Using Bubble Help in the Editor Pane

Use bubble help in the editor pane to quickly:

The bubble help information may not be displayed correctly if there is a syntax error earlier in the method source. (See also "Displaying Bubble Help in Browser Lists" under "Using the Class, Primitive Types, or Interface Browser", in Chapter 3.)

To display the properties provided by a class

  1. Press Ctrl+1 (that is, the control key and the numeric 1 key) when the caret is positioned at the end of a class. The list of properties provided by that class and its superclasses is then displayed in a combo box below the class.

  2. Select the property that you want to insert following the class.

  3. Press the Enter key or the Tab key to insert the selected property after the caret position. (The . dot operator notation is also inserted if it is required.)

If you view the displayed properties and then decide not to insert a property after the caret position, press Esc to return focus to the editor pane.

When bubble help is shown for a property and the type of that property is a Collection, the displayed details include the membership of the collection and the keys, if it is a MemberKeyDictionary; for example:

Name: allMyBigData (19)
Class: OdbcRoot ()
Type: DictBigData
        ------- DictBigData Collection Class Details -------
        Membership: BigData
        Member Keys:
              transactionDate (Date) ascending, case sensitive, sort order: Binary
Access: public
SubId: 18
Ordinal: 19
non-virtual
Inverses:
        myOdbcRoot of OdbcData
Update Mode: Automatic
Relationship Type: parent

To display the methods provided by a class, primitive type, or interface

  1. Press Ctrl+2 when the caret is positioned at the end of a class, primitive type, or interface. The list of methods provided by that class, superclasses, primitive type, or interface is then displayed in a combo box below the class, primitive type, or interface.

  2. Select the method that you want to insert following the class, primitive type, or interface.

  3. Press the Enter key or the Tab key to insert the selected method after the caret position. (The . dot operator notation is also inserted if it is required.)

If you view the displayed methods and then decide not to insert a method after the caret position, press Esc to return focus to the editor pane.

To display the signature of a method

  1. Press Ctrl+1 (that is, the control key and the numeric 1 key) or Ctrl+2 when the caret is positioned at the end of a method name or immediately inside the opening parenthesis of a method call.

    The signature of that method is then displayed in a window below the caret position. If the caret is positioned elsewhere (for example, after a comma between parameters), press Ctrl+5 to display the signature of the last method before the caret position.

  2. Specify the appropriate parameters. (The signature remains displayed while you specify your required values.)

  3. When you have specified the method or you no longer want to view the signature, press Esc.

The signature is no longer displayed and focus returns to your editor pane.

To display the constants provided by a class, primitive type, or interface

  1. Press Ctrl+3 when the caret is positioned at the end of a class, primitive type, or interface. The list of constants provided by that class, primitive type, or interface is then displayed in a combo box below the class, primitive type, or interface.

  2. Select the constant that you want to insert following the class, primitive type, or interface.

  3. Press the Enter key or the Tab key to insert the selected constant after the caret position. (The . dot operator notation is also inserted if it is required.)

If you view the displayed constants and then decide not to insert one after the caret position, press Esc to return focus to the editor pane.

To display values for a collection class or a String or Binary primitive type

  1. Position the caret immediately after an opening bracket ([) operator immediately after a valid object type.

    An error message is displayed in the status line if the object type cannot be resolved (for example, bracket operators are not valid for that object).

  2. Press Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, or Ctrl+3.

    Comma-separated keys of that class are inserted after the caret position if the class is a Dictionary class or subclass, the text indx] is inserted if the class is an Array class or subclass, or the text startPos : forLength] is inserted if the class name is a String or Binary primitive type.

  3. Make any changes that you require to the inserted values.

To display the local variables or parameters of the current method

  1. Press Ctrl+4 when the caret is positioned anywhere in an editor (method source) window.

    A combo box filled with the local variables and parameters of the current method is then displayed. (The combo box is not displayed if there are no local variables or parameters for the current method.)

  2. Select the local variable or parameter that you want to insert into the current method.

  3. Press the Enter key or the Tab key to insert the selected local variable or parameter after the caret position.