<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <title>StudioTips Libraries</title> <meta name="keywords" content="omnis studio, raining data, studiotips documentation" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.studiotips.net/css/codedoc.css" /> </head> <body> <div id="container"> <p><a href = ../index.html > Tips </a> &nbsp &gt; &nbsp <a href = index.html > About </a> &nbsp &gt; &nbsp StudioTips Libraries</p> <a name="studiotipslibraries" /> <h2>StudioTips Libraries</h2> <p>StudioTips is a multi-library Omnis Studio application that is used by Omnis developers to aid them with code development. When StudioTips is installed and opened on your computer a <span class="nav">Tips</span> menu is added to the Omnis Studio application menus. Using the <span class="nav">Tips</span> menu you can open the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window. The <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window is an off-line interface to all of the tips, sample code, and demos which are included with the StudioTips libraries. The <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window has a <span class="nav">Go to URL</span> button which allows you to jump to the on-line version of the tip which you are currently viewing.</p> When you become a StudioTips member you can download and install the StudioTips libraries. You are licensed to use the StudioTips libraries as long as you are a StudioTips member in good standing. (Paying your annual membership dues.) <a name="installingstudiotips" /> <h3>Installing StudioTips</h3> <ol> <li>Download the latest version of StudioTips.</li> <li>Unzip the downloaded file.</li> <li>Drag the <span class="file">studiotips</span> folder and contents to a location on your computer where prefer to store your Omnis apps. <br /> <br /> I use the following folder hierarchy on my Mac: <span class="file">Documents/Programming/Omnis/studiotips</span></li> <li>Download the <span class="file">open_studiotips</span> file.</li> <li>Unzip the downloaded file.</li> <li>Drag the <span class="file">open_studiotips.lbs</span> file into your <span class="file">Omnis/startup</span> folder. <br /> <br /> <strong>Note:</strong> On Mac OS X you will need to right+click on the Omnis Studio app in your <span class="file">Applications</span> folder, and select <span class="nav">Show Package Contents</span>, then go to the <span class="file">Contents/MacOS/startup</span> to reveal the OM <span class="file">startup</span>folder.</li> <li>The <span class="file">open_studiotips.lbs</span> library will prompt you for the location of the studiotips folder the first time you start up Omnis Studio. The <span class="file">open_studiotips.lbs</span> library stores path to your <span class="file">studiotips</span> folder and uses it each time you open Omnis Studio to automatically open the StudioTips library for you.</li> </ol> <a name="studiotipsbrowser" /> <h3>StudioTips Browser</h3> <p>The <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window is your interface to StudioTips. There are several ways to open the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window.</p> <ol> <li><span class="nav">Tips</span> menu > select <span class="nav">Tips Browser</span>.</li> <li>Use the shortcut key combination, Ctrl/Cmnd+B.</li> </ol> <p>If the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window is already open, pressing Ctrl/Cmnd+B will minimize the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window.</p> <p>If the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window is minimized, pressing Ctrl/Cmnd+B will maximize the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window.</p> <p>When you close StudioTips the last state of the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window is stored in a preferences file so that when you reopen StudioTips the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window will be restored to the previous state.</p> <p>There is a <span class="nav">Group selector</span> field at the top left corner of the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window. The selector lists the different libraries which contain documentation. Think of each line in the group selector as representing a different book that you can pull off the shelf to read.</p> <p>When you select a group, the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> builds a list of the topics available for that group. If there are numerous topics within a group, subgroups are listed in a tab pane across the top of the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window.</p> <p>The topic titles for the selected tab are displayed in a treelist on the left side of the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window. Some topics may include several subtopics. The subtopics will be available as child nodes of the main topic.</p> You navigate the information contained in StudioTips by selecting a group, clicking a tab if displayed, and then selecting a topic node in the treelist. <a name="showhidestudiotipslibraries" /> <h3>Show/Hide StudioTips Libraries</h3> <p>You can hide the StudioTips libraries so that they are not listed in the <span class="nav">F2 Browser</span>.