path: root/doc/kdevelop/nutshell.docbook

<appendix id="nutshell">
<title>In a Nutshell &mdash; Tips and Tricks</title>

<!-- Traditionally, most of this stuff will have been put into a FAQ section. It is more useful, however, to put it at the very start of a manual, as this is the place the (inexperienced) user first looks for.

I disagree. What is useful for a quick start, should go in "Getting started".
Troubleshooting hints go in the appendix or a FAQ. Volker Paul.

This chapter is meant to provide short hints and tips together with (mandatory) navigation links.
There should be an additional FAQ section near the end nevertheless which contains more general stuff not directly related to navigating the manual. -->

<para>
The information in this chapter is meant as a quick reference for a head start or if you (momentarily) forgot about some basic concept. There are also short hints on how to solve some common problems when working with &kdevelop;.
</para>
<para>
If you want more information on a topic, just follow the link in the title starting that advice.
</para>
<para>
Information on these topics is availabe:
</para>
<simplelist>
  <member><link linkend="nutshellitem-look-and-feel">Look and Feel</link></member>
  <member><link linkend="nutshellitem-projects">Projects</link></member>
  <member><link linkend="nutshellitem-compilation">Compilation</link></member>
  <member><link linkend="nutshellitem-automake">&automanag;</link></member>
  <member><link linkend="nutshellitem-compilemake">Compile/Make Problems</link></member>
  <member><link linkend="nutshellitem-others">Other Topics</link></member>
</simplelist>

<variablelist id="nutshellitem-look-and-feel">
<title>Look and Feel</title>

<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-ideal-tabs"><link linkend="setup-ui-toolview">Force
smaller tool view tabs in IDEAl Mode</link></term>
<listitem>
<para>By default &kdevelop; starts with large text-based tool tip tabs
around the work area. You may change this look to &eg; save space in the
&kdevelop; configuration dialog (<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure KDevelop...</guimenuitem> <guimenuitem>User
Interface</guimenuitem></menuchoice>).</para>
<para>If you use an older &kdevelop; 3 version, this configuration dialog
may not be available. To change the toolview tabs display manually, place a
<option>MDIStyle</option> entry under the
<option>[UI]</option> tag in your
<filename>$KDEHOME/share/config/kdeveloprc</filename> configuration file as
follows:</para>

<simplelist>
<member><option>MDIStyle=0</option>: icons only</member>
<member><option>MDIStyle=1</option>: text only (default)</member>
<!--<member><computeroutput>MDIStyle=2</computeroutput>: icons only on smaller tabs (not very useful)</member>-->
<member><option>MDIStyle=3</option>: icons and text</member>
</simplelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>  <!-- ### remove this entry when the bug is repaired -->
<term id="nutshell-weird-style">Weird colored characters and/or display
style</term>
<listitem>
<para>If you notice random colored letters everywhere (&ie; on tabs, on tool
bars, etc.) and the &kdevelop; window seemingly uses a wrong display style,
this may help:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>In your
<filename>$<envar>KDEHOME</envar>/share/config/kdeveloprc</filename>
configuration file find the line containing
<quote><computeroutput>Style=Checked</computeroutput></quote> and remove
it. Then restart &kdevelop;.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>(This behaviour does sometimes occur after you left clicked a .ui file
in one of the file navigators and &kdevelop; did load
<application>KUIViewer</application> to show the &GUI; which was produced
from this file.)</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-full-screen"><link linkend="maximize-workspace">Full
screen mode</link></term>
<listitem>
<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Full-Screen
Mode</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the menus or press
<keycombo>&Ctrl;&Shift;<keycap>F</keycap></keycombo>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-hide-menu"><link linkend="maximize-workspace">Hide/Unhide
the menubar</link></term>
<listitem>
<para>To hide the menubar select
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show
Menubar</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the menus or press
<keycombo>&Ctrl;<keycap>M</keycap></keycombo>. To redisplay the menubar only
<keycombo>&Ctrl;<keycap>M</keycap> </keycombo> is available.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<variablelist>
<title id="nutshellitem-projects">Projects</title>
<varlistentry>
<term><link linkend="new-projects">Create New Project</link></term>
<listitem>
<para><menuchoice><guimenu>Project</guimenu><guimenuitem>New
Project...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> will start the <link
linkend="applicationwizard">&appwizard;</link>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-new-custom-project">Create a custom project</term>
<listitem>
<para>There is no direct way to create a custom project (&ie; a project
which does use its own makefiles). Use
<menuchoice><guimenu>Project</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Import Existing
Project</guimenuitem></menuchoice> instead. Remember to set the appropriate
<guilabel>Project Type</guilabel>, labeled by an additional <quote>(Custom
Makefiles)</quote>, in the dialog.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-project-options">Use project options early</term>
<listitem>
<para>Whenever you start a new project do not forget to set the
<menuchoice><guimenu>Project</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Project
Options...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to your needs.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<variablelist id="nutshellitem-compilation">
<title>Compilation</title>
<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-compilemsg-detail"><link
linkend="setup-main-compile">Missing detail in compilation
messages</link></term>
<listitem>
<para>If during compilations you notice some valuable information is missing
in the <guilabel>Messages Output View</guilabel> window, it may be that the
level of message detail is set too low. &RMB; click in the window and select
another detail level from the context menu.<!-- they are programmers, so -->
<!-- they should know what a context menu is. (Re: But they keep on asking -->
<!-- just about this one all the time!! bp) -->
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<variablelist id="nutshellitem-automake">
<title><link linkend="automake-manager">&automanag;</link></title>

