diff --git a/doc/geany.html b/doc/geany.html index 9341fbdd..65f7f976 100644 --- a/doc/geany.html +++ b/doc/geany.html @@ -1,6718 +1,6731 @@ - - - - - - -Geany - - - - - -
-

Geany

-

A fast, light, GTK+ IDE

- --- - - - - - - - -
Authors:Enrico Tröger -
Nick Treleaven -
Frank Lanitz -
Colomban Wendling
Date:2011-10-02
Version:1.22
-

Copyright © 2005-2011

-

This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public -License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 -of the License, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of this -license can be found in the file COPYING included with the source code -of this program, and also in the chapter GNU General Public License.

-
-

Contents

- -
-
-

Introduction

-
-

About Geany

-

Geany is a small and lightweight Integrated Development Environment. It -was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few -dependencies on other packages. Another goal was to be as independent -as possible from a particular Desktop Environment like KDE or GNOME - -Geany only requires the GTK2 runtime libraries.

-

Some basic features of Geany:

-
    -
  • Syntax highlighting
    • -
  • Code folding
    • -
  • Autocompletion of symbols/words
    • -
  • Construct completion/snippets
    • -
  • Auto-closing of XML and HTML tags
    • -
  • Calltips
    • -
  • Many supported filetypes including C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl, -Pascal, and others
    • -
  • Symbol lists
    • -
  • Code navigation
    • -
  • Build system to compile and execute your code
    • -
  • Simple project management
    • -
  • Plugin interface
    • -
-
-
-

Where to get it

-

You can obtain Geany from http://www.geany.org/ or perhaps also from -your distribution. For a list of available packages, please see -http://www.geany.org/Download/ThirdPartyPackages.

-
-
-

License

-

Geany is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License -as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of -the License, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of this -license can be found in the file COPYING included with the source -code of this program and in the chapter, GNU General Public License.

-

The included Scintilla library (found in the subdirectory -scintilla/) has its own license, which can be found in the chapter, -License for Scintilla and SciTE.

-
-
-

About this document

-

This documentation is available in HTML and text formats. -The latest version can always be found at http://www.geany.org/.

-

If you want to contribute to it, see Contributing to this document.

-
-
-
-

Installation

-
-

Requirements

-

You will need the GTK (>= 2.16.0) libraries and their dependencies -(Pango, GLib and ATK). Your distro should provide packages for these, -usually installed by default. For Windows, you can download an installer -from the website which bundles these libraries.

-
-
-

Binary packages

-

There are many binary packages available. For an up-to-date but maybe -incomplete list see http://www.geany.org/Download/ThirdPartyPackages.

-
-
-

Source compilation

-

Compiling Geany is quite easy. -To do so, you need the GTK (>= 2.16.0) libraries and header files. -You also need the Pango, GLib and ATK libraries and header files. -All these files are available at http://www.gtk.org, but very often -your distro will provide development packages to save the trouble of -building these yourself.

-

Furthermore you need, of course, a C and C++ compiler. The GNU versions -of these tools are recommended.

-
-

Autotools based build system

-

The Autotools based build system is very mature and has been well tested. -To use it, you just need the Make tool, preferably GNU Make.

-

Then run the following commands:

-
-$ ./configure
-$ make
-
-

Then as root:

-
-% make install
-
-
-
-

Waf based build system

-

The Waf build system is still quite young and under heavy development but already in a -usable state. In contrast to the Autotools system, Waf needs Python. So before using Waf, you need -to install Python on your system. -The advantage of the Waf build system over the Autotools based build system is that the whole -build process might be a bit faster. Especially when you use the Waf -cache feature for repetitive builds (e.g. when changing only a few source files -to test something) will become much faster since Waf will cache and re-use the -unchanged built files and only compile the changed code again. See Waf Cache for details. -To build Geany with Waf as run:

-
-$ ./waf configure
-$ ./waf build
-
-

Then as root:

-
-% ./waf install
-
-
-

Waf cache

-

The Waf build system has a nice and interesting feature which can help to avoid -a lot of unnecessary rebuilding of unchanged code. This often happens when developing new features -or trying to debug something in Geany. -Waf is able to store and retrieve the object files from a cache. This cache is declared -using the environment variable WAFCACHE. -A possible location of the cache directory could be ~/.cache/waf. In order to make use of -this, you first need to create this directory:

-
-$ mkdir -p ~/.cache/waf
-
-

then add the environment variable to your shell configuration (the following example is for -Bash and should be adjusted to your used shell):

-
-export WAFCACHE=/home/username/.cache/waf
-
-

Remember to replace username with your actual username.

-

More information about the Waf cache feature are available at -http://code.google.com/p/waf/wiki/CacheObjectFiles.

-
-
Cleaning the cache
-

You should be careful about the size of the cache directory as it may -grow rapidly over time. -Waf doesn't do any cleaning or other house-keeping of the cache yet, so you need to keep it -clean by yourself. -An easy way to keep it clean is to run the following command regularly to remove old -cached files:

-
-$ find /home/username/.cache/waf -mtime +14 -exec rm {} \;
-
-

This will delete all files in the cache directory which are older than 14 days.

-

For details about the find command and its options, check its manual page.

-
-
-
-
-

Custom installation

-

The configure script supports several common options, for a detailed -list, type:

-
-$ ./configure --help
-
-
-
or::
-
$ ./waf --help
-
-

(depending on which build system you use).

-

You may also want to read the INSTALL file for advanced installation -options.

- -
-
-

Dynamic linking loader support and VTE

-

In the case that your system lacks dynamic linking loader support, you -probably want to pass the option --disable-vte to the configure -script. This prevents compiling Geany with dynamic linking loader -support for automatically loading libvte.so.4 if available.

-
-
-

Build problems

-

If there are any errors during compilation, check your build -environment and try to find the error, otherwise contact the mailing -list or one the authors. Sometimes you might need to ask for specific -help from your distribution.

-
-
-
-

Installation prefix

-

If you want to find Geany's system files after installation you may -want to know the installation prefix.

-

Pass the --print-prefix option to Geany to check this - see -Command line options. The first path is the prefix.

-

On Unix-like systems this is commonly /usr if you installed from -a binary package, or /usr/local if you build from source.

-
-

Note

-

Editing system files is not necessary as you should use the -per-user configuration files instead, which don't need root -permissions. See Configuration files.

-
-
-
-
-

Usage

-
-

Getting started

-

You can start Geany in the following ways:

-
    -

  • From the Desktop Environment menu:

    -

    Choose in your application menu of your used Desktop Environment: -Development --> Geany.

    -
    • -

  • From the command line:

    -

    To start Geany from a command line, type the following and press -Return:

    -
    -% geany
-
    -
    • -
-
-
-

The Geany workspace

-

The Geany window is shown in the following figure:

-./images/main_window.png -

The workspace has the following parts:

-
    -
  • The menu.
    • -
  • An optional toolbar.
    • -
  • An optional sidebar that can show the following tabs:
      -
    • Documents - A document list, and
      • -
    • Symbols - A list of symbols in your code.
      • -
    -
    • -
  • The main editor window.
    • -
  • An optional message window which can show the following tabs:
      -
    • Status - A list of status messages.
      • -
    • Compiler - The output of compiling or building programs.
      • -
    • Messages - Results of 'Find Usage', 'Find Usage' 'Find in Files' and other actions
      • -
    • Scribble - A text scratchpad for any use.
      • -
    • Terminal - An optional terminal window.
      • -
    -
    • -
  • A status bar
    • -
-

Most of these can be configured in the Interface preferences, the -View menu, or the popup menu for the relevant area.

-

Additional tabs may be added to the sidebar and message window by plugins.

-

The position of the tabs can be selected in the interface preferences.

-

The sizes of the sidebar and message window can be adjusted by -dragging the dividers.

-
-
-

Command line options

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Short optionLong optionFunction
none+numberSet initial line number for the first opened file -(same as --line, do not put a space between the + sign -and the number). E.g. "geany +7 foo.bar" will open the -file foo.bar and place the cursor in line 7.
none--columnSet initial column number for the first opened file.
-c dir_name--config=directory_nameUse an alternate configuration directory. The default -configuration directory is ~/.config/geany/ and that -is where geany.conf and other configuration files -reside.
none--ft-namesPrint a list of Geany's internal filetype names (useful -for snippets configuration).
-g--generate-tagsGenerate a global tags file (see -Generating a global tags file).
-P--no-preprocessingDon't preprocess C/C++ files when generating tags.
-i--new-instanceDo not open files in a running instance, force opening -a new instance. Only available if Geany was compiled -with support for Sockets.
-l--lineSet initial line number for the first opened file.
none--list-documentsReturn a list of open documents in a running Geany -instance. -This can be used to read the currently opened documents in -Geany from an external script or tool. The returned list -is separated by newlines (LF) and consists of the full, -UTF-8 encoded filenames of the documents. -Only available if Geany was compiled with support for -Sockets.
-m--no-msgwinDo not show the message window. Use this option if you -do not need compiler messages or VTE support.
-n--no-ctagsDo not load symbol completion and call tip data. Use this -option if you do not want to use them.
-p--no-pluginsDo not load plugins or plugin support.
none--print-prefixPrint installation prefix, the data directory, the lib -directory and the locale directory (in that order) to -stdout, one line each. This is mainly intended for plugin -authors to detect installation paths.
-s--no-sessionDo not load the previous session's files.
-t--no-terminalDo not load terminal support. Use this option if you do -not want to load the virtual terminal emulator widget -at startup. If you do not have libvte.so.4 installed, -then terminal-support is automatically disabled. Only -available if Geany was compiled with support for VTE.
none--socket-file

Use this socket filename for communication with a -running Geany instance. This can be used with the following -command to execute Geany on the current workspace:

-
-geany --socket-file=/tmp/geany-sock-$(xprop -root _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP | awk '{print $3}')
-
-
none--vte-libSpecify explicitly the path including filename or only -the filename to the VTE library, e.g. -/usr/lib/libvte.so or libvte.so. This option is -only needed when the auto-detection does not work. Only -available if Geany was compiled with support for VTE.
-v--verboseBe verbose (print useful status messages).
-V--versionShow version information and exit.
-?--helpShow help information and exit.
none[files ...]