</p> <p>Select the <span class="nav">Hide StudioTips Libraries</span> menu line in the <span class="nav">Tips</span> menu.</p> To show the StudioTips libraries select the <span class="nav">Show StudioTips Libraries</span> menu line in the <span class="nav">Tips</span> menu. <a name="readingstudiotips" /> <h3>Reading StudioTips</h3> <p>In the StudioTips tips and instructions you see something like this:</p> <p><span class="nav">F2 Browser</span> > <span class="code">Contacts</span> > <span class="code">wWindowName</span> > <span class="nav">F6 Property Manager</span> > <span class="nav">Appearance</span> tab</p> <p>The above instruction would <em>read</em> as: "Press the <kbd>F2</kbd> function key to open the <span class="nav">Browser</span> window, select the <span class="code">Contacts</span> library, select the <span class="code">wWindowName</span> window class, press the <kbd>F6</kbd> function key to open the <span class="nav">Property Manager</span>, then click on the <span class="nav">Appearance</span> tab of the <span class="nav">Property Manager</span> window."</p> <p>If you see "<kbd>Ctrl/Cmd+B</kbd>", for Wintel users that means press the shortcut key combination "<kbd>Control+B</kbd>", for <span class="code">Mac</span> users that means press the shortcut key combination "<kbd>Command+B</kbd>".</p> Any time you see a shortcut key combination, the part preceeding the "<kbd>/</kbd>" is for Wintel users, the part after the "<kbd>/</kbd>" is for Mac users. The parts on either side of the "<kbd>/</kbd>" group is for both users. For example <kbd>Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+B</kbd>, Wintel users press <kbd>Shift+Ctrl+B</kbd>, Mac users press <kbd>Shift+Cmnd+B</kbd>. <a name="searchingstudiotips" /> <h3>Searching StudioTips</h3> <p>You can search for any topic contained in StudioTips as follows:</p> <ol> <li>Enter a <em>keyword</em> in the search entry field above the treelist and click the <span class="nav">Search</span> button to the left of the search entry field.</li> <li>StudioTips will search all of the topic titles and present you with a list of the <span class="nav">Search Results</span>. </li> <li>Clicking on a topic in the <span class="nav">Search Results</span> list will display information about the topic.</li> <li>After selecting a topic, you can click the <span class="nav">Treelist</span> tab of the <span class="nav">Search Results</span> list to switch to the treelist view for the selected topic. Related topics will be visible on other nodes of the treelist.</li> </ol> <p>Advanced searches can be done as follows:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Full Text Search</strong> - Shift-click the <span class="nav">Search</span> button. StudioTips will search both topic titles and tips text for matches.</li> <li><strong>&amp; Operator</strong> - You can include '<span class="code">&amp;</span>' in your search criteria. <br /> <br /> If you enter <kbd>$ctarget &amp; Grid</kbd> and shift-click the <span class="nav">Search</span> button, StudioTips will search for topics and text that includes <span class="code">$ctarget</span> and <span class="code">Grid</span>. You can include as many '<span class="code">&amp;</span>' conditions as you like. Each <span class="code">&amp;</span> operator must have an <em>empty</em> character before and after it.</li> </ol>If you search for a keyword and can't find the tip you are looking for, send an email to <a href="mailto:doug@vencor.ca">doug@vencor.ca</a>. Your request will be added to <span class="nav">StudioTips To Do</span> list. <a name="gotourlrundemosamplecode" /> <h3>Go to URL, Run Demo, Sample Code</h3> <p>When you click on a node in the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> treelist, the topic text is displayed in the area to the right of the treelist. At the bottom of the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window several push buttons may appear.</p> <ol> <li><span class="nav">Go to URL</span>. This button opens your default web browser to the on-line version web page for the topic.</li> <li><span class="nav">Run Demo</span>. This button appears if there is a demo for the selected topic. Clicking the button runs the demo. The demo might be an OK message, a window, or it may take you to a <span class="code">Breakpoint</span> in a method where code comments might ask you to step through the code to see how it works.</li> <li><span class="nav">Sample Code</span>. This button appears if the topic includes sample code. Clicking the button opens the method editor to the method which contains the sample code.</li> </ol> <p>StudioTips members are free to copy and paste any sample code or demo code from the StudioTips libaries to their own application.</p> <div class="image_sideline"><img src="http://www.studiotips.net/css/images/tip.gif" alt="Tip" /><p>Most push buttons in StudioTips are coded so that if you shift-click on the button it will take you to <span class="code">Breakpoint</span> in the <span class="code">$event</span> method of the push button. This is useful if you want to step through the code in a demo.