----------------
* Double-click on empty space in the notebook tab bar to open a
new document.
* Middle-click on a document's notebook tab to close the document.
* Hold `Ctrl` and click on any notebook tab to switch to the last used
document.
* Double-click on a document's notebook tab to toggle all additional
widgets (to show them again use the View menu or the keyboard
shortcut). The interface pref must be enabled for this to work.
Editor
------
* Alt-scroll wheel moves up/down a page.
* Ctrl-scroll wheel zooms in/out.
* Shift-scroll wheel scrolls 8 characters right/left.
* Ctrl-click on a word in a document to perform *Go to Tag Definition*.
* Ctrl-click on a bracket/brace to perform *Go to Matching Brace*.
Interface
---------
* Double-click on a symbol-list group to expand or compact it.
GTK-related
-----------
* Scrolling the mouse wheel over a notebook tab bar will switch
notebook pages.
The following are derived from X-Windows features (but GTK still supports
them on Windows):
* Middle-click pastes the last selected text.
* Middle-click on a scrollbar moves the scrollbar to that
position without having to drag it.
Compile-time options
====================
There are some options which can only be changed at compile time,
and some options which are used as the default for configurable
options. To change these options, edit the appropriate source file
in the ``src`` subdirectory. Look for a block of lines starting with
``#define GEANY_*``. Any definitions which are not listed here should
not be changed.
.. note::
Most users should not need to change these options.
src/geany.h
-----------
============================== ============================================ ==================
Option Description Default
============================== ============================================ ==================
GEANY_STRING_UNTITLED A string used as the default name for new untitled
files. Be aware that the string can be
translated, so change it only if you know
what you are doing.
GEANY_WINDOW_MINIMAL_WIDTH The minimal width of the main window. 620
GEANY_WINDOW_MINIMAL_HEIGHT The minimal height of the main window. 440
GEANY_WINDOW_DEFAULT_WIDTH The default width of the main window at the 900
first start.
GEANY_WINDOW_DEFAULT_HEIGHT The default height of the main window at the 600
first start.
**Windows specific**
GEANY_USE_WIN32_DIALOG Set this to 1 if you want to use the default 0
Windows file open and save dialogs instead
GTK's file open and save dialogs. The
default Windows file dialogs are missing
some nice features like choosing a filetype
or an encoding. *Do not touch this setting
when building on a non-Win32 system.*
============================== ============================================ ==================
project.h
---------
============================== ============================================ ==================
Option Description Default
============================== ============================================ ==================
GEANY_PROJECT_EXT The default filename extension for Geany geany
project files. It is used when creating new
projects and as filter mask for the project
open dialog.
============================== ============================================ ==================
editor.h
--------
============================== ============================================ ==================
Option Description Default
============================== ============================================ ==================
GEANY_WORDCHARS These characters define word boundaries when a string with:
making selections and searching using word a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and
matching options. underscore.
============================== ============================================ ==================
keyfile.c
---------
These are default settings that can be overridden in the `Preferences`_ dialog.
============================== ============================================ ==================
Option Description Default
============================== ============================================ ==================
GEANY_MIN_SYMBOLLIST_CHARS How many characters you need to type to 4
trigger the autocompletion list.
GEANY_DISK_CHECK_TIMEOUT Time in seconds between checking a file for 30
external changes.
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_MAKE The make tool. This can also include a path. "make"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_TERMINAL A terminal emulator. It has to accept the "xterm"
command line option "-e". This can also
include a path.
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_BROWSER A web browser. This can also include a path. "firefox"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_PRINTCMD A printing tool. It should be able to accept "lpr"
and process plain text files. This can also
include a path.
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_GREP A grep tool. It should be compatible with "grep"
GNU grep. This can also include a path.
GEANY_DEFAULT_MRU_LENGTH The length of the "Recent files" list. 10
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_SYMBOL_LIST The font used in sidebar to show symbols and "Sans 9"
open files.
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_MSG_WINDOW The font used in the messages window. "Sans 9"
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_EDITOR The font used in the editor window. "Monospace 10"
GEANY_TOGGLE_MARK A string which is used to mark a toggled "~ "
comment.