Open all given files at startup. This option causes -Geany to ignore loading stored files from the last -session (if enabled). -Geany also recognizes line and column information when -appended to the filename with colons, e.g. -"geany foo.bar:10:5" will open the file foo.bar and -place the cursor in line 10 at column 5.

-

Projects can also be opened but a project file (*.geany) -must be the first non-option argument. All additionally -given files are ignored.

-
-

You can also pass line number and column number information, e.g.:

-
-geany some_file.foo:55:4
-
-

Geany supports all generic GTK options, a list is available on the -help screen.

-
-
-

General

-
-

Startup

-

At startup, Geany loads all files from the last time Geany was -launched. You can disable this feature in the preferences dialog -(see General Startup preferences). If you specify some -files on the command line, only these files will be opened, but you -can find the files from the last session in the file menu under the -"Recent files" item. By default this contains the last 10 recently -opened files. You can change the number of recently opened files in -the preferences dialog.

-

You can start several instances of Geany, but only the first will -load files from the last session. To run a second instance of Geany, -do not specify any filenames on the command-line, or disable opening -files in a running instance using the appropriate command line option.

-
-
-

Opening files from the command-line in a running instance

-

Geany detects if there is an an instance of itself already running and opens files -from the command-line in that instance. So, Geany can -be used to view and edit files by opening them from other programs -such as a file manager.

-

You can also pass line number and column number information, e.g.:

-
-geany some_file.foo:55:4
-
-

This would open the file some_file.foo with the cursor on line 55, -column 4.

-

If you do not like this for some reason, you can disable using the first -instance by using the appropriate command line option -- see the section -called Command line options.

-
-
-

Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE)

-

If you have installed libvte.so on your system, it is loaded -automatically by Geany, and you will have a terminal widget in the -notebook at the bottom.

-

If Geany cannot find any libvte.so at startup, the terminal widget -will not be loaded. So there is no need to install the package containing -this file in order to run Geany. Additionally, you can disable the use -of the terminal widget by command line option, for more information -see the section called Command line options.

-

You can use this terminal (from now on called VTE) much as you would -a terminal program like xterm. There is basic clipboard support. You -can paste the contents of the clipboard by pressing the right mouse -button to open the popup menu, and choosing Paste. To copy text from -the VTE, just select the desired text and then press the right mouse -button and choose Copy from the popup menu. On systems running the -X Window System you can paste the last selected text by pressing the -middle mouse button in the VTE (on 2-button mice, the middle button -can often be simulated by pressing both mouse buttons together).

-

In the preferences dialog you can specify a shell which should be -started in the VTE. To make the specified shell a login shell just -use the appropriate command line options for the shell. These options -should be found in the manual page of the shell. For zsh and bash -you can use the argument --login.

-
-

Note

-

Geany tries to load libvte.so. If this fails, it tries to load -some other filenames. If this fails too, you should check whether you -installed libvte correctly. Again note, Geany will run without this -library.

-
-

It could be, that the library is called something else than -libvte.so (e.g. on FreeBSD 6.0 it is called libvte.so.8). If so -please set a link to the correct file (as root):

-
-# ln -s /usr/lib/libvte.so.X /usr/lib/libvte.so
-
-

Obviously, you have to adjust the paths and set X to the number of your -libvte.so.

-

You can also specify the filename of the VTE library to use on the command -line (see the section called Command line options) or at compile time -by specifying the command line option --with-vte-module-path to -./configure.

-
-
-

Defining own widget styles using .gtkrc-2.0

-

You can define your widget style for many of Geany's GUI parts. To -do this, just edit your .gtkrc-2.0 (usually found in your home -directory on UNIX-like systems and in the etc subdirectory of your -Geany installation on Windows).

-

To have a defined style used by Geany you must assign it to -at least one of Geany's widgets. For example use the following line:

-
-widget "Geany*" style "geanyStyle"
-
-

This would assign your style "geany_style" to all Geany -widgets. You can also assign styles only to specific widgets. At the -moment you can use the following widgets:

-
    -
  • GeanyMainWindow
    • -
  • GeanyEditMenu
    • -
  • GeanyToolbarMenu
    • -
  • GeanyDialog
    • -
  • GeanyDialogPrefs
    • -
  • GeanyDialogProject
    • -
  • GeanyDialogSearch
    • -
  • GeanyMenubar
    • -
  • GeanyToolbar
    • -
-

An example of a simple .gtkrc-2.0:

-
-style "geanyStyle"
-{
-    font_name="Sans 12"
-}
-widget "GeanyMainWindow" style "geanyStyle"
-
-style "geanyStyle"
-{
-    font_name="Sans 10"
-}
-widget "GeanyPrefsDialog" style "geanyStyle"
-
-
-
-
-

Documents

-
-

Switching between documents

-

The documents list and the editor tabs are two different ways -to switch between documents using the mouse. When you hit the key -combination to move between tabs, the order is determined by the tab -order. It is not alphabetical as shown in the documents list -(regardless of whether or not editor tabs are visible).

-

See the Notebook tab keybindings section for useful -shortcuts including for Most-Recently-Used document switching.

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-
-
-

Character sets and Unicode Byte-Order-Mark (BOM)

-
-

Using character sets

-

Geany provides support for detecting and converting character sets. So -you can open and save files in different character sets, and even -convert a file from one character set to another. To do this, -Geany uses the character conversion capabilities of the GLib library.

-

Only text files are supported, i.e. opening files which contain -NULL-bytes may fail. Geany will try to open the file anyway but it is -likely that the file will be truncated because it can only be read up -to the first occurrence of a NULL-byte. All characters after this -position are lost and are not written when you save the file.

-

Geany tries to detect the encoding of a file while opening it, but -auto-detecting the encoding of a file is not easy and sometimes an -encoding might not be detected correctly. In this case you have to -set the encoding of the file manually in order to display it -correctly. You can this in the file open dialog by selecting an -encoding in the drop down box or by reloading the file with the -file menu item "Reload as". The auto-detection works well for most -encodings but there are also some encodings where it is known that -auto-detection has problems.

-

There are different ways to set different encodings in Geany:

-
    -

  • Using the file open dialog

    -

    This opens the file with the encoding specified in the encoding drop -down box. If the encoding is set to "Detect from file" auto-detection -will be used. If the encoding is set to "Without encoding (None)" the -file will be opened without any character conversion and Geany will -not try to auto-detect the encoding (see below for more information).

    -
    • -

  • Using the "Reload as" menu item

    -

    This item reloads the current file with the specified encoding. It can -help if you opened a file and found out that the wrong encoding was used.

    -
    • -

  • Using the "Set encoding" menu item

    -

    Contrary to the above two options, this will not change or reload -the current file unless you save it. It is useful when you want to -change the encoding of the file.

    -
    • -

  • Specifying the encoding in the file itself

    -

    As mentioned above, auto-detecting the encoding of a file may fail on -some encodings. If you know that Geany doesn't open a certain file, -you can add the specification line, described in the next section, -to the beginning of the file to force Geany to use a specific -encoding when opening the file.

    -
    • -
-
-
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In-file encoding specification

-

Geany detects meta tags of HTML files which contain charset information -like:

-
-<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-15" />
-
-

and the specified charset is used when opening the file. This is useful if the -encoding of the file cannot be detected properly. -For non-HTML files you can also define a line like:

-
-/* geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 */
-
-

or:

-
-# geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 #
-
-

to force an encoding to be used. The #, /* and */ are examples -of filetype-specific comment characters. It doesn't matter which -characters are around the string " geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 " as long -as there is at least one whitespace character before and after this -string. Whitespace characters are in this case a space or tab character. -An example to use this could be you have a file with ISO-8859-15 -encoding but Geany constantly detects the file encoding as ISO-8859-1. -Then you simply add such a line to the file and Geany will open it -correctly the next time.

-

Since Geany 0.15 you can also use lines which match the -regular expression used to find the encoding string: -coding[\t ]*[:=][\t ]*([a-z0-9-]+)[\t ]*

-
-

Note

-

These specifications must be in the first 512 bytes of the file. -Anything after the first 512 bytes will not be recognized.

-
-

Some examples are:

-
-# encoding = ISO-8859-15
-
-

or:

-
-# coding: ISO-8859-15
-
-
-
-

Special encoding "None"

-

There is a special encoding "None" which uses no -encoding. It is useful when you know that Geany cannot auto-detect -the encoding of a file and it is not displayed correctly. Especially -when the file contains NULL-bytes this can be useful to skip auto -detection and open the file properly at least until the occurrence -of the first NULL-byte. Using this encoding opens the file as it is -without any character conversion.

-
-
-

Unicode Byte-Order-Mark (BOM)

-

Furthermore, Geany detects a Unicode Byte Order Mark (see -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_Order_Mark for details). Of course, -this feature is only available if the opened file is in a Unicode -encoding. The Byte Order Mark helps to detect the encoding of a file, -e.g. whether it is UTF-16LE or UTF-16BE and so on. On Unix-like systems -using a Byte Order Mark could cause some problems for programs not -expecting it, e.g. the compiler gcc stops -with stray errors, PHP does not parse a script containing a BOM and -script files starting with a she-bang maybe cannot be started. In the -status bar you can easily see whether the file starts with a BOM or -not.

-

If you want to set a BOM for a file or if you want to remove it -from a file, just use the document menu and toggle the checkbox.

-
-

Note

-

If you are unsure what a BOM is or if you do not understand where -to use it, then it is probably not important for you and you can -safely ignore it.

-
-
-
-
-

Editing

-
-

Folding

-

Geany provides basic code folding support. Folding means the ability to -show and hide parts of the text in the current file. You can hide -unimportant code sections and concentrate on the parts you are working on -and later you can show hidden sections again. In the editor window there is -a small grey margin on the left side with [+] and [-] symbols which -show hidden parts and hide parts of the file respectively. By -clicking on these icons you can simply show and hide sections which are -marked by vertical lines within this margin. For many filetypes nested -folding is supported, so there may be several fold points within other -fold points.

-
-

Note

-

You can customize the folding icon and line styles - see the -filetypes.common Folding Settings.

-
-

If you don't like it or don't need it at all, you can simply disable -folding support completely in the preferences dialog.

