CodeSMART 2007 for VB6 Control Panel

The options that affect the product functionality and behavior can be set by using the CodeSMART Control Panel. In order to display this dialog box you should click on the synonymous entry in the CodeSMART main menu.

Note: The image below has an image map associated with it, so you can quickly jump to a certain section by just clicking on an image area (notice the tooltip while hovering the mouse over the pictured options tree).

General section

1. Identification

   

   • Developer name: Specify the name used to replace the {UserName} standard parameter. You can use the currently logged in user name or a custom name. This name is also used to identify the user in the development team used by the Task list.
   • Computer name: Specify the name used to replace the {ComputerName} standard parameter. You can use the default local computer name or a custom name.
2. Startup

   

   • Detect broken references at startup: use this option if you want CodeSMART to detect if your project is linked to any broken references and offer you a chance to fix them at startup.
   • Check the versions of all files used by CodeSMART: by default at its startup CodeSMART checks the required versions of all the shared files it uses and informs the user upon any possible malfunction cause. Uncheck this option if you don't want CodeSMART to perform the test (may speed up startup time).
   • Maximize windows on startup: check this option if you want to have code and designer windows maximized by default when Visual Basic is started. This option is useful when you have enabled the CodeSMART Tabbed Documents support.
3. Logging

   

   Here you can specify how CodeSMART should act when an error occurs.
   • Report all errors immediately: when checked, CodeSMART will display an informative message box when an error occurs.
   • Log error and other events to ErrorLog.txt: when checked, CodeSMART uses the ErrorLog.txt file to write information about errors and other special events. Please note that the ErrorLog.txt file will be created in the "My Documents\My CodeSMART Files\VB6 Edition\" folder.
   • Limit log file size to maximum (in KB): set the maximum log file size in KB. The default value is 512 KB.

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Databases section

1. Location

   

   The following options can be set in this section:
   • Location of the Personal.mdb file: the Personal.mdb database contains data accessible to the local user, like: the auto-text items, personal code snippets and designer templates, copy-and-paste buffers etc.
   • Location of the Team.mdb file: the Team.mdb database contains settings and data that can be shared in a team, like: error handling schemes, comment templates, tasks, code formatter settings. When working in a team, sharing the same Team.mdb database is the key to using common standards, sharing a set of code and designer templates and successfully using assigned tasks.
   • Do not use a PrivDbEngine object: leave this option unchecked (recommended) if you want CodeSMART to use a private DAO DbEngine object.
2. Offline

   

   The following options can be set in this section:
   • Offline folder: represents the destination folder were backup copies of the Personal.mdb and Team.mdb files are maintained. When you cannot access the default CodeSMART databases then the backup copies are used instead. This folder is by default a subfolder at the CodeSMART installation location on the local computer.
   • Automatically update every ... hour(s): check this option to keep your offline CodeSMART databases up to date. After the specified interval elapses CodeSMART will try to back up your current Personal and Team databases to the offline folder. If you want to confirm the operation every time it is about to occur then you should check the Ask for confirmation before every autoupdate option.

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Interface section

1. Dialog Positions

   

   • Here you can choose the behavior CodeSMART exhibits when opening dialog boxes and other windows. While on single monitor systems you should choose to always open windows at the same position they were at last time when closed, on multiple monitor systems such a behavior may lead to confusions regarding a window's VB instance owner, and thus a smart "center screen" approach should be more appropriate. You can choose the desired behavior by using this pane.
2. Tabbed Documents

   

   • Enable tabbed documents support: check this option to use a tab representation for every document window opened inside the environment. Please note that Visual Basic must be in MDI mode for this feature to make sense.
3. Mouse Wheel

   

   • Use this check box to enable/disable mouse wheel support provided by CodeSMART in Visual Basic code editor windows.
4. Toolbars

   

   • Uncheck the toolbar buttons (or toolbars) you want to hide. This tree lists the four main toolbars plus the Code Window popup menu entries.
   • Check the corresponding option in order to have a separate code window popup menu for all the commands added by CodeSMART.
   • You can also lock the CodeSMART toolbar positions in order to avoid accidental position changes.

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International section

1. Dialog Fonts

   

   • Please choose the character set (charset) used by CodeSMART to display information that is susceptible of being represented in non-English character sets (for example, text in the Find and Replace dialog box).

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Code Analyzer section

1. Settings

   

   Click the corresponding link control in order to open a dialog box where Code Analyzer options can be set.