</p> </div> <a name="shortcutkeys" /> <h3>Shortcut Keys</h3> <p>There are a few shortcut key combinations that you should learn and use to enhance your StudioTips experience.</p> <ol> <li>Use the <kbd>Ctrl/Cmd+B</kbd> shortcut key combination to open/maximize or minimize the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window.</li> <li>The <span class="nav">Tips</span> menu has a menu line named <span class="nav">Top Window's Methods</span>. Selecting this menu line takes you directly to the top window's class methods in the method editor. The shortcut key combination is <kbd>Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+T</kbd>. When you get used to this shortcut it become indispensible. Try it on the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window right now. Think of the shortcut key combination as a modified version OMST's <kbd>Ctrl/Cmd+T</kbd> shortcut key combination.</li> </ol> <p><span class="nav">Omnis Studio Shortcut Keys</span></p> <p>Click on the Omnis Studio <span class="nav">View</span> menu. You will see most of the IDE function keys listed in the </nav>View menu. For your information, here is a list of the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) function keys.</p> <ul> <li>F1 = Omnis Studio Help</li> <li>F2 = Browser</li> <li>F3 = Component Store (Except when "behind" a window or report, then F3 jumps you to the design/layout view)</li> <li>F4 = Notation Inspector</li> <li>F5 = Inheritance Tree</li> <li>F6 = Property Manager </li> <li>F7 = Browser Options (If the browser window is selected.) </li> <li>F8 = Opens the method(s) for the selected class, or the superclass method if <span class="code">Do inherited</span> is selected.</li> <li>F9 = Catalog</li> </ul> <a name="preferences" /> <h3>Preferences</h3> <ol> <li>You can resize and reposition the StudioTips Browser window. It will reopen to the size and location you last closed it.</li> <li>You can resize the treelist width by dragging its right edge. The treelist width is saved when you close the StudioTips Browser window. </li> <li>StudioTips will reopen to the treelist you were working with when you last closed the StudioTips Browser window.</li> <li>You can change the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> font size in the <span class="nav">Preferences</span>. (<span class="nav">Tips</span> menu > select <span class="nav">Preferences</span>)</li> </ol><div class="image_sideline"><img src="http://www.studiotips.net/css/images/tip.gif" alt="Tip" /><p>To save screen space, StudioTips makes heavy use of context menus. Be sure to right-click on the various windows and fields to discover the context menu options.</p> </div> <a name="printingtips" /> <h3>Printing Tips</h3> <p>If you wish to print any of the tips, click the <span class="nav">Go to URL</span> button, and print the on-line version of the tip.</p> At the top of the on-line version page you will see a series of links to web pages which are higher up the directory tree. Clicking one of these links takes you to a <span class="nav">Table of Contents</span> page. Some of the table of contents titles include the description <span class="nav">All Contents</span>. The <span class="nav">All Contents</span> pages include all of the contents of the pages within that section (directory). <a name="technicalstuff" /> <h3>Technical Stuff</h3> <p>All of the documentation in StudioTips is stored in the <span class="code">$desc</span> property of <em>object class</em> methods.</p> <p>The <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window is similar to the <span class="nav">F2 Browser</span> in that it lets you navigate the libraries, classes, and methods, of the libraries which are currently open in Omnis Studio.</p> <p>The <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window filters what you view to just the object classes and methods that begin with the <span class="code">@</span> character.</p> <p>If you right-click the topic text and select <span class="nav">Switch to Edit Mode</span>, you can edit the StudioTips text. A toolbar appears in the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window. The toolbar buttons are used add pseudo HTML tags to the tips text. The pseudo HTML is processed by StudioTips into XHTML, saved to a local file, and then uploaded to the <a href="http://www.studiotips.net">studiotips.net</a> website.</p> <div class="image_sideline"><img src="http://www.studiotips.net/css/images/note.gif" alt="Note" /><p>The <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window is designed so that any developer can use the <span class="nav">StudioTips Browser</span> window to write their own documentation and upload it to their own website where their users can read and print the documentation. Being able to write and update documentation without leaving Omnis Studio is a very fast and convenient way to write and publish documentation. Having the documentation stored inside Omnis Studio libraries makes it easy for multiple developers working with the VCS to share and maintain the documenation.</p> </div> <p class="footer">StudioTips Documentation - Copyright 2006 Vencor Software </p></div> </body> </html>