-

The folding behaviour can be changed with the "Fold/Unfold all children of -a fold point" option in the preference dialog. If activated, Geany will -unfold all nested fold points below the current one if they are already -folded (when clicking on a [+] symbol). -When clicking on a [-] symbol, Geany will fold all nested fold points -below the current one if they are unfolded.

-

This option can be inverted by pressing the Shift -key while clicking on a fold symbol. That means, if the "Fold/Unfold all -children of a fold point" option is enabled, pressing Shift will disable -it for this click and vice versa.

-
-
-

Column mode editing (rectangular selections)

-

There is basic support for column mode editing. To use it, create a -rectangular selection by holding down the Control and Shift keys -(or Control and Alt if it doesn't work) while -selecting some text. It is also possible to create a zero-column selection. -Once a rectangular selection exists you can start editing the text within -this selection and the modifications will be done for every line in the -selection.

-
-
-

Drag and drop of text

-

If you drag selected text in the editor widget of Geany the text is -moved to the position where the mouse pointer is when releasing the -mouse button. Holding Control when releasing the mouse button will -copy the text instead. This behaviour was changed in Geany 0.11 - -before the selected text was copied to the new position.

-
-
-

Indentation

-

Geany allows each document to indent either with a tab character, -multiple spaces or a combination of both. The default indent -settings are set in Editor Indentation preferences (see the link -for more information).

-

The default settings can be overridden per-document using the -Document menu. They can also be overridden by projects - see -Project management.

-

The indent mode for the current document is shown on the status bar -as follows:

-
-
TAB
-
Indent with Tab characters.
-
SP
-
Indent with spaces.
-
T/S
-
Indent with tabs and spaces, depending on how much indentation is -on a line.
-
-
-

Applying new indentation settings

-

After changing the default settings you may wish to apply the new -settings to every document in the current session. To do this use the -Project->Apply Default Indentation menu item.

-
-
-

Detecting indent type

-

The Detect from file indentation preference can be used to -scan each file as it's opened and set the indent type based on -how many lines start with a tab vs. 2 or more spaces.

-
-
-
-

Auto-indentation

-

When enabled, auto-indentation happens when pressing Enter in the -Editor. It adds a certain amount of indentation to the new line so the -user doesn't always have to indent each line manually.

-

Geany has four types of auto-indentation:

-
-
None
-
Disables auto-indentation completely.
-
Basic
-
Adds the same amount of whitespace on a new line as on the last line.
-
Current chars
-
Does the same as Basic but also indents a new line after an opening -brace '{', and de-indents when typing a closing brace '}'. For Python, -a new line will be indented after typing ':' at the end of the -previous line.
-
Match braces
-
Similar to Current chars but the closing brace will be aligned to -match the indentation of the line with the opening brace.
-
-

There is also XML-tag auto-indentation. This is enabled when the -mode is more than just Basic, and is also controlled by a filetype -setting - see xml_indent_tags.

-
-
-

Bookmarks

-

Geany provides a handy bookmarking feature that lets you mark one -or more lines in a document, and return the cursor to them using a -key combination.

-

To place a mark on a line, either left-mouse-click in the left margin -of the editor window, or else use Ctrl-m. This will -produce a small green plus symbol in the margin. You can have as many -marks in a document as you like. Click again (or use Ctrl-m again) -to remove the bookmark. To remove all the marks in a given document, -use "Remove Markers" in the Document menu.

-

To navigate down your document, jumping from one mark to the next, -use Ctrl-. (control period). To go in the opposite direction on -the page, use Ctrl-, (control comma). Using the bookmarking feature -together with the commands to switch from one editor tab to another -(Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn and Ctrl-Tab) provides a particularly fast way to -navigate around multiple files.

-
-
-

Code navigation history

-

To ease navigation in source files and especially between -different files, Geany lets you jump between different navigation -points. Currently, this works for the following:

- -

When using one of these actions, Geany remembers your current position -and jumps to the new one. If you decide to go back to your previous -position in the file, just use "Navigate back a location". To -get back to the new position again, just use "Navigate forward a -location". This makes it easier to navigate in e.g. foreign code -and between different files.

-
-
-

Sending text through custom commands

-

You can define several custom commands in Geany and send the current -selection to one of these commands using the Edit->Format->Send -Selection to menu or keybindings. The output of the command will be -used to replace the current selection. This makes it possible to use -text formatting tools with Geany in a general way.

-

The selected text will be sent to the standard input of the executed -command, so the command should be able to read from it and it should -print all results to its standard output which will be read by -Geany. To help finding errors in executing the command, the output -of the program's standard error will be printed on Geany's standard -output.

-

If there is no selection, the whole current line is used instead.

-

To add a custom command, use the Send Selection to->Set Custom -Commands menu item. Click on Add to get a new item and type the -command. You can also specify some command line options. Empty -commands are not saved.

-

Normal shell quoting is supported, so you can do things like:

-
    -
  • sed 's/\./(dot)/g'
    • -
-

The above example would normally be done with the Replace all -function, but it can be handy to have common commands already set up.

-
-
-

Context actions

-

You can execute the context action command on the current word at the -cursor position or the available selection. This word or selection -can be used as an argument to the command. -The context action is invoked by a menu entry in the popup menu of the -editor and also a keyboard shortcut (see the section called -Keybindings).

-

The command can be specified in the preferences dialog and also for -each filetype (see "context_action_cmd" in the section called -Filetype configuration). When the context action is invoked, the filetype -specific command is used if available, otherwise the command -specified in the preferences dialog is executed.

-

The current word or selection can be referred with the wildcard "%s" -in the command, it will be replaced by the current word or -selection before the command is executed.

-

For example a context action can be used to open API documentation -in a browser window, the command to open the PHP API documentation -would be:

-
-firefox "http://www.php.net/%s"
-
-

when executing the command, the %s is substituted by the word near -the cursor position or by the current selection. If the cursor is at -the word "echo", a browser window will open(assumed your browser is -called firefox) and it will open the address: http://www.php.net/echo.

-
-
-

Autocompletion

-

Geany can offer a list of possible completions for symbols defined in the -tags and for all words in a document.

-

The autocompletion list for symbols is presented when the first few -characters of the symbol are typed (configurable, see Editor Completions -preferences, default 4) or when the Complete word -keybinding is pressed (configurable, see Editor keybindings, -default Ctrl-Space).

-

When the defined keybinding is typed and the Autocomplete all words in -document preference (in Editor Completions preferences) -is selected then the autocompletion list will show all matching words -in the document, if there are no matching symbols.

-

If you don't want to use autocompletion it can be dismissed until -the next symbol by pressing Escape. The autocompletion list is updated -as more characters are typed so that it only shows completions that start -with the characters typed so far. If no symbols begin with the sequence, -the autocompletion window is closed.

-

The up and down arrows will move the selected item. The highlighted -item on the autocompletion list can be chosen from the list by pressing -Enter/Return. You can also double-click to select an item. The sequence -will be completed to match the chosen item, and if the Drop rest of -word on completion preference is set (in Editor Completions -preferences) then any characters after the cursor that match -a symbol or word are deleted.

-
-

Word part completion

-

By default, pressing Tab will complete the selected item by word part; -useful e.g. for adding the prefix gtk_combo_box_entry_ without typing it -manually:

-
    -
  • gtk_com<TAB>
    • -
  • gtk_combo_<TAB>
    • -
  • gtk_combo_box_<e><TAB>
    • -
  • gtk_combo_box_entry_<s><ENTER>
    • -
  • gtk_combo_box_entry_set_text_column
    • -
-

The key combination can be changed from Tab - See Editor keybindings. -If you clear/change the key combination for word part completion, Tab -will complete the whole word instead, like Enter.

-
-
-

Scope autocompletion

-

E.g.:

-
-struct
-{
-    int i;
-    char c;
-} foo;
-
-

When you type foo. it will show an autocompletion list with 'i' and -'c' symbols.

-

It only works for languages that set parent scope names for e.g. struct -members. Currently this means C-like languages. The C tag parser only -parses global scopes, so this won't work for structs or objects declared -in local scope.

-
-
-
-

User-definable snippets

-

Snippets are small strings or code constructs which can be replaced or -completed to a more complex string. So you can save a lot of time when -typing common strings and letting Geany do the work for you. -To know what to complete or replace Geany reads a configuration file -called snippets.conf at startup.

-

Maybe you need to often type your name, so define a snippet like this:

-
-[Default]
-myname=Enrico Tröger
-
-

Every time you write myname <TAB> in Geany, it will replace "myname" -with "Enrico Tröger". The key to start autocompletion can be changed -in the preferences dialog, by default it is TAB. The corresponding keybinding -is called Complete snippet.

-

Paths

-

You can override the default snippets using the user -snippets.conf file. Use the Tools->Configuration -Files->snippets.conf menu item. See also Configuration file paths.

-

This adds the default settings to the user file if the file doesn't -exist. Alternatively the file can be created manually, adding only -the settings you want to change. All missing settings will be read -from the system snippets file.

-

Snippet groups

-

The file snippets.conf contains sections defining snippets that -are available for particular filetypes and in general.

-

The two sections "Default" and "Special" apply to all filetypes. -"Default" contains all snippets which are available for every -filetype and "Special" contains snippets which can only be used in -other snippets. So you can define often used parts of snippets and -just use the special snippet as a placeholder (see the -snippets.conf for details).

-

You can define sections with the name of a filetype eg "C++". The -snippets in that section are only available for use in files with that -filetype. Snippets in filetype sections will hide snippets with the -same name in the "Default" section when used in a file of that -filetype.

-

Substitution sequences for snippets

-

To define snippets you can use several special character sequences which -will be replaced when using the snippet:

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
\n or %newline%Insert a new line (it will be replaced by the used EOL -char(s): LF, CR/LF, or CR).
\t or %ws%Insert an indentation step, it will be replaced according -to the current document's indent mode.
\s\s to force whitespace at beginning or end of a value -('key= value' won't work, use 'key=\svalue')
%cursor%Place the cursor at this position after completion has -been done. You can define multiple %cursor% wildcards -and use the keybinding Move cursor in snippet to jump -to the next defined cursor position in the completed -snippet.
%...%"..." means the name of a key in the "Special" section. -If you have defined a key "brace_open" in the "Special" -section you can use %brace_open% in any other snippet.
-

Snippet names must not contain spaces otherwise they won't -work correctly. But beside that you can define almost any -string as a snippet and use it later in Geany. It is not limited -to existing contructs of certain programming languages(like if, -for, switch). Define whatever you need.

