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Preferences
There are several things you need to know about how preferences behave.
First is the file format. Preferences are stored
in a markup text format. This means if new preferences are added
in future versions, you will not need to change the format, or run
some utility on your preferences file.
Import/Export
Bookmarks
Document
Documentation
Drag and Drop
DrScript
File Dialog
File Types
Find/Replace
General
Plugins
Print
Prompt
Side Panels
Source Browser
Preferences
Import/Export
At the bottom of the General Panel, there is an innocuous little button
titled "Setup Preferences". This launches a dialog that allows you to
import/export:
- preferences, shortcuts, the pop up menu, the toolbar;
- plugins;
- drscripts;
- all of the above.
This is to facilitate setting up a specific environment. (Eg you can
distribute
SillyDefaults.zip, which includes the preferences, plugins,
and
drscripts you want all recipients to have installed.)
(You can also use the functions defined in drZip.py to
automate this
process with a simple python script).
WARNING: Importing Will Overwrite!
DrPython will overwrite any duplicates on import. This means:
- Preferences will be overwritten.
- Ditto shortcuts, the pop up menu, and the toolbar.
- Which Plugins are loaded at startup, and any duplicates, will be
overwritten.
- The drscript menu will be overwritten.
- Also, any duplicates will overwritten.
After importing, you must restart DrPython to see the changes.
When Exporting, DrPython will store drscripts in the preferences
directory
(in the zip file). The directory structure will mirror the menu.
This means that when you then import drscripts, they will be physically
located
in your preferences directory, under 'drscripts'.
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This tells DrPython how the Edit Bookmarks Dialog should look.
Also applies to Documentation Bookmarks.
- Style
- This sets how the Edit Bookmarks Dialog appears (foreground and
background color, font, size, underline/bold/italics).
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Document
This is "DrFrame.txtDocument". It is the text control that has
the text of the currently open file.
- Line Number Margin Width
- Sets the margin width in pixels for linenumbers.
- Autoindent
- Chooses the auto indentation method:
- None:
- Leave Well Enough Alone!
- Normal:
- Adds the number of tabs up to the first non-whitespace
character in the previous line on every new line.
- Context Sensitive:
- Same as Normal, but adds an extra indent after ':', and
dedents after the following statements: return, break,
pass, continue, raise.
- AutoReload
- Automatically check (OnActivation of DrPython) if any open files
have been modified by an outside source. It then prompts the user to
reload the file. If not, the modification time for the document (in
program) is reset.
- Update Indentation
- Updates indentation type whenever the document is modified.
Displays the type in the status bar. (->Type)
- Use File's Indentation
- If on, use the indentation type of the loaded file. (Only runs
on Open). In other words: if the default indentation type is tabs but
you load a file that uses spaces, DrPython will use spaces for
indentation for that document, while still using tabs as the default
for other documents.
- Use Tabs
- If checked, uses tabs '\t' when you hit the tab key, and for
autoindent. If not, uses the number of spaces specified in tabwidth.
- Word Wrap
- Does not show the horizontal scroolbar, and "wraps" lines that
are rather long around so they appear as more than one line.
- Whitespace is Visible on Startup
- When DrPython starts up, automatically toggles whitespace is
visible.
- Use Indentation Guides
- This optionally draws vertical lines, visually connecting levels
of indentation.
- Long Line Indicator Column
- Set a column to indicate you have gone past a particular
position (79, for example). Using a negative number tells DrPython to
highlight the text past the specified position, instead of drawing a
column. 0 tells DrPython not to draw anything.
- Scroll Extra Page
- This tells DrPython to set the vertical scroll range to one page
more than the length of the current document.
- Highlight Current Line
- Highlights the current line using the Background from the Caret
Style.
- Comment Mode
- Sets where DrPython places the comment string. If Start of Line,
then at the start of every line in the selected region. If Start of
Word, then at the start of the first word of every line in the selected
region.
- Default Syntax Highlighting
- Highlight text not recognized via extension THIS WAY.
- Only Use Default Syntax Highlighting
- Only use the syntax highlighting specified above, no matter what
extension a file has.
- Style
- This sets how different kinds of text appear (foreground and
background color, font, size, underline/bold/italics). You can choose
to Not use styles at all, use them, or use only "Normal" and "Caret
Foreground"
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Documentation
This sets the behavior of the built in help, and external
documentation.
- Browser
- The preferred browser for viewing the documentation.
- Python Docs
- The Official Python Documentation. Sets the location.
- WxWindows Docs
- The WxWindows Documentation. Sets the location.
- Regular Expression Howto
- A guide to regular expressions for Python programmers.
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This sets the behaviour of drag and drop in DrPython.
- Drag and Drop Mode
- This can be set to one of three values:
- Drag: Files Only, Drop: Files and Text
- Turns off Text Drag, but allows you to drag text from
outside of the program.
