EiffelStudio window overview

Window layout

In EiffelStudio all windows have the same components. However, components to be displayed are chosen by the user. Moreover, windows have two modes: the edition mode and the debug mode. Basically, a standard window looks like this:

As you can see, it is divided in several parts: a top section, a left panel, a right panel and a status bar.

The top part is rather not surprising. It first contains a menu bar, which adapts itself to the context of the current project. It also contains two toolbars (the main toolbar and the project toolbar). Between the toolbars is located the main address bar.

The left panel contains various tools that help the navigation in the system.

The right panel contains two major tools: the editor and the context tool.

The status bar supplies various information:

• Its first field gives punctual information concerning a recent operation (such as loading a project, syntax errors in a class text, etc.).
• The second field contains the name of the current project, which can come quite handy if you work on several projects simultaneously.
• The next field contains the current line and column in the main editor of the window (lines and columns start at position 1).
• The last three fields contain icons representing the state of the project, according to several points of view.
  • The first icon indicates whether some class files have been edited since the last compilation. This makes it easy to know whether you have changes to take into account ( ) and whether you should recompile.
  • The second icon gives the compilation state of the project. It may indicate either that the last compilation was successful , or that it failed or that the project is being compiled .
  • The last icon gives the state of the debugger. It may indicate that the application is running , paused or dead (no icon).

In debug mode, a window looks like this:

In debug mode, the same tools are present, but there are three extra tools. Two are located in the left panel, which display respectively the call stack and the dynamic value of expressions. The other is in the right panel and can be used to view the state of objects while debugging.

Layout configuration

Tool configuration

All tools have similar controls to give their display options. It is possible to minimize, restore and maximize all tools by using the proper button in their top right-hand corner. Most tools can also be closed. These tools have a close button in the corner.

• The minimize button
• The maximize button
• The restore button
• The close button

Tools that can be closed have a corresponding entry in the View/Explorer Bar menu. They also have a corresponding button in the main toolbar.

The only tools that cannot be closed are the editor, and when in debug mode the debug tools.

Toolbar configuration

Both main toolbars can be customized. This allows to select buttons that should be displayed in the toolbars, as well as whether an explanatory text should be displayed next to icons.

Context tool

The context tool, located in the right panel, is a major part of EiffelStudio. It itself contains several tabs that each correspond to some powerful functionality.

• The Output tab is where general information and error messages are displayed
• The Diagram tab uses the BON notation to analyze and design a project
• The Class tab gives advanced information concerning a class
• The Feature tab gives advanced information concerning a feature
• The Metrics tab provides quantitative information concerning a system or some of its components

By default, the context tool is unlinked from the rest of the window, which means all left tools refer to the object that is in the editor and the main toolbar, while the context tool (and the debug tools if they are present) displays information concerning a different object. It is possible to link the context tool, so that the whole development window displays information relative to the same development object.

See Also:
Introducing EiffelStudio
Browsing tools
Toolbar customization
EiffelStudio Editor
Formatted information about compiled classes and features
Diagram tool
Metric tool