-

Template wildcards

-

Since Geany 0.15 you can also use most of the available templates wildcards -listed in Template wildcards. All wildcards which are listed as -available in snippets can be used. For instance to improve the above example:

-
-[Default]
-myname=My name is {developer}
-mysystem=My system: {command:uname -a}
-
-

this will replace myname with "My name is " and the value of the template -preference developer.

-

Word characters

-

You can change the way Geany recognizes the word to complete, -that is how the start and end of a word is recognised when the -snippet completion is requested. The section "Special" may -contain a key "wordchars" which lists all characters a string may contain -to be recognized as a word for completion. Leave it commented to use -default characters or define it to add or remove characters to fit your -needs.

-
-

Snippet keybindings

-

Normally you would type the snippet name and press Tab. However, you -can define keybindings for snippets under the Keybindings group in -snippets.conf:

-
-[Keybindings]
-for=<Ctrl>7
-block_cursor=<Ctrl>8
-
-
-

Note

-

Snippet keybindings may be overridden by Geany's configurable -keybindings.

-
-
-
-
-

Inserting Unicode characters

-

You can insert Unicode code points by hitting Ctrl-Shift-u, then still holding -Ctrl-Shift, type some hex digits representing the code point for the character -you want and hit Enter or Return (still holding Ctrl-Shift). If you release -Ctrl-Shift before hitting Enter or Return (or any other character), the code -insertion is completed, but the typed character is also entered. In the case -of Enter/Return, it is a newline, as you might expect.

-

In some earlier versions of Geany, you might need to first unbind Ctrl-Shift-u -in the keybinding preferences, then select Tools->Reload Configuration -or restart Geany. Note that it works slightly differently from other GTK -applications, in that you'll need to continue to hold down the Ctrl and Shift -keys while typing the code point hex digits (and the Enter or Return to finish the code point).

-
-
-
-

Search, replace and go to

-

This section describes search-related commands from the Search menu -and the editor window's popup menu:

-
    -
  • Find
    • -
  • Find selection
    • -
  • Find usage
    • -
  • Find in files
    • -
  • Replace
    • -
  • Go to tag definition
    • -
  • Go to tag declaration
    • -
  • Go to line
    • -
-
-

Toolbar entries

-

There are also two toolbar entries:

-
    -
  • Search bar
    • -
  • Go to line entry
    • -
-

There are keybindings to focus each of these - see Focus -keybindings. Pressing Escape will then focus the editor.

- -
-
-

Find

-

The Find dialog is used for finding text in one or more open documents.

-./images/find_dialog.png -
-

Matching options

-

The syntax for the Use regular expressions option is shown in -Regular expressions.

-
-

Note

-

Use escape sequences is implied for regular expressions.

-
-

The Use escape sequences option will transform any escaped characters -into their UTF-8 equivalent. For example, \t will be transformed into -a tab character. Other recognized symbols are: \\, \n, \r, \uXXXX -(Unicode characters).

-
-
-

Find all

-

To find all matches, click on the Find All expander. This will reveal -several options:

-
    -
  • In Document
    • -
  • In Session
    • -
  • Mark
    • -
-

Find All In Document will show a list of matching lines in the -current document in the Messages tab of the Message Window. Find All -In Session does the same for all open documents.

-

Mark will highlight all matches in the current document with a -colored box. These markers can be removed by selecting the -Remove Markers command from the Document menu.

-
-
-

Change font in search dialog text fields

-

All search related dialogs use a Monospace for the text input fields to -increase the readability of input text. This is useful when you are -typing input such as regular expressions with spaces, periods and commas which -might it hard to read with a proportional font.

-

If you want to change the font, you can do this easily -by inserting the following style into your .gtkrc-2.0 -(usually found in your home directory on UNIX-like systems and in the -etc subdirectory of your Geany installation on Windows):

-
-style "search_style"
-{
-    font_name="Monospace 8"
-}
-widget "GeanyDialogSearch.*.GtkEntry" style:highest "search_style"
-
-

Please note the addition of ":highest" in the last line which sets the priority -of this style to the highest available. Otherwise, the style is ignored -for the search dialogs.

-
-
-
-

Find selection

-

The Find Next/Previous Selection commands perform a search for the -current selected text. If nothing is selected, by default the current -word is used instead. This can be customized by the -find_selection_type preference - see Various preferences.

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Valuefind_selection_type behaviour
0Use the current word (default).
1Try the X selection first, then current word.
2Repeat last search.
-
-
-

Find usage

-

Find usage searches all open files. It is similar to the Find All In -Session option in the Find dialog.

-

If there is a selection, then it is used as the search text; otherwise -the current word is used. The current word is either taken from the -word nearest the edit cursor, or the word underneath the popup menu -click position when the popup menu is used. The search results are -shown in the Messages tab of the Message Window.

-
-
-

Find in files

-

Find in files is a more powerful version of Find usage that searches -all files in a certain directory using the Grep tool. The Grep tool -must be correctly set in Preferences to the path of the system's Grep -utility. GNU Grep is recommended (see note below).

-./images/find_in_files_dialog.png -

The Files setting allows to choose which files are included in the -search, depending on the mode:

-
-
All
-
Search in all files;
-
Project
-
Use the current project's patterns, see Project properties;
-
Custom
-
Use custom patterns.
-
-

Both project and custom patterns use a glob-style syntax, each -pattern separated by a space. To search all .c and .h files, -use: *.c *.h. -Note that an empty pattern list searches in all files rather -than none.

-

The Encoding field can be used to define the encoding of the files -to be searched. The entered search text is converted to the chosen encoding -and the search results are converted back to UTF-8.

-

The Extra options field is used to pass any additional arguments to -the grep tool.

-
-

Note

-

The Files setting uses --include= when searching recursively, -Recurse in subfolders uses -r; both are GNU Grep options and may -not work with other Grep implementations.

-
-
-

Filtering out version control files

-

When using the Recurse in subfolders option with a directory that's -under version control, you can set the Extra options field to filter -out version control files.

-

If you have GNU Grep >= 2.5.2 you can use the --exclude-dir -argument to filter out CVS and hidden directories like .svn.

-

Example: --exclude-dir=.svn --exclude-dir=CVS

-

If you have an older Grep, you can try using the --exclude flag -to filter out filenames.

-

SVN Example: --exclude=*.svn-base

-

The --exclude argument only matches the file name part, not the path.

-
-
-
-

Replace

-

The Replace dialog is used for replacing text in one or more open -documents.

-./images/replace_dialog.png -

The Replace dialog has the same options for matching text as the Find -dialog. See the section Matching options.

-

The Use regular expressions option allows regular expressions to -be used in the search string and back references in the replacement -text -- see the entry for '\n' in Regular expressions.

-
-

Replace all

-

To replace several matches, click on the Replace All expander. This -will reveal several options:

-
    -
  • In Document
    • -
  • In Session
    • -
  • In Selection
    • -
-

Replace All In Document will replace all matching text in the -current document. Replace All In Session does the same for all open -documents. Replace All In Selection will replace all matching text -in the current selection of the current document.

-
-
-
-

Go to tag definition

-

If the current word is the name of a tag definition (like a function -body) and the file containing the tag definition is open, this command -will switch to that file and go to the corresponding line number. The -current word is either the word nearest the edit cursor, -or the word underneath the popup menu click position when the popup -menu is used.

-
-

Note

-

If the current word's tag is on the current line, Geany will try -to look for a tag declaration instead, as this is more useful. -Likewise 'Go to tag declaration' will search for a tag definition -in this case also.

-
-
-
-

Go to tag declaration

-

Like Go to tag definition, but for a forward declaration such as a -C function prototype or extern declaration instead of a function -body.

-
-
-

Go to line

-

Go to a particular line number in the current file.

-
-
-

Regular expressions

-

You can use regular expressions in the Find and Replace dialogs -by selecting the Use regular expressions check box (see Matching -options). The syntax is POSIX compatible, as described in the table -below.

-
-

Note

-
    -
  1. The Use escape sequences dialog option always applies for regular -expressions.
    2. -
  2. Searching backwards with regular expressions is not supported.
    3. -
  3. \b, \d, \s, \w are GNU extensions and may not be available -on non-GNU POSIX systems unless you built Geany with the ---enable-gnu-regex option (this is always used on Windows).
    4. -
-
-

In a regular expression, the following characters are interpreted:

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
.Matches any character.
(This marks the start of a region for tagging a match.
)This marks the end of a tagged region.
\n

Where n is 1 through 9 refers to the first through ninth tagged -region when searching or replacing.

-

Searching for (Wiki)\1 matches WikiWiki.

-

If the search string was Fred([1-9])XXX and the -replace string was Sam\1YYY, when applied to Fred2XXX this -would generate Sam2YYY.

-
\0When replacing, the whole matching text.
\bThis matches a word boundary.
\c

A backslash followed by d, D, s, S, w or W, becomes a -character class (both inside and outside sets []).

-
    -
  • d: decimal digits
    • -
  • D: any char except decimal digits
    • -
  • s: whitespace (space, \t \n \r \f \v)
    • -
  • S: any char except whitespace (see above)
    • -
  • w: alphanumeric & underscore
    • -
  • W: any char except alphanumeric & underscore
    • -
-
\xThis allows you to use a character x that would otherwise have -a special meaning. For example, \[ would be interpreted as [ -and not as the start of a character set. Use \\ for a literal -backslash.
[...]

Matches one of the characters in the set. If the first -character in the set is ^, it matches the characters NOT in -the set, i.e. complements the set. A shorthand S-E (start -dash end) is used to specify a set of characters S up to E, -inclusive.

-

The special characters ] and - have no special -meaning if they appear first in the set. - can also be last -in the set. To include both, put ] first: []A-Z-].

