Find Class Files Fast in EiffelStudio

by Paul Bates (modified: 2007 Oct 26)

If, like me, you are always wanting to get to an Eiffel class file from within EiffelStudio there's a simple external command you can invoke that will launch a file browser selecting the editing class' associated file.

This tip is only for Windows.

Open the External Commands Editor using the Tools | External Commands menu item, and add a new command.

In the Name field enter:

Find

Or whatever you want to call your command.

In the Command line field enter:

explorer.exe /select, "$file_name"

I also set the Index so I can quickly access the command using ALT+<index>, but that's up to you. I'm a keyboard junkie so it's a must for me. That's it! Now open a class in EiffelStudio and activate the external command from the menu Tools | Find (or whatever name you gave the command) or press ALT+<index> if you set an index. Ta-da! Windows Explorer opens the folder where you class resides and selects it. Something similar is also available for Mac users using the open command, although selection is not possible. For Mac users the command is open "$directory_name" This opens finder at the class container directory.

Comments
  • Peter Gummer (17 years ago 26/10/2007)

    Mnemonic Shortcut

    That's a nice tip.

    I find Alt+1 difficult to remember, so I went into Tools | Preferences and changed the shortcut to Ctrl+Shift+E. The E is for Explore, which is the name I gave the command rather than Find. (There's an e in Open too, which would be the name I'll use if I bother doing this on the Mac.)

    One small problem with the tip is that it doesn't work with clusters. I think you'd have to omit the /select, switch for it to work. I don't care, because I almost never have a cluster open in the editor anyway.

    • Paul Bates (17 years ago 27/10/2007)

      Admittedly I never tested the cluster aspect :| I'll modify the tip.

  • Grant Rettke (13 years ago 19/12/2010)

    Is there a command within ES to go directly to a class?

    • Manu (13 years ago 21/12/2010)

      I'm not sure what you mean. Typing the class name goes directly to that class.