<varlistentry>
<term>Create new files in a project</term>
<listitem>
<para>Select the sub-project in the upper half of the &automanag;, then
&RMB; click in the lower half on the groups title you want to have the files
added and select <guimenuitem>Create New File...</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry id="nutshell-add-project-file">
<term>Add existing files to a project</term>
<listitem>
<para>Select the sub-project in the upper half of the &automanag;, then
&RMB; click in the lower half on the groups title you want to have the files
added and select <guimenuitem>Add Existing Files...</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Remove a file from a project</term>
<listitem>
<para>Select the sub-project in the upper half of the &automanag;, then in
the lower half open the groups list you want to have the file removed from,
&RMB; click on the file in this list and select
<guimenuitem>Remove</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<variablelist id="nutshellitem-compilemake">
<title>Compile/Make Problems</title>
<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-builddirproblems"><link
linkend="defaultbuild-warning">Project does not build again after switching
to/from default target</link></term>
<listitem>
<para>There is a problem with the &automake;/&autoconf; machinery. If
<menuchoice> <guimenu>Project</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Build
Configuration</guimenuitem></menuchoice> provides to select from three build
directories: <guimenuitem>default</guimenuitem>,
<guimenuitem>optimized</guimenuitem>, and <guimenuitem>debug</guimenuitem>,
by all means stick to <emphasis>either</emphasis> the default
<emphasis>or</emphasis> the debug/optimized targets.</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Once you configured your project with default it will no longer build
with debug or optimzed.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Once you configured your project with debug or optimzed it will no
longer build with default.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-autoconf-problem"><quote>Wrong
<command>autoconf</command> version</quote> &etc; Error</term>
<listitem>
<para>There are several error messages concerning too old versions of
<application>autoconf</application> &etc; prohibiting
<command>configure</command> to work properly. Run
<command>autoreconf</command> in the directory tree where the
<filename>configure.in</filename> files in question are. This command will
try to update the information in the &GNU; Build System files. See
<command>man autoreconf</command> for more information.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<variablelist id="nutshellitem-others">
<title>Other Topics</title>
<varlistentry>
<term id="nutshell-others-files"><link linkend="app-files">Configuration
Files used by &kdevelop;</link></term>
<listitem>
<para>Usually you should not need to care, but this is very useful to know
in case something went wrong with your setup.</para>
</listitem>	
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</appendix> <!-- nutshell -->