-

Examples:

-
-[]|-]    matches these 3 chars
-[]-|]    matches from ] to | chars
-[a-z]    any lowercase alpha
-[^]-]    any char except - and ]
-[^A-Z]   any char except uppercase alpha
-[a-zA-Z] any alpha
-
-
^This matches the start of a line (unless used inside a set, see -above).
$This matches the end of a line.
*This matches 0 or more times. For example, Sa*m matches Sm, Sam, -Saam, Saaam and so on.
+This matches 1 or more times. For example, Sa+m matches Sam, -Saam, Saaam and so on.
?This matches 0 or 1 time(s). For example, Joh?n matches John, Jon.
-
-

Note

-

This table is adapted from Scintilla and SciTE documentation, -distributed under the License for Scintilla and SciTE.

-
-
-
-
-

View menu

-

The View menu allows various elements of the main window to be shown -or hidden, and also provides various display-related editor options.

-
-

Color schemes menu

-

The Color schemes menu is available under the View->Editor submenu. -It lists various color schemes for editor highlighting styles, -including the default scheme first. Other items are available based -on what color scheme files Geany found at startup.

-

Color scheme files are read from the Configuration file paths under -the colorschemes subdirectory. They should have the extension -.conf. The default color scheme -is read from filetypes.common.

-

The [named_styles] section is the same as for filetypes.common.

-
-

Note

-

Some filetypes do not yet support named styles so will ignore -any chosen color scheme.

-
-

The [theme_info] section can contain information about the -theme. The name and description keys are read to set the -menu item text and tooltip, respectively. These keys can have -translations, e.g.:

-
-key=Hello
-key[de]=Hallo
-key[fr_FR]=Bonjour
-
-
-
-
-

Tags

-

Tags are information that relates symbols in a program with the -source file location of the declaration and definition.

-

Geany has built-in functionality for generating tag information (aka -"workspace tags") for supported filetypes when you open a file. You -can also have Geany automatically load external tag files (aka "global -tags files") upon startup, or manually using Tools --> Load Tags.

-

Geany uses its own tag file format, similar to what ctags uses -(but is incompatible with ctags). You use Geany to generate global -tags files, as described below.

-
-

Workspace tags

-

Tags for each document are parsed whenever a file is loaded, saved or -modified (see Symbol list update frequency preference in the Editor -Completions preferences). These are shown in the Symbol list in the -Sidebar. These tags are also used for autocompletion of symbols and calltips -for all documents open in the current session that have the same filetype.

-

The Go to Tag commands can be used with all workspace tags. See -Go to tag definition.

-
-
-

Global tags

-

Global tags are used to provide autocompletion of symbols and calltips -without having to open the corresponding source files. This is intended -for library APIs, as the tags file only has to be updated when you upgrade -the library.

-

You can load a custom global tags file in two ways:

-
    -
  • Using the Load Tags command in the Tools menu.
    • -
  • By moving or symlinking tags files to the tags subdirectory of -one of the configuration file paths before starting Geany.
    • -
-

You can either download these files or generate your own. They have -the format:

-
-name.lang_ext.tags
-
-

lang_ext is one of the extensions set for the filetype associated -with the tags. See the section called Filetype extensions for -more information.

-
-

Default global tags files

-

For some languages, a list of global tags is loaded when the -corresponding filetype is first used. Currently these are for:

-
    -
  • C -- GTK+ and GLib
    • -
  • Pascal
    • -
  • PHP
    • -
  • HTML -- &symbol; completion, e.g. for ampersand, copyright, etc.
    • -
  • LaTeX
    • -
  • Python
    • -
-
-
-

Global tags file format

-

Global tags files can have two different formats:

-
    -
  • Tagmanager format
    • -
  • Pipe-separated format
    • -
-

The first line of global tags files should be a comment, introduced -by # followed by a space and a string like format=pipe -or format=tagmanager respectively, these are case-sensitive. -This helps Geany to read the file properly. If this line -is missing, Geany tries to auto-detect the used format but this -might fail.

-

The Tagmanager format is a bit more complex and is used for files -created by the geany -g command. There is one tag per line. -Different tag attributes like the return value or the argument list -are separated with different characters indicating the type of the -following argument.

-

The Pipe-separated format is easier to read and write. -There is one tag per line and different tag attributes are separated -by the pipe character (|). A line looks like:

-
-basename|string|(string path [, string suffix])|
-
-
-
The first field is the tag name (usually a function name).
-
The second field is the type of the return value.
-
The third field is the argument list for this tag.
-
The fourth field is the description for this tag but -currently unused and should be left empty.
-
-

Except for the first field (tag name), all other field can be left -empty but the pipe separator must appear for them.

-

You can easily write your own global tag files using this format. -Just save them in your tags directory, as described earlier in the -section Global tags.

-
-
-

Generating a global tags file

-

You can generate your own global tags files by parsing a list of -source files. The command is:

-
-geany -g [-P] <Tag File> <File list>
-
-
    -
  • Tag File filename should be in the format described earlier -- -see the section called Global tags.
    • -
  • File list is a list of filenames, each with a full path (unless -you are generating C/C++ tags and have set the CFLAGS environment -variable appropriately).
    • -
  • -P or --no-preprocessing disables using the C pre-processor -to process #include directives for C/C++ source files. Use this -option if you want to specify each source file on the command-line -instead of using a 'master' header file. Also can be useful if you -don't want to specify the CFLAGS environment variable.
    • -
-

Example for the wxD library for the D programming language:

-
-geany -g wxd.d.tags /home/username/wxd/wx/*.d
-
-

Generating C/C++ tag files:

-

For C/C++ tag files, gcc and grep are required, so that header files -can be preprocessed to include any other headers they depend upon.

-

For C/C++ files, the environment variable CFLAGS should be set with -appropriate -I/path include paths. The following example works with -the bash shell, generating tags for the GnomeUI library:

-
-CFLAGS=`pkg-config --cflags libgnomeui-2.0` geany -g gnomeui.c.tags \
-/usr/include/libgnomeui-2.0/gnome.h
-
-

You can adapt this command to use CFLAGS and header files appropriate -for whichever libraries you want.

-

Replacing the default C/C++ tags file:

-

Geany currently uses a default global tags file c99.tags for -C and C++, commonly installed in /usr/share/geany. This file can -be replaced with one containing tags parsed from a different set -of header files. When Geany is next started, your custom tags file -will be loaded instead of the default c99.tags. You should keep a -copy of the generated tags file because it will get overwritten when -upgrading Geany.

-

Generating tag files on Windows:

-

This works basically the same as on other platforms but you need to make -sure you have grep installed and Geany can find it, i.e. it must be -in the PATH environment variable. To test this, open a console window -and type grep and see whether it is executed. -If it is, then you can create a tags file like the following:

-
-"c:\program files\geany\bin\geany" -g c:\mytags.php.tags c:\code\somefile.php
-
-
-
-
-

C ignore.tags

-

You can ignore certain tags for C-based languages if they would lead -to wrong parsing of the code. Use the Tools->Configuration -Files->ignore.tags menu item to open the user ignore.tags file. -See also Configuration file paths.

-

List all tag names you want to ignore in this file, separated by spaces -and/or newlines.

-

Example:

-
-G_GNUC_NULL_TERMINATED
-G_GNUC_PRINTF
-G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT
-
-

This will parse code like:

-

gchar **utils_strv_new(const gchar *first, ...) -G_GNUC_NULL_TERMINATED;

-

More detailed information about ignore tags usage from the Exuberant Ctags -manual page:

-
-Specifies a list of identifiers which are to be specially handled -while parsing C and C++ source files. This option is specifically -provided to handle special cases arising through the use of -pre-processor macros. When the identifiers listed are simple identifiers, -these identifiers will be ignored during parsing of the source files. -If an identifier is suffixed with a '+' character, ctags will also -ignore any parenthesis-enclosed argument list which may immediately -follow the identifier in the source files. -If two identifiers are separated with the '=' character, the first -identifiers is replaced by the second identifiers for parsing purposes.
-

For even more detailed information please read the manual page of -Exuberant Ctags.

-
-
-
-

Preferences

-

You may adjust Geany's settings using the Edit --> Preferences -dialog. Any changes you make there can be applied by hitting either -the Apply or the OK button. These settings will persist between Geany -sessions. Note that most settings here have descriptive popup bubble -help -- just hover the mouse over the item in question to get help -on it.

-

You may also adjust some View settings (under the View menu) that -persist between Geany sessions. The settings under the Document menu, -however, are only for the current document and revert to defaults -when restarting Geany.

-
-

Note

-

In the paragraphs that follow, the text describing a dialog tab -comes after the screenshot of that tab.

-
-
-

General Startup preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_gen_startup.png -
-

Startup

-
-
Load files from the last session
-
On startup, load the same files you had open the last time you -used Geany.
-
Load virtual terminal support
-
Load the library for running a terminal in the message window area.
-
Enable plugin support
-
Allow plugins to be used in Geany.
-
-
-
-

Shutdown

-
-
Save window position and geometry
-
Save the current position and size of the main window so next time -you open Geany it's in the same location.
-
Confirm Exit
-
Have a dialog pop up to confirm that you really want to quit Geany.
-
-
-
-

Paths

-
-
Startup path
-
Path to start in when opening or saving files. -It must be an absolute path. -Leave it blank to use the current working directory.
-
Project files
-
Path to start in when opening project files.
-
Extra plugin path
-
By default Geany looks in the system installation and the user -configuration - see Plugins. In addition the path entered here will be -searched. -Usually you do not need to set an additional path to search for -plugins. It might be useful when Geany is installed on a multi-user machine -and additional plugins are available in a common location for all users. -Leave blank to not set an additional lookup path.
-
-
-
-
-

General Miscellaneous preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_gen_misc.png -
-

Miscellaneous

-
-
Beep on errors when compilation has finished
-
Have the computer make a beeping sound when compilation of your program -has completed or any errors occurred.
-
Switch status message list at new message
-
Switch to the status message tab (in the notebook window at the bottom) -once a new status message arrives.
-
Suppress status messages in the status bar
-

Remove all messages from the status bar. The messages are still displayed -in the status messages window.

-
-

Tip

-

Another option is to use the Switch to Editor keybinding - it -reshows the document statistics on the status bar. See Focus -keybindings.

