3.2.6.6 Configuring the Internal Editor

The built-in editor is extensively customizable. It utilizes syntax highlighting and understands .POV and .INC files as being in POV syntax. You can change the color settings used from the properties dialog (Alt + Enter). It also has built-in syntax highlighting for C, C++, Java, Basic, Pascal, SQL, HTML and XML.

3.2.6.6.1 Important Editor Notes

One important thing to note right away is that the editor properties dialog only allows you to set things that are implemented within the editor (remember, the editor is two components - a DLL called 'CodeMax', and another DLL [written by the POV-Team] which loads and 'wraps' it into POV-Ray for Windows). There are some other options implemented within the editor wrapper code in POV-Ray for Windows which are able to be accessed via the Editor menu (only visible when an editor is selected). For example, the keybinding for saving a file (Ctrl-S) is not listed in the editor properties since this function is handled by the wrapper code. You can't change this assignment.

Additionally, by design, some properties only affect the current file, and some affect all files. Also, most (but not all) of those that affect the current file will become the default for any new files opened after that point. This is by design. For example, changing the tab stop setting only affects the current file (leaving other opened files alone), but will then become the default for new files from that point on.

Some people have asked why the "don't ask again" option in the render save dialog is not persistent across sessions. This is by design and is not likely to change.

The edit window context menu has an option for 'show/hide message window'. This window - when displayed at the bottom of an editor window - is sizable. A quick way to close the message window is just to hit ESCAPE, or drag the divider down to within a few pixels of the bottom border - when you release the mouse, the message window will vanish.

You can also tell POVWIN not to display the message window automatically when starting a render. You do this from the Editor menu, by turning off 'Auto-Show Parse Messages'. This is most useful with the Error File option.

POVWIN will optionally automatically load a file in which a parse error has occurred into the editor (or select it if it's already loaded) and place the cursor on the line and column of the offending code. This is able to be turned on or off using the 'Auto-Load Error File' option in the Editor menu. Also, if this option is on, and the message window was displayed automatically (see above), it will be closed automatically rather than being left open. The text describing the error will be displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the window. Note that, occasionally, if the error occurs inside a macro, the displayed line/column for the error will be wrong (though this is uncommon).

3.2.6.6.2 Default Key Mappings

Listed below is the complete set of default keystrokes and the CodeMax command that each keystroke maps to. Note that many depend on caret position. If two sets of keystrokes are listed, either may be used (e.g. 'Copy' is defined as 'Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert', which means that you may use either 'Ctrl + C' or 'Ctrl + Insert' to perform a copy; whichever suits you. There is no difference between one or the other).

Note that if more than one key sequence is assigned to a command, and the command is one of those listed in the menus (not all commands are listed in the menus), the key sequence shown as the shortcut key in the menu is generally the shortest one (in terms of its printed representation).

You can change any of the below-mentioned key assignments if the defaults don't suit you. Additionally, the below table does not list the more than 50 commands for which there is no default key assignment. Use Alt + Enter on an editor screen, or select 'Codemax Properties' from the Editor menu to assign these.

BookmarkNext	F2	Move to next bookmark
BookmarkPrev	Shift + F2	Move to previous bookmark
BookmarkToggle	Ctrl + F2	Place a bookmark
CharLeft	Left Arrow	Move caret left
CharLeftExtend	Shift + Left Arrow	Move caret left and highlight
CharRight	Right Arrow	Move caret right
CharRightExtend	Shift + Right Arrow	Move caret right and highlight
CodeList	Ctrl + Space	Show keywords (reference or insertion into file)
Copy	Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert	Copy selection to clipboard
Cut	Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete	Remove selection to clipboard
CutSelection	Ctrl + Alt + W	Remove selection (same as Cut)
Delete	Delete	Delete one character right (can Undo)
DeleteBack	Backspace or Shift + Backspace	Remove one character left (can Undo)
DocumentEnd	Ctrl + End	Move to end of file
DocumentEndExtend	Ctrl + Shift + End	Move to end of file and highlight
DocumentStart	Ctrl + Home	Move to start of file
DocumentStartExtend	Ctrl + Shift + Home	Move to start of file and highlight
Find	Alt + F3 or Ctrl + F	Find, or search
FindNext	F3	Find next (specified)
FindNextWord	Ctrl + F3	Find next (selected)
FindPrev	Shift + F3	Find previous (specified)
FindPrevWord	Ctrl + Shift + F3	Find previous (selected)
FindReplace	Ctrl + Alt + F3 or Ctrl + H	Find/Replace dialog
GoToLine	Ctrl + G	Move to a line number dialog
GoToMatchBrace	Ctrl + ]	Match brace }, bracket ], or parenthesis )
Home	Home	Move to start of line text (or line)
HomeExtend	Shift + Home	Move to start of line and highlight
IndentSelection	Tab	Indentation (number of spaces set in properties)
LineCut	Ctrl + Y	Remove current line
LineDown	Down Arrow	Move to next line
LineDownExtend	Shift + Down Arrow	Move to next line and highlight
LineEnd	End	Move to end of line text (or line)
LineEndExtend	Shift + End	Move to end of line and highlight
LineOpenAbove	Ctrl + Shift + N	Make new line above current line
LineUp	Up Arrow	Move to previous line
LineUpExtend	Shift + Up Arrow	Move to previous line and highlight
LowerCaseSelection	Ctrl + U	Change highlighted text to lower case
PageDown	Page Dn	Move down a page
PageDownExtend	Shift + Page Dn	Move down a page and highlight
PageUp	Page Up	Move up a page
PageUpExtend	Shift + Page Up	Move up a page and highlight
Paste	Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert	Place clipboard contents into file
Properties	Alt + Enter	CodeMax properties dialog
RecordMacro	Ctrl + Shift + R	Record/stop a macro
Redo	Ctrl + Y	Redoes last undone action (i.e. undo an undo)
SelectAll	Ctrl + A	Highlight entire file
SelectLine	Ctrl + Alt + F8	Highlight the current line
SelectSwapAnchor	Ctrl + Shift + X	Switch place of caret with start of highlighting
SentenceCut	Ctrl + Alt + K	Remove a continuous line to clipboard
SentenceLeft	Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow	Move to start of continuous line
SentenceRight	Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow	Move to end of continuous line
SetRepeatCount	Ctrl + R	Number of times to do next command
TabifySelection	Ctrl + Shift + T	Change highlighted spaces to tabs
ToggleOvertype	Insert	Toggle between inserting and overwriting
ToggleWhitespaceDisplay	Ctrl + Alt + T	Show or hide spaces
Undo	Ctrl + Z or Alt + Backspace	Undo last change
UnindentSelection	Shift + Tab	Remove indentation of selected line
UntabifySelection	Ctrl + Shift + Space	Change highlighted tabs to spaces
UpperCaseSelection	Ctrl + Shift + U	Change highlighted text to upper case
WindowScrollDown	Ctrl + Up Arrow	Scroll file down, leaving caret
WindowScrollLeft	Ctrl + Page Up	Scroll file left, leaving caret
WindowScrollRight	Ctrl + Page Dn	Scroll file right, leaving caret
WindowScrollUp	Ctrl + Down Arrow	Scroll file up, leaving caret
WordDeleteToEnd	Ctrl + Delete	Delete a word from caret to end
WordDeleteToStart	Ctrl + Backspace	Delete a word from caret to start
WordLeft	Ctrl + Left Arrow	Move to start of current word
WordLeftExtend	Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow	Move to start of current word and highlight
WordRight	Ctrl + Right Arrow	Move to end of current word
WordRightExtend	Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow	Move to end of current word and highlight