- Drag: Files and Text, Drop: Files and Text
- Turns on Text Drag and Drop
- Drag and Drop Files Only
- Completely Turns off Text Drag and Drop.
- Drag and Drop Text Mode
- Sets the whether Dragging and Dropping Text within DrPython is
by default a cut or a copy operation. The secondary behaviour can be
executed when the control key is down.
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This sets the behavior of Adding/Creating a Script.
- Default Directory
- This tells DrPython what directory to set the Add/New Script
Dialog to.
- Style
- This sets how the Move/Rename Scripts Dialog appears (foreground
and background color, font, size, underline/bold/italics).
- Load Examples
- Loads all example scripts from the DrPython program directory,
and places them in a submenu of DrScript. Note that disabling this
option will remove any Shortcuts for these Scripts. (If you
subsequently update DrScript Shortcuts)
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This sets the behaviour of file dialogs in DrPython.
- Use wx.FileDialog
- If you want to use the default wxPython File Dialog, check this
option. Only the wildcard preference will be used in this case.
- Wildcard
- This is the string used by wxPython to determine what file types
to show. The format is DescriptionA|ExtensionPatternA1;ExtensionPatternA2|DescriptionB|ExtensionPatternB1;ExtensionPatternB2
'|' separates File Types. Here is an example:
Python Files (*.py *.pyw)|*.py;*.pyw|All Files (*)|*
You can use the editor to add entries to the wildcard string.
If all entries are removed, All Files (*)|* is
automatically set as the wildcard.
- Constant Wildcard
- You can set this in the wildcard editor. It is simply a pattern
(eg *.py) that is always visible, no matter what file type is
selected in the file dialog.
- Windows Shortcut Replace Table
- This is only needed/used on non-Windows systems.
This contains info for replacing strings found in windows
shortcuts (*.lnk) with the correct paths. So for example, if
your C: drive is mounted on /mnt/win_c, you could
enter "C" for Windows Pattern, and "/mnt/win_c" for Replace String.
The Replace Table uses regular expressions for the Windows
Pattern, and two special characters for the Replace String. So the
entry:
Windows Pattern: "[A-D]"
Replace String: "/mnt/win/@"
would replace any drive A-D (eg C: with /mnt/win/c)
with the lowercase matching string. If the Replace String was /mnt/win_&,
it would yield /mnt/win_C.
Any valid regular expression will work for the Windows Pattern.
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These preferences apply to the document depending on which file type is
active.
- Extensions
- These are the file extensions that are recognized for each file
type. Separate with commas (eg 'py,pyw,c,h').
- Comment String
- This is the string used to comment out selected regions of code.
- Use Tabs
- If checked, uses tabs \t when you hit the tab key, and
for autoindent. If not, uses the number of spaces specified in
tabwidth.
- Word Wrap
- Does not show the horizontal scroolbar, and "wraps" lines that
are rather long around so they appear as more than one line.
- Folding
- Allows the document to "Fold". This lets you hide or show lines
of a "block" (eg a class, function or an "if" statement).
- Tab Width
- This tells DrPython how big to make tabs look (t).For
example, 8 will make a single tab look like 8 spaces.
- Line Ending Format
- The default is UNIX (\n). You can also select Windows (\r\n)
or Mac (\r).
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Most of these are the defaults for the Find/Replace/Switcheroo Dialogs.
The
last governs the find/replace dialog behaviour.
- Regular Expression
- Evaluates the search text as a regular expression. Only searches
forward.
- Match Case
- Case-Sensitive Search.
- Find Backwards
- Search from the end of the target text.
- Whole Word
- Only match whole words (whitespace on either side).
- In Selection
- If there is selected text, then only search within the selected
text.
- From Cursor
- Search from the current position in the document, rather than
from the start.
- Prompt on Replace
- Prompt the user on each replace operation, and let the user
decide whether or not to replace the target text, or skip it.
- Auto Wrap
- If on, when the start/end of the document is reached during
find, automatically wrap around.
- Under Cursor
- The Find/Replace Dialog sets the word under the cursor as the
findtext if no text is selected.
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These apply to the program as a whole.
- Remember Window Size
- Remembers the size of the DrPython window.
- Remember Dialog Sizes and Positions
- Remembers the sizes and positions of all main dialogs.
- Auto Detect Encoding (Unicode)
- Automatically detects Unicode, and encodes the Opening and
Saving of documents, saving the Prompt text, and sending prompt text to
the currently running program.
- Default Encoding
- This is the encoding used by default. ( If Auto Detect is
enabled, drpython will try unicode first ).
- You can manually enter an encoding, leave it blank to disable, or
select from the list of encodings:
- <the default locale(if availible), ascii, latin-1, utf-8, and
utf-16.
- Save On Run
- Automatically saves the current document before running.
- Check Syntax On Save
- Runs Check Syntax on a file after it has been saved. Unlike
running this from the menu, it does not provide any feedback if no
errors are found.