-
-
-
Use Windows File Open/Save dialogs
-
Defines whether to use the native Windows File Open/Save dialogs or -whether to use the GTK default dialogs.
-
Auto-focus widgets (focus follows mouse)
-
Give the focus automatically to widgets below the mouse cursor. -This works for the main editor widget, the scribble, the toolbar search field -goto line fields and the VTE.
-
-
- -
-

Projects

-
-
Use project-based session files
-
Save your current session when closing projects. You will be able to -resume different project sessions, automatically opening the files -you had open previously.
-
Store project file inside the project base directory
-
When creating new projects, the default path for the project file contains -the project base path. Without this option enabled, the default project file -path is one level above the project base path. -In either case, you can easily set the final project file path in the -New Project dialog. This option provides the more common -defaults automatically for convenience.
-
-
-
-
-

Interface preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_interface_interface.png - -
-

Fonts

-
-
Editor
-
Change the font used to display documents.
-
Symbol list
-
Change the font used for the Symbols sidebar tab.
-
Message window
-
Change the font used for the message window area.
-
-
-
-

Miscellaneous

-
-
Show status bar
-
Show the status bar at the bottom of the main window. It gives information about -the file you are editing like the line and column you are on, whether any -modifications were done, the file encoding, the filetype and other information.
-
-
-
-
-

Interface Notebook tab preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_interface_notebook.png -
-

Editor tabs

-
-
Show editor tabs
-
Show a notebook tab for all documents so you can switch between them -using the mouse (instead of using the Documents window).
-
Show close buttons
-
Make each tab show a close button so you can easily close open -documents.
-
Placement of new file tabs
-
Whether to create a document with its notebook tab to the left or -right of all existing tabs.
-
Next to current
-
Whether to place file tabs next to the current tab -rather than at the edges of the notebook.
-
Double-clicking hides all additional widgets
-
Whether to call the View->Toggle All Additional Widgets command -when double-clicking on a notebook tab.
-
-
-
-

Tab positions

-
-
Editor
-
Set the positioning of the editor's notebook tabs to the right, -left, top, or bottom of the editing window.
-
Sidebar
-
Set the positioning of the sidebar's notebook tabs to the right, -left, top, or bottom of the sidebar window.
-
Message window
-
Set the positioning of the message window's notebook tabs to the -right, left, top, or bottom of the message window.
-
-
-
-
-

Interface Toolbar preferences

-

Affects the main toolbar underneath the menu bar.

-./images/pref_dialog_interface_toolbar.png -
-

Toolbar

-
-
Show Toolbar
-
Whether to show the toolbar.
-
Append Toolbar to the Menu
-
Allows to append the toolbar to the main menu bar instead of placing it below. -This is useful to save vertical space.
-
Customize Toolbar
-
See Customizing the toolbar.
-
-
-
-

Appearance

-
-
Icon Style
-
Select the toolbar icon style to use - either icons and text, just -icons or just text. -The choice System default uses whatever icon style is set by GTK.
-
Icon size
-
Select the size of the icons you see (large, small or very small). -The choice System default uses whatever icon size is set by GTK.
-
-
-
-
-

Editor Features preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_edit_features.png -
-

Features

-
-
Line wrapping
-
Show long lines wrapped around to new display lines.
-
"Smart" home key
-
Whether to move the cursor to the first non-whitespace character -on the line when you hit the home key on your keyboard. Pressing it -again will go to the very start of the line.
-
Disable Drag and Drop
-
Do not allow the dragging and dropping of selected text in documents.
-
Code folding
-
Allow groups of lines in a document to be collapsed for easier -navigation/editing.
-
Fold/Unfold all children of a fold point
-
Whether to fold/unfold all child fold points when a parent line -is folded.
-
Use indicators to show compile errors
-
Underline lines with compile errors using red squiggles to indicate -them in the editor area.
-
Newline strip trailing spaces
-
Remove any white space at the end of the line when you hit the -Enter/Return key.
-
Line breaking column
-
The editor column number to insert a newline at when Line Breaking -is enabled for the current document.
-
Comment toggle marker
-
A string which is added when toggling a line comment in a source file. -It is used to mark the comment as toggled.
-
-
-
-
-

Editor Indentation preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_edit_indentation.png -
-

Indentation group

-

See Indentation for more information.

-
-
Width
-
The width of a single indent size in spaces. By default the indent -size is equivalent to 4 spaces.
-
Detect width from file
-
Try to detect and set the indent width based on file content, when -a file is opened.
-
Type
-

When Geany inserts indentation, whether to use:

-
    -
  • Just Tabs
    • -
  • Just Spaces
    • -
  • Tabs and Spaces, depending on how much indentation is on a line
    • -
-

The Tabs and Spaces indent type is also known as Soft tab -support in some other editors.

-
-
Detect type from file
-
Try to detect and set the indent type based on file content, when -a file is opened.
-
Auto-indent mode
-

The type of auto-indentation you wish to use after pressing Enter, -if any.

-
-
Basic
-
Just add the indentation of the previous line.
-
Current chars
-
Add indentation based on the current filetype and any characters at -the end of the line such as {, } for C, : for Python.
-
Match braces
-
Like Current chars but for C-like languages, make a closing -} brace line up with the matching opening brace.
-
-
-
Tab key indents
-

If set, pressing tab will indent the current line or selection, and -unindent when pressing Shift-tab. Otherwise, the tab key will -insert a tab character into the document (which can be different -from indentation, depending on the indent type).

-
-

Note

-

There are also separate configurable keybindings for indent & -unindent, but this preference allows the tab key to have different -meanings in different contexts - e.g. for snippet completion.

-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Editor Completions preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_edit_completions.png -
-

Completions

-
-
Snippet Completion
-
Whether to replace special keywords after typing Tab into a -pre-defined text snippet. -See User-definable snippets.
-
XML/HTML tag auto-closing
-
When you open an XML/HTML tag automatically generate its -completion tag.
-
Automatic continuation multi-line comments
-

Continue automatically multi-line comments in languages like C, C++ -and Java when a new line is entered inside such a comment. -With this option enabled, Geany will insert a * on every new line -inside a multi-line comment, for example when you press return in the -following C code:

-
-/*
- * This is a C multi-line comment, press <Return>
-
-

then Geany would insert:

-
-*
-
-

on the next line with the correct indentation based on the previous line, -as long as the multi-line is not closed by */.

-
-
Autocomplete symbols
-
When you start to type a symbol name, look for the full string to -allow it to be completed for you.
-
Autocomplete all words in document
-
When you start to type a word, Geany will search the whole document for -words starting with the typed part to complete it, assuming there -are no tag names to show.
-
Drop rest of word on completion
-
Remove any word part to the right of the cursor when choosing a -completion list item.
-
Characters to type for autocompletion
-
Number of characters of a word to type before autocompletion is -displayed.
-
Completion list height
-
The number of rows to display for the autocompletion window.
-
Max. symbol name suggestions
-
The maximum number of items in the autocompletion list.
-
Symbol list update frequency
-

The minimum delay (in milliseconds) between two symbol list updates.

-

This option determines how frequently the tag list is updated for the -current document. The smaller the delay, the more up-to-date the symbol -list (and then the completions); but rebuilding the symbol list has a -cost in performance, especially with large files.

-

The default value is 250ms, which means the symbol list will be updated -at most four times per second, even if the document changes continuously.

-

A value of 0 disables automatic updates, so the symbol list will only be -updated upon document saving.

-
-
-
-
-

Auto-close quotes and brackets

-

Geany can automatically insert a closing bracket and quote characters when -you open them. For instance, you type a ( and Geany will automatically -insert ). With the following options, you can define for which -characters this should work.

-
-
Parenthesis ( )
-
Auto-close parenthesis when typing an opening one
-
Curly brackets { }
-
Auto-close curly brackets (braces) when typing an opening one
-
Square brackets [ ]
-
Auto-close square brackets when typing an opening one
-
Single quotes ' '
-
Auto-close single quotes when typing an opening one
-
Double quotes " "
-
Auto-close double quotes when typing an opening one
-
-
-
-
-

Editor Display preferences

-

This is for visual elements displayed in the editor window.

-./images/pref_dialog_edit_display.png -
-

Display

-
-
Invert syntax highlighting colors
-
Invert all colors, by default this makes white text on a black -background.
-
Show indendation guides
-
Show vertical lines to help show how much leading indentation there -is on each line.
-
Show whitespaces
-
Mark all tabs with an arrow "-->" symbol and spaces with dots to -show which kinds of whitespace are used.
-
Show line endings
-
Display a symbol everywhere that a carriage return or line feed -is present.
-
Show line numbers
-
Show or hide the Line Number margin.
-
Show markers margin
-
Show or hide the small margin right of the line numbers, which is used -to mark lines.
-
Stop scrolling at last line
-
When enabled Geany stops scrolling when at the last line of the document. -Otherwise you can scroll one more page even if there are no real lines.
-
-
-
-

Long line marker

-

The long line marker helps to indicate overly-long lines, or as a hint -to the user for when to break the line.

-
-
Type
-
-
Line
-
Show a thin vertical line in the editor window at the given column -position.
-
Background
-
Change the background color of characters after the given column -position to the color set below. (This is recommended over the -Line setting if you use proportional fonts).
-
Disabled
-
Don't mark long lines at all.
-
-
-
Long line marker
-
Set this value to a value greater than zero to specify the column -where it should appear.
-
Long line marker color
-
Set the color of the long line marker.
-
-
-
-

Virtual spaces

-

Virtual space is space beyond the end of each line. -The cursor may be moved into virtual space but no real space will be -added to the document until there is some text typed or some other -text insertion command is used.

-
-
Disabled
-
Do not show virtual spaces
-
Only for rectangular selections
-
Only show virtual spaces beyond the end of lines when drawing a rectangular selection
-
Always
-
Always show virtual spaces beyond the end of lines
-
-
-
-
-

Files preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_files.png -
-

New files

-
-
Open new documents from the command-line
-
Whether to create new documents when passing filenames that don't -exist from the command-line.
-
Default encoding (new files)
-
The type of file encoding you wish to use when creating files.
-
Used fixed encoding when opening files
-
Assume all files you are opening are using the type of encoding specified below.
-
Default encoding (existing files)
-
Opens all files with the specified encoding instead of auto-detecting it. -Use this option when it's not possible for Geany to detect the exact encoding.
-
Default end of line characters
-
The end of line characters to which should be used for new files. -On Windows systems, you generally want to use CR/LF which are the common -characters to mark line breaks. -On Unix-like systems, LF is default and CR is used on MAC systems.
-
-
-
-

Saving files

-

Perform formatting operations when a document is saved. These -can each be undone with the Undo command.