3.2.6.6.3 Setting Key Mappings

Most of the keystrokes used by the editor are re-assignable - even those listed in the menus. (Some users have assumed that commands with shortcuts listed in the menus aren't assignable, but this isn't the case - if you change the assignment, the new shortcut shows up in the menu).

Each editor command can have up to two different keyboard actions assigned to it, and each keyboard action may have either one or two keystrokes. Most users will use only one keystroke, but those who are still familiar and comfortable with the old 'Wordstar' key assignments (e.g. Ctrl-Q, F for Find) will be pleased to discover that these are still available to them, should they want to take the time to assign them.

If you assign more than one key sequence to a command, and the command is one of those listed in the menus (not all commands are listed in the menus), the one that is listed in the menu as the shortcut key is generally the shortest one (in terms of its printed representation).

You can access the keystroke assignments via the CodeMax properties dialog. By default, this is mapped to Alt+Enter when an editor is displayed. Alternatively, you can get at it from the Editor menu (only visible when an editor is selected) or the editor right-mouse-button context menu.

3.2.6.6.4 Reserved Keys

Not all commands are assignable ! In general, only the commands that are directly implemented in the CodeMax editor DLL are able to be set. These commands are ones that relate to operations on individual edit buffers. They do not include such things as file operations (load, save, print, etc). These operations are implemented in the POVWIN editor wrapper code and are not managed or able to be changed by CodeMax. Therefore, it should be clear that you can neither change the key bindings for operations such as file save, nor use the POVWIN- assigned keystroke (e.g. Ctrl-S in the case of save) for any other purpose.

3.2.6.6.5 Using the Mouse

The editor supports the following mouse actions:

Left click over text	Changes the caret position
Right click over open file	Displays the pop-up menu
Left Button down over selection, hold and drag	Moves text
Ctrl + Left Button down over selection, hold and drag	Copies text
Left click over left margin	Selects line
Left click over left margin, hold and drag up or down	Selects multiple lines
Alt + Left Button down, hold and drag	Select columns of text
Left double click over text	Select word under cursor
Spin IntelliMouse (compatible) mouse wheel	Scroll the window vertically
Single click IntelliMouse mouse wheel	Select the word under the cursor
Double click IntelliMouse mouse wheel	Select the line under the cursor
Click and drag splitter bar	Split the window into multiple views or adjust the current splitter position
Double click splitter bar	Split the window in half into multiple views or unsplit the window if already split

3.2.6.6.6 European Users and Match Brace

Several European users have commented that the default key assignment for 'Match Brace' (Ctrl-]) is not usable on their keyboards. Please note that you can change this to whatever you please (they assumed that it was not changeable when, in fact, it is).

Another thing to remember about the match brace command is that it only works if it is executed when the edit caret is on a brace character ('{', '}', '(', ')', '[', ']'). The caret will then jump to the matching character (e.g. if it's on a '(', it will jump to the matching ')').

3.2.6.6.7 Global vs. Local Options

It's important to understand that many of the options that are accessible via the CodeMax properties dialog (Alt + Enter by default), apply to the current file only. Some, however, apply to all files, and some apply to the current file and all new files opened after that point. Confused yet ? ;). We'll explain more.

In most cases it should be obvious whether an option is global or not. As a quick summary, the options in the 'Misc' tab of the CodeMax properties dialog are all global. The ones in the 'Language/Tabs' section are as explained above, except 'Convert tabs to spaces while typing', which is global, and 'Indent style', which is local and sets a new default. Those in the 'Color/Font' section are global. Finally, key assignments are obviously global to all editors (see the key assignment section above for caveats)