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Code View Assistant section

1. Availability

   

   • Enable the Code View Assistant: check this option to turn the Code View Assistant on.
2. Features

   

   Use the settings on this page in order to enable/disable certain Code View Assistant features and set particular options.
   • Show end-of-line statement details: check this to have end-of-line descriptive information displayed for main control statements (for example an 'End If' will have the corresponding 'If' condition displayed). You may also specify a minimum line count to be checked against statement blocks before displaying end-of-line details.
   • Show hotspot markers: check this to have hotspots displayed for main control statements and procedure declarations. Clicking on a hotspot moves the cursor to its opening/closing correspondent.
   • Show branch lines: check this to have branch lines displayed for control statement branches, thus emphasizing logical blocks and code flow. Specify also if branch lines should be displayed only when clicking on the corresponding hotspots.
   • Adjust color transparency level for end-of-line details, hotspots and branch lines by using the dedicated control.
   • Highlight the active code line: check this option in order for the current code editor line to be highlighted.
   • Adjust the gray transparency level for active code line highlighting by using the dedicated control.
   • Show right hand indicator bar: check this to have a vertical line displayed in the code editor window at a specific column. Can be used to visualize a virtual maximum line length.
3. Fine Tuning

   

   Here you can adjust certain fine settings related to the Code View Assistant engine.
   • Do not process methods larger than ... lines: if you have a slow machine, check this and then enter the procedure line count limit at which the Code View Assistant will get disabled for that procedure.
   • Specify mouse and keyboard events at which the code view assistant should refresh its state.

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Coding Tools section

1. AutoText

   

   • Enable the CodeSMART AutoText: check this option to turn the AutoText feature on.
   • Enable SPACE as trigger key: check this option in order to activate Space as trigger key for the AutoText. You may also specify if this should be used in combination with Ctrl or Shift keys.
   • Enable ENTER as trigger key: check this option in order to activate Enter as trigger key for AutoText. You may also specify if this should be used in combination with Ctrl or Shift keys.
   • Enable the AutoText in comments: check this option to allow AutoText insertion while writing comments.
2. SmartComplete

   

   Use this page to specify certain settings that affect the SmartComplete suggestion list as well as globally enable or disable this feature.
   • Enable the SmartComplete list: check this option in order to activate the SmartComplete feature.
   • Show VB control statements: use this option to specify whether or not CodeSMART should show control statement items in the SmartComplete list.
   • Show other VB keywords and statements: use this option to specify whether or not should CodeSMART show regular statement items in the SmartComplete list.
   • Show user defined items: use this option to specify whether or not should CodeSMART show user defined statement items in the SmartComplete list.
   • Maximum number of list elements: specify the maximum number of list items that will be displayed in the SmartComplete window.
   • Maximum column length (in chars): specify the maximum number of characters used to display a list item in the SmartComplete window.
3. Standard Parameters

   

   Here you can provide custom formats for the following CodeSMART standard parameters:
   • {Date}
   • {Time}
   
   You can always revert to the default parameter format by clicking the corresponding button.

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Commenting Tools section

1. Auto Insert

   

   • Enable auto-insert: when checked, CodeSMART tries to detect when a new routine is added and automatically insert a descriptive header for that routine.
   • Before/After the definition line: use this set of option buttons to specify the position where the descriptive header should be inserted.
2. Templates

   

   • Uncheck the Use the '<CSCC> and '<CSCM> markup comments if you don't want CodeSMART to automatically insert these special markers when commenting code.
   • Click the corresponding link control in order to open the CodeSMART Comment Templates Manager.

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Designer Analyzer section

1. Settings

   

   Click the corresponding link control in order to review the Designer Analyzer options.

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Error Handling section

1. Line Numbers

   

   • Specify thea base number and a step to be used when inserting line numbers in members whose (explicit or inherited) error handing scheme do not specify line numbering options.
   • Skip line numbering for inoffensive statements: check this option if you want to skip code lines that do not generate errors.
   • Insert line numbers within the error handler code: use this option to insert line numbers in the existing CodeSMART error handling code header and footer.
   • Display the Insert/Remove line numbers menu: check this option in order to have two supplementary menu entries for the aforementioned features mounted in the CodeSMART main menu.
2. Schemes

   

   • Click the corresponding link control in order to display the CodeSMART Error Handling Schemes Manager.
   • Check the Skip empty members when inserting EH code option if you want to avoid error handlers from being inserted into empty procedures.
   • Check the Use pure line numbers option if you do not want CodeSMART to insert a supplementary colon (":") character after each line number.
   • Skip members that already have error handling inserted: with this option checked, CodeSMART will try to determine members that already have error handling inserted (either CodeSMART specific or not) and skip them from updating.