-
-
Ensure newline at file end
-
Add a newline at the end of the document if one is missing.
-
Ensure consistent line endings
-
Ensures that newline characters always get converted before -saving, avoiding mixed line endings in the same file.
-
Strip trailing spaces
-
Remove the trailing spaces on each line of the document.
-
Replace tabs by space
-

Replace all tabs in the document with the equivalent number of spaces.

-
-

Note

-

It is better to use spaces to indent than use this preference - see -Indentation.

-
-
-
-
-
-

Miscellaneous

-
-
Recent files list length
-
The number of files to remember in the recently used files list.
-
Disk check timeout
-

The number of seconds to periodically check the current document's -file on disk in case it has changed. Setting it to 0 will disable -this feature.

-
-

Note

-

These checks are only performed on local files. Remote files are -not checked for changes due to performance issues -(remote files are files in ~/.gvfs/).

-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Tools preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_tools.png -
-

Tool paths

-
-
Terminal
-
The location of your terminal executable.
-
Browser
-
The location of your web browser executable.
-
Grep
-
The location of the grep executable.
-
-
-

Note

-

For Windows users: at the time of writing it is recommended to use -the grep.exe from the UnxUtils project -(http://sourceforge.net/projects/unxutils). The grep.exe from the -Mingw project for instance might not work with Geany at the moment.

-
-
-
-

Commands

-
-
Context action
-
Set this to a command to execute on the current word. -You can use the "%s" wildcard to pass the current word below the cursor -to the specified command.
-
-
-
-
-

Template preferences

-

This data is used as meta data for various template text to insert into -a document, such as the file header. You only need to set fields that -you want to use in your template files.

-./images/pref_dialog_templ.png -
-

Template data

-
-
Developer
-
The name of the developer who will be creating files.
-
Initials
-
The initials of the developer.
-
Mail address
-

The email address of the developer.

-
-

Note

-

You may wish to add anti-spam markup, e.g. name<at>site<dot>ext.

-
-
-
Company
-
The company the developer is working for.
-
Initial version
-
The initial version of files you will be creating.
-
Year
-
Specify a format for the the {year} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers -which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see -http://man.cx/strftime.
-
Date
-
Specify a format for the the {date} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers -which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see -http://man.cx/strftime.
-
Date & Time
-
Specify a format for the the {datetime} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers -which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see -http://man.cx/strftime.
-
-
-
-
-

Keybinding preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_keys.png -

There are some commands listed in the keybinding dialog that are not, by default, -bound to a key combination, and may not be available as a menu item.

-
-

Note

-

For more information see the section Keybindings.

-
-
-
-

Printing preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_printing.png -
-
Use external command for printing
-
Use a system command to print your file out.
-
Use native GTK printing
-
Let the GTK GUI toolkit handle your print request.
-
Print line numbers
-
Print the line numbers on the left of your paper.
-
Print page number
-
Print the page number on the bottom right of your paper.
-
Print page header
-
Print a header on every page that is sent to the printer.
-
Use base name of the printed file
-
Don't use the entire path for the header, only the filename.
-
Date format
-
How the date should be printed. You can use the same format -specifiers as in the ANSI C function strftime(). For details please -see http://man.cx/strftime.
-
-
-
-

Various preferences

-./images/pref_dialog_various.png -

Rarely used preferences, explained in the table below. A few of them require -restart to take effect, and a few other will only affect newly opened or created -documents before restart.

- ------ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
KeyDescriptionDefaultApplies
Editor related   
use_gtk_word_boundariesWhether to look for the end of a word -when using word-boundary related -Scintilla commands (see Scintilla -keyboard commands).trueto new -documents
brace_match_ltgtWhether to highlight <, > angle brackets.falseimmediately
complete_snippets_whilst_editingWhether to allow completion of snippets -when editing an existing line (i.e. there -is some text after the current cursor -position on the line). Only used when the -keybinding Complete snippet is set to -Space.falseimmediately
show_editor_scrollbarsWhether to display scrollbars. If set to -false, the horizontal and vertical -scrollbars are hidden completely.trueimmediately
indent_hard_tab_widthThe size of a tab character. Don't change -it unless you really need to; use the -indentation settings instead.8immediately
Interface related   
show_symbol_list_expandersWhether to show or hide the small -expander icons on the symbol listtrueto new -documents
allow_always_savetreeview. Whether files can be saved -always, even if they don't have any -changes. By default, the Save button and -menu item are disabled when a file is -unchanged. When setting this option to -true, the Save button and menu item are -always active and files can be saved.falseimmediately
compiler_tab_autoscrollWhether to automatically scroll to the -last line of the output in the Compiler -tab.trueimmediately
statusbar_templateThe status bar statistics line format. -(Search in src/ui_utils.c for details).See below.immediately
new_document_after_closeWhether to open a new document after all -documents have been closed.falseimmediately
msgwin_status_visibleWhether to show the Status tab in the -Messages Windowtrueimmediately
msgwin_compiler_visibleWhether to show the Compiler tab in the -Messages Windowtrueimmediately
msgwin_messages_visibleWhether to show the Messages tab in the -Messages Windowtrueimmediately
msgwin_scribble_visibleWhether to show the Scribble tab in the -Messages Windowtrueimmediately
-

By default, statusbar_template is empty. This tells Geany to use its -internal default, which is currently:

-

line: %l / %L\t col: %c\t sel: %s\t %w      %t      %mmode: %M      encoding: %e      filetype: %f      scope: %S

-

Note that \t = tab.

- ------ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
KeyDescriptionDefaultApplies
VTE related   
emulationTerminal emulation mode. Only change this -if you have VTE termcap files other than -vte/termcap/xterm.xtermimmediately
send_selection_unsafeBy default, Geany strips any trailing -newline characters from the current -selection before sending it to the terminal -to not execute arbitrary code. This is -mainly a security feature. -If, for whatever reasons, you really want -it to be executed directly, set this option -to true.falseimmediately
File related   
use_atomic_file_savingDefines the mode how Geany saves files to -disk. If disabled, Geany directly writes -the content of the document to disk. This -might cause loss of data when there is -no more free space on disk to save the -file. When set to true, Geany first saves -the contents into a temporary file and if -this succeeded, the temporary file is -moved to the real file to save. -This gives better error checking in case of -no more free disk space. But it also -destroys hard links of the original file -and its permissions (e.g. executable flags -are reset). Use this with care as it can -break things seriously. -The better approach would be to ensure your -disk won't run out of free space.falseimmediately
use_gio_unsafe_file_savingWhether to use GIO as the unsafe file -saving backend. It is better on most -situations but is known not to work -correctly on some complex setups.trueimmediately
gio_unsafe_save_backupMake a backup when using GIO unsafe file -saving. Backup is named filename~.falseimmediately
Filetype related   
extract_filetype_regexRegex to extract filetype name from file -via capture group one.See below.immediately
Search related   
find_selection_typeSee Find selection.0immediately
Build Menu related   
number_ft_menu_itemsThe maximum number of menu items in the -filetype section of the Build menu.2on restart
number_non_ft_menu_itemsThe maximum number of menu items in the -independent section of the Build menu.3on restart
number_exec_menu_itemsThe maximum number of menu items in the -execute section of the Build menu.2on restart
-

The extract_filetype_regex has the default value GEANY_DEFAULT_FILETYPE_REGEX.

-
-
-

Terminal (VTE) preferences

-

See also: Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE).

-./images/pref_dialog_vte.png -
-

Terminal widget

-
-
Terminal font
-
Select the font that will be used in the terminal emulation control.
-
Foreground color
-
Select the font color.
-
Background color
-
Select the background color of the terminal.
-
Scrollback lines
-
The number of lines buffered so that you can scroll though the history.
-
Shell
-
The location of the shell on your system.
-
Scroll on keystroke
-
Scroll the terminal to the prompt line when pressing a key.
-
Scroll on output
-
Scroll the output down.
-
Cursor blinks
-
Let the terminal cursor blink.
-
Override Geany keybindings
-
Allow the VTE to receive keyboard shortcuts (apart from focus commands).
-
Disable menu shortcut key (F10 by default)
-
Disable the menu shortcut when you are in the virtual terminal.
-
Follow path of the current file
-
Make the path of the terminal change according to the path of the -current file.
-
Execute programs in VTE
-
Execute programs in the virtual terminal instead of using the external -terminal tool. Note that if you run multiple execute commands at once -the output may become mixed together in the VTE.
-
Don't use run script
-
Don't use the simple run script which is usually used to display -the exit status of the executed program. -This can be useful if you already have a program running in the VTE -like a Python console (e.g. ipython). Use this with care.
-
-
-
-
-
-

Project management

-

Project management is optional in Geany. Currently it can be used for:

-
    -
  • Storing and opening session files on a project basis.
    • -
  • Overriding default settings with project equivalents.
    • -
  • Configuring the Build menu on a project basis.
    • -
-

A list of session files can be stored and opened with the project -when the Use project-based session files preference is enabled, -in the Project group of the Preferences dialog.

-

As long as a project is open, the Build menu will use -the items defined in project's settings, instead of the defaults. -See Build Menu Configuration for information on configuring the menu.

-

The current project's settings are saved when it is closed, or when -Geany is shutdown. When restarting Geany, the previously opened project -file that was in use at the end of the last session will be reopened.

-

The project menu items are detailed below.

-
-

New project

-

To create a new project, fill in the Name field. By default this -will setup a new project file ~/projects/name.geany. Usually it's -best to store all your project files in the same directory (they are -independent of any source directory trees).

-

The Base path text field is setup to use ~/projects/name. This -can safely be set to any existing path -- it will not touch the file -structure contained in it.

-
-
-

Project properties

-

You can set an optional description for the project. Currently it's -only used for a template wildcard - see Template wildcards.

-

The Base path field is used as the directory to run the Build menu commands. -The specified path can be an absolute path or it is considered to be -relative to the project's file name.

-

The File patterns field allows to specify a list of file patterns for the -project, which can be used in the Find in files dialog.