- Check Syntax: Only On Extensions
- Restricts checking syntax on save to the exact extensions
listed. The format is extensions only (no period), separated by spaces
(eg): py pyw python will only run check syntax on save (if it
is enabled) on files with the extensions py, pyw,
or python.
- Prompt On Save All
- Prompt before saving all modified documents.
- Max Number of Recent Files
- This tells DrPython how many recent files to keep track of. 0 is
the least you can enter, and will cause DrPython to ignore recent
files.
- View Line Endings With Whitespace
- View end of line characters when whitespace is visible.
- Check Line Ending Format on Open
- This tells DrPython to check to see if your default line ending
is used as the line ending when you open a file.
- Check Indentation Type on Open
- This tells DrPython to check to see if your default indentation
type is being used in the opened file.
- Python Arguments
- This sends the given arguments directly to Python when you run a
file, debug a file, or run the Python interpreter on its own. A common
argument is -i. This will tell Python to switch to
interactive mode after the current file has finished running. More
arguments can be found in the Python documentation, or by typing python
-h at the command prompt.
- Auto-Detect UTF-8 Encoding
- Automatically detect if a file has utf-8 (unicode) encoding.
- Icon Size
- This tells DrPython how big the toolbar needs to be. Selecting 0
will (on restart) tell DrPython to not load the ToolBar at all.
- Icon File
- If left blank, or if an invalid file name is given, DrPython
will load the default files. Otherwise, DrPython will read the .dis
file, and will load the bitmaps detailed within.
More on .dis files
- Default Directory
- This tells DrPython where to look for files initially. Once a
file has been opened, DrPython sets the current directory to the file's
directory.
- Enable Feedback
- This allows pop up windows to tell you if operations were
successful. (For example, successfully updated preferences).
- Always Prompt On Exit
- This tells DrPython to always ask if the user wants to exit,
even if there is no current file, or the current file has been saved.
- Backup File On Save
- Whenever you save a file, before DrPython writes to the file, it
will make a renamed copy (the filename with .bak attached) in
the same folder.
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These are the preferences for configuring plugins.
- Default Directory
- The default directory for installing plugins and plugin indexes.
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These are the preferences for printing.
- Document Line Numbers
- This tells DrPython whether or not to print line numbers when
printing the current file.
- Prompt Line Numbers
- This tells DrPython whether or not to print line numbers when
printing the text of the prompt.
- Tab Width
- This tells DrPython how big to make tabs look (\t) when
printing. For example, 5 will make a single tab look like 5 spaces.
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This is DrFrame.txtPrompt. It is the text control that has
the input
and output of the currently running program.
- Line Number Margin Width
- Sets the margin width in pixels for linenumbers.
- Visible By Default
- If True, tells DrPython to show the prompt by default for each
document.
- Use Tabs
- If checked, uses tabs \t when you hit the tab key. If
not, uses the number of spaces specified in tabwidth.
- Tab Width
- This tells DrPython how big to make tabs look (\t). For
example, 8 will make a single tab look like 8 spaces.
- Line Ending Format
- The default is UNIX (\n). You can also select Windows (\r\n)
or Mac (\r).
- Word Wrap
- Does not show the horizontal scrollbar, and "wraps" lines that
are rather long around so they appear as more than one line.
- Whitespace is Visible on Startup
- When DrPython starts up, automatically toggles whitespace is
visible.
- Scroll Extra Page
- This tells DrPython to set the vertical scroll range to one page
more than the length of the prompt.
- Vertical Size
- Sets the percentage size of the prompt vs the document when the
prompt is visible. 25% for the prompt means 75% for the document.
- Style:
- This sets how different kinds of text appear (foreground and
background color, font, size, underline/bold/italics).
You can choose to not use styles at all, use them, or use only "Normal"
and "Caret Foreground".
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This sets the defaults for the side panels.
- Left Panel Size
- The default size (percentage of the total window) for the left
panel.
- Right Panel Size
- The default size (percentage of the total window) for the right
panel.
- Top Panel Size
- The default size (percentage of the total window) for the top
panel.
- Bottom Panel Size
- The default size (percentage of the total window) for the bottom
panel.
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This tells DrPython how the source browser looks and acts.
- Position
- Have the Source Browser appear in a panel to the left, right,
top, or bottom of the current document.
- Visible By Default
- If True, tells DrPython to show the source browser by default
for each document.
- Close On Activate
- When you activate an item (select it with a double click, or
with the keyboard), this tells DrPython whether or not to close the
Source Browser window.
- Sorted(Alphabetical)
- This tells DrPython whether or not to sort
classes/functions/import statements alphabetically, or leave them in
the order they appear in the program.
- Style
- This sets how the source browser appears (foreground and
background color, font, size, underline/bold/italics).
- Auto Refresh on Save
- Automatically refreshes the source browser on save.
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