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Project Explorer section

1. Behavior

   

   • Assume that the *_* pattern identifies an event procedure: when this is checked, CodeSMART will use the underscore character embedded in a procedure name as a sign that the routine is an event procedure. Checking this will make project browsing much faster, but a procedure named This_Procedure will be always considered an event procedure.
   • Save event triggers component refresh: when checked, any save operation on a component will trigger a refresh on that component's CodeSMART Project Explorer subtree. Normally CodeSMART will detect newly-added procedures and will add them to the tree, but there may be situations when the tree comes out of sync. When this happens you can refresh the tree manually, but instructing CodeSMART to refresh at every save will reduce to a minimum the chances of de-synchronization.
   • Use automatic refresh when adding/renaming routines: the automatic refresh at add/rename can be turned on or off. The reason why this checkbox is present is that automatic refresh at add/rename can make CodeSMART slow on some machines.
   • Double-clicking a node always opens the component's code window: check this option if you want to open the code window instead of the designer window for a designer component.
   • Use bold text for nodes corresponding to public classes: public class nodes will be displayed using bold font.
   • Use bold text for nodes corresponding to public members: public member nodes will be displayed using bold font.
   • How to open resource (RES) files: use this option to set how a resource file will be opened when double clicked in the Project Explorer. The VB6 Resource Editor add-in will be used only if it is loaded (use the Visual Basic built-in Addin Manager dialog box to configure this).
2. Interface

   

   • Specify whether the Project Explorer toolbar should be visible or not.
   • You may hide the plus/minus symbols of project nodes.
   • Use the list to selectively show/hide Project Explorer toolbar buttons.
3. Sorting

   

   • Please specify whether you want the Project Explorer tree nodes to be sorted alphabetically or in a custom manner.
   • Custom sorting can be done by using two general criteria: member type and member scope. For each chosen criteria you may configure a list of sub-elements and use the corresponding buttons in order to refine the order even more.
4. Filter

   

   • Use the lists to filter Project Explorer nodes, considering as main criteria the member type and member scope, as well as other advanced options.
   • Each un-checked list element will be considered as filtered out from the tree.
5. Panes

   

   • Specify the desired behavior when double-clicking Navigation Helper Pane items, that is to either open the corresponding code or designer window, or to select the corresponding item in the Project Explorer tree.
   • Enter a value for the maximum number of visible elements in the History pane.
   • Please specify the events that should trigger history item additions: when double-clicking items in the Project Explore tree and in the Immediate window panes, when editing or even while browsing code.
   • Besides component members, you may instruct CodeSMART to add component items into the History pane.
   • In case the {ProjectName}.csi file is read-only, History and Workbench items cannot be saved. A warning message is by default displayed in such a case, but you can disable this behavior.

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Property Tips section

1. Status

   

   • Enable Property Tips: check this option in order to activate the Property Tips window used to display control properties in designer mode.
2. Properties

   

   Click the Add command button in order to add the name of a property you want to be displayed by the Property Tips window, or click the Remove button in order to permanently delete a property from the list. Please note that you cannot remove the default properties.
3. Delay

   

   • Property Tips window delay: set the time interval before the Property Tips window is displayed. The value is expressed in milliseconds and must be in the 100-500 range. The default value is 250 ms.

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Source Code Control section

1. Integration

   

   • Use automatic check-out: if checked, CodeSMART intercepts the Can't edit module message box when trying to edit a protected component and shows instead a dialog allowing you to check out the component or even the entire containing project.
   • Additionally, you may instruct CodeSMART to perform the automatic check-out operation only on read-only files.
   • Show "... Entire Project" commands only on project nodes context menu: by default CodeSMART shows this command on all menus. This can be an inconvenience for users with low screen resolution. Mark this checkbox in order to fix this (eventual) inconvenience.
   • Put all SourceSafe related command-bars on a separate popup: uncheck this option if you want CodeSMART to display the SourceSafe related commands directly in the Project Explorer shortcut menu. You must restart CodeSMART for this setting to take effect.
2. Application

   