GEANY_MAX_AUTOCOMPLETE_WORDS How many autocompletion suggestions should 30
Geany provide.
============================== ============================================ ==================
build.h
-------
============================== ============================================ ==================
Option Description Default
============================== ============================================ ==================
GEANY_BUILD_ERR_HIGHLIGHT_MAX Amount of build error messages which should 100
be highlighted in the Compiler message
window. This affects the special coloring
when Geany detects a compiler output line as
an error message and then highlight the
corresponding line in the source code.
Usually only the first few messages are
interesting because following errors are
just aftereffects.
============================== ============================================ ==================
build.c
-------
============================== ============================================ ==================
Option Description Default
============================== ============================================ ==================
PRINTBUILDCMDS Every time a build menu item priority FALSE
calculation is run, print the state of the
menu item table in the form of the table
in `Build Menu Configuration`_. May be
useful to debug configuration file
overloading. Warning produces a lot of
output. Can also be enabled/disabled by the
debugger by setting printbuildcmds to 1/0
overriding the compile setting.
============================== ============================================ ==================
GNU General Public License
==========================
::
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2, June 1991
Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
Preamble
The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This
General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
the GNU Library General Public License instead.) You can apply it to
your programs, too.
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.
For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their
rights.
We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and
(2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
distribute and/or modify the software.
Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we
want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so
that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original
authors' reputations.
Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the
program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any
patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.
The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
modification follow.
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains
a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below,
refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program"
means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:
that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,
either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another
language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in
the term "modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of
running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program
is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the
Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).
Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty;
and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License
along with the Program.
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and
you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion
of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and
distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in
whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
parties under the terms of this License.
c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
when run, you must cause it, when started running for such
interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an
announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a
notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide
a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under
these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this
License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but
does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on
the Program is not required to print an announcement.)
These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program,
and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to
exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
collective works based on the Program.
In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program
with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of
a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
the scope of this License.
3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections
1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
customarily used for software interchange; or,
c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is
allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
received the program in object code or executable form with such
an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source
code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any
associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to
control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a
special exception, the source code distributed need not include
anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary
form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the
operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component
itself accompanies the executable.
If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering
access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent
access to copy the source code from the same place counts as
distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not
compelled to copy the source along with the object code.
4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt
otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is
void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.
However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under
this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such
parties remain in full compliance.
5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not
signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or
distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are
prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by
modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the
Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and
all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying
the Program or works based on it.
6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the
Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to
these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further
restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.
You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to
this License.
7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),
conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot
distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you
may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent
license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by
all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.
If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under
any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to
apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other
circumstances.
It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any
such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the
integrity of the free software distribution system, which is
implemented by public license practices. Many people have made
generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing
to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot
impose that choice.
This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
be a consequence of the rest of this License.
8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
original copyright holder who places the Program under this License
may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding
those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among
countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates
the limitation as if written in the body of this License.
9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions
of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will
be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
address new problems or concerns.
Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program
specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any
later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions
either of that version or of any later version published by the Free
Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of
this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software
Foundation.
10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free
programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author
to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free
Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes
make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals
of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and
of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.
NO WARRANTY
11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS
TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,
INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY
YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.
To do so, attach the following notices to the program. It is safest
to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least
the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.
Copyright (C)
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like this
when it starts in an interactive mode:
Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) year name of author
Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type `show w'.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; type `show c' for details.
The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the appropriate
parts of the General Public License. Of course, the commands you use may
be called something other than `show w' and `show c'; they could even be
mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever suits your program.
You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your
school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program, if
necessary. Here is a sample; alter the names:
Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the program
`Gnomovision' (which makes passes at compilers) written by James Hacker.
, 1 April 1989
Ty Coon, President of Vice
This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into
proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may
consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the
library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Library General
Public License instead of this License.
License for Scintilla and SciTE
===============================
Copyright 1998-2003 by Neil Hodgson
All Rights Reserved
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and
its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted,
provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and
that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
supporting documentation.
NEIL HODGSON DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE,
INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN
NO EVENT SHALL NEIL HODGSON BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS
OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE
OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.