   • Choose the source code control provider you are using from the list.
   • In case you use a provider that it is not in the list, please use the %SccApp% parameter to specify a custom name for your source code control application. This must be the name that appears in the 'Check Out' and 'Check In' dialogs.
3. Localization

   

   • Visual Basic environment language: select or specify your Visual Basic environment language. If no predefined setting applies, please provide the localized captions for the source code control dialogs. The %SccApp% parameter will be replaced with the name of the code control application specified in the previous pane.
4. Comments

   

   • Prompt for comments in SCC actions: CodeSMART allows you to prompt for comments/skip comments altogether. Be careful when instructing CodeSMART to bypass SCC commenting, since this can lead to serious problems in code maintenance.
   • Prompt for comments only in check-in actions: check this option if you want to comment only file check in operations.
   • Do not accept SCC actions without comments: use this option to force commenting in SCC operations.

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Spelling Checker section

1. Language

   

   • Language used by the CodeSMART Spelling Checker: selects the dictionary used by the spelling checker. The CodeSMART setup kit only contains the English (U.S.) language dictionary. If you want to check spelling in a different language, then you should download the CodeSMART Extended Dictionaries setup kit from http://www.axtools.com/CsExtDict.exe
2. Paths

   

   • Location of the main language dictionary file(s): contains the location of the main dictionary file used by the spelling checker. By default this path is set to the CodeSMART main directory, where the SpellUS.lex file initially resides.
   • Location of the custom dictionary file: contains the location of the additional (custom) dictionary file used by the spelling checker. By default this path is set to the CodeSMART main directory.
3. Settings

   

   • Open the suggestions dialog box on double-click: check these options if you want the CodeSMART spelling checker engine to open a dialog box with suggestions when an entry is double-clicked in the result list.

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Spies section

1. AutoSave

   

   • Enable the AutoSave feature: Check this option if you want CodeSMART to automatically launch full project save operations at specific time intervals. The interval is expressed in milliseconds.
   • Additionally, you can choose to be prompted for confirmation before an AutoSave operation.
2. AutoBackup

   

   • Force the Visual Basic IDE to create backup copies when saving files: check this option if you want a backup copy (*.bak) to be created every time a file save operation occurs. If you don't specify a custom destination then the copies will be created in the same folder where the original files reside.
3. Control Renaming

   

   • Spy control rename operations: when this option is checked CodeSMART tries to maintain code consistency when a control is renamed by trying to rename all the occurrences of that control's name in code, from event procedures to statements and fully qualified properties and methods. Additionally, you can choose to be prompted for confirmation before the replace operation.
   • Ignore occurrences inside strings: check this option to avoid replacements on string-type matches.
   • Ignore occurrences inside comments: check this option to avoid replacements if a match is found inside a comment block.
4. New Control Spy

   

   • Check the Ask for Name and Caption property values option to make sure that you will be asked to review the above two control properties immediately after the control creation.
   • Additionally, you may enforce that a default set of properties is applied for each newly created control or designer component. Click the subsequent link control in order to review the UI standard properties.
5. On Project Run

   

   • Clear the Immediate window on every project run: check this option if you want CodeSMART to clear the contents of the Immediate window whenever the current project is run. This option is available only in Visual Basic 6.0.
   • Enable keyboard shortcut to stop program execution: if this option is checked then you can stop the program execution (run mode) by pressing the 'Ctrl-Shift-T' keyboard shortcut.

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Task List section

1. User Name

   

   When working with tasks every user is identified by a unique user name. The default value is the currently logged in user name but it can be changed in the Identification category of the General section.
2. Password

   

   • Working with tasks in a multi user environment involves certain operations that may be performed only by users with administrative rights. Access to these operations must be protected with a password that is stored (and specific to) the Team.mdb database. Click the Change Password link in order to set the access password.
     
     IMPORTANT NOTE: Initially, the password is empty (the empty string).
   • Enable administrator auto-login from this machine: when the current user has administrative rights he/she can perform operations that are not available to regular users. The access to this operations is granted using the password set above. Check this option if you have administrative rights and do not want to be asked for the password every time you want to perform a protected operation.
3. Rights

   

   This entry can be used only by users who have administrative rights in order to grant other users rights regarding the task list. These rights are global and apply to all the members who share the same Team.mdb file.

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About section

1. File Versions
   
   Lists all the files used by CodeSMART with their current build version.
2. License Details
   Includes license information like the owner of the license and the exact license type the owner has purchased.

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