-

The Indentation tab allows you to override the default -Indentation settings.

-
-
-

Open project

-

The Open command displays a standard file chooser, starting in -~/projects. Choose a project file named with the .geany -extension.

-

When project session support is enabled, Geany will close the currently -open files and open the session files associated with the project.

-
-
-

Close project

-

Project file settings are saved when the project is closed.

-

When project session support is enabled, Geany will close the project -session files and open any previously closed default session files.

-
-
-
-

Build menu

-

After editing code with Geany, the next step is to compile, link, build, -interpret, run etc. As Geany supports many languages each with a different -approach to such operations, and as there are also many language independent -software building systems, Geany does not have a built-in build system, nor -does it limit which system you can use. Instead the build menu provides -a configurable and flexible means of running any external commands to -execute your preferred build system.

-

This section provides a description of the default configuration of the -build menu and then covers how to configure it, and where the defaults fit in.

-

Running the commands from within Geany has two benefits:

-
    -
  • The current file is automatically saved before the command is run.
    • -
  • The output is captured in the Compiler notebook tab and parsed for -warnings or errors.
    • -
-

Warnings and errors that can be parsed for line numbers will be shown in -red in the Compiler tab and you can click on them to switch to the relevant -source file (or open it) and mark the line number. Also lines with -warnings or errors are marked in the source, see Indicators below.

-
-

Tip

-

If Geany's default error message parsing does not parse errors for -the tool you're using, you can set a custom regex in the Build Commands -Dialog, see Build Menu Configuration.

-
-
-

Indicators

-

Indicators are red squiggly underlines which are used to highlight -errors which occurred while compiling the current file. So you can -easily see where your code failed to compile. You can remove them by -selecting Remove Error Indicators in the Document menu.

-

If you do not like this feature, you can disable it - see Editor Features -preferences.

-
-
-

Default build menu items

-

Depending on the current file's filetype, the default Build menu will contain -the following items:

-
    -
  • Compile
    • -
  • Build
    • -
  • Make All
    • -
  • Make Custom Target
    • -
  • Make Object
    • -
  • Next Error
    • -
  • Previous Error
    • -
  • Execute
    • -
  • Set Build Menu Commands
    • -
-
-

Compile

-

The Compile command has different uses for different kinds of files.

-

For compilable languages such as C and C++, the Compile command is -set up to compile the current source file into a binary object file.

-

Java source files will be compiled to class file bytecode.

-

Interpreted languages such as Perl, Python, Ruby will compile to -bytecode if the language supports it, or will run a syntax check, -or if that is not available will run the file in its language interpreter.

-
-
-

Build

-

For compilable languages such as C and C++, the Build command will link -the current source file's equivalent object file into an executable. If -the object file does not exist, the source will be compiled and linked -in one step, producing just the executable binary.

-

Interpreted languages do not use the Build command.

-
-

Note

-

If you need complex settings for your build system, or several -different settings, then writing a Makefile and using the Make -commands is recommended; this will also make it easier for users to -build your software.

-
-
-
-

Make

-

This runs "make" in the same directory as the -current file.

-
-
-

Make custom target

-

This is similar to running 'Make' but you will be prompted for -the make target name to be passed to the Make tool. For example, -typing 'clean' in the dialog prompt will run "make clean".

-
-
-

Make object

-

Make object will run "make current_file.o" in the same directory as -the current file, using the filename for 'current_file'. It is useful -for building just the current file without building the whole project.

-
-
-

Next error

-

The next error item will move to the next detected error in the file.

-
-
-

Previous error

-

The previous error item will move to the previous detected error in the file.

-
-
-

Execute

-

Execute will run the corresponding executable file, shell script or -interpreted script in a terminal window. Note that the Terminal tool -path must be correctly set in the Tools tab of the Preferences dialog - -you can use any terminal program that runs a Bourne compatible shell -and accept the "-e" command line argument to start a command or can be -selected to use the built-in VTE if it is available - see -Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE).

-

After your program or script has finished executing, you will be -prompted to press the return key. This allows you to review any text -output from the program before the terminal window is closed.

-
-

Note

-

The execute command output is not parsed for errors.

-
-
-
-

Stopping running processes

-

When there is a running program, the Execute menu item in the menu and -the Run button in the toolbar -each become a stop button so you can stop the current running program (and -any child processes). This works by sending the SIGQUIT signal to the process.

-

Depending on the process you started it is possible that the process -cannot be stopped. For example this can happen when the process creates -more than one child process.

-
-
Terminal emulators
-

Xterm is known to work properly. If you are using "Terminal" -(the terminal program of Xfce), you should add the command line -option --disable-server otherwise the started process cannot be -stopped. Just add this option in the preferences dialog on the Tools -tab in the terminal field.

-
-
-
-

Set build commands

-

By default Compile, Build and Execute are fairly basic commands. You -may wish to customise them using Set Build Commands.

-

E.g. for C you can add any include paths and compile flags for the -compiler, any library names and paths for the linker, and any -arguments you want to use when running Execute.

-
-
-
-

Build menu configuration

-

The build menu has considerable flexibility and configurability, allowing -both menu labels the commands they execute and the directory they execute -in to be configured.

-

For example, if you change one of the default make commands to run say 'waf' -you can also change the label to match.

-

These settings are saved automatically when Geany is shut down.

-

The build menu is divided into four groups of items each with different -behaviors:

-
    -
  • Filetype build commands - are configurable and depend on the filetype of the -current document; they capture output in the compiler tab and parse it for -errors.
    • -
  • Independent build commands - are configurable and mostly don't depend on the -filetype of the current document; they also capture output in the -compiler tab and parse it for errors.
    • -
  • Execute commands - are configurable and intended for executing your -program or other long running programs. The output is not parsed for errors -and is directed to the terminal selected in preferences.
    • -
  • Fixed commands - these perform built-in actions:
      -
    • Go to the next error.
      • -
    • Go to the previous error.
      • -
    • Show the build menu commands dialog.
      • -
    -
    • -
-

The maximum numbers of items in each of the configurable groups can be -configured in the Various preferences. Even though the maximum number of -items may have been increased, only those menu items that have values -configured are shown in the menu.

-

The groups of menu items obtain their configuration from four potential -sources. The highest priority source that has the menu item defined will -be used. The sources in decreasing priority are:

-
    -
  • A project file if open
    • -
  • The user preferences
    • -
  • The system filetype definitions
    • -
  • The defaults
    • -
-

The detailed relationships between sources and the configurable menu item groups -is shown in the following table.

- ------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GroupProject FilePreferencesSystem FiletypeDefaults
Filetype

Loads From: project -file

-

Saves To: project -file

-

Loads From: -filetypes.xxx file in -~/.config/geany/filedefs

-

Saves to: as above, -creating if needed.

-

Loads From: -filetypes.xxx in -Geany install

-

Saves to: as user -preferences left.

-		None
Filetype -Independent

Loads From: project -file

-

Saves To: project -file

-

Loads From: -geany.conf file in -~/.config/geany

-

Saves to: as above, -creating if needed.

-

Loads From: -filetypes.xxx in -Geany install

-

Saves to: as user -preferences left.

-
-
1:
-
Label: _Make -Command: make
-
2:
-
Label: Make Custom _Target -Command: make
-
3:
-
Label: Make _Object -Command: make %e.o
-
-
Execute

Loads From: project -file or else -filetype defined in -project file

-

Saves To: -project file

-

Loads From: -geany.conf file in -~/.config/geany or else -filetypes.xxx file in -~/.config/geany/filedefs

-

Saves To: -filetypes.xxx file in -~/.config/geany/filedefs

-

Loads From: -filetypes.xxx in -Geany install

-

Saves To: as user -preferences left.

-		Label: _Execute -Command: ./%e
-

The following notes on the table reference cells by coordinate as (group,source):

-
    -
  • General - for filetypes.xxx substitute the appropriate extension for -the filetype of the current document for xxx - see filenames.
    • -
  • System Filetypes - Labels loaded from these sources are locale sensitive -and can contain translations.
    • -
  • (Filetype, Project File) and (Filetype, Preferences) - preferences use a full -filetype file so that users can configure all other filetype preferences -as well. Projects can only configure menu items per filetype. Saving -in the project file means that there is only one file per project not -a whole directory.
    • -
  • (Filetype-Independent, System Filetype) - although conceptually strange, defining -filetype-independent commands in a filetype file, this provides the ability to -define filetype dependent default menu items.
    • -
  • (Execute, Project File) and (Execute, Preferences) - the project independent -execute and preferences independent execute commands can only be set by hand -editing the appropriate file, see Preferences file format and Project file -format.
    • -
-
-
-

Build menu commands dialog

-

Most of the configuration of the build menu is done through the Build Menu -Commands Dialog. You edit the configuration sourced from preferences in the -dialog opened from the Build->Build Menu Commands item and you edit the -configuration from the project in the build tab of the project preferences -dialog. Both use the same form shown below.

-./images/build_menu_commands_dialog.png -

The dialog is divided into three sections:

-
    -
  • Filetype build commands (selected based on the current document's filetype).
    • -
  • Independent build commands (available regardless of filetype).
    • -
  • Filetype execute commands.
    • -
-

The filetype and independent sections also each contain a field for the regular -expression used for parsing command output for error and warning messages.

-

The columns in the first three sections allow setting of the label, command, -and working directory to run the command in.

-

An item with an empty label will not be shown in the menu.

-

An empty working directory will default to the directory of the current document. -If there is no current document then the command will not run.

-

The dialog will always show the command selected by priority, not just the -commands configured in this configuration source. This ensures that you always -see what the menu item is going to do if activated.

-

If the current source of the menu item is higher priority than the -configuration source you are editing then the command will be shown -in the dialog but will be insensitive (greyed out). This can't happen -with the project source but can with the preferences source dialog.

-

The clear buttons remove the definition from the configuration source you are editing. -When you do this the command from the next lower priority source will be shown. -To hide lower priority menu items without having anything show in the menu -configure with a nothing in the label but at least one character in the command.

-
-

Substitutions in commands and working directories

-

The first occurence of each of the following character sequences in each of the -command and working directory fields is substituted by the items specified below -before the command is run.

-
    -
  • %d - substituted by the absolute path to the directory of the current file.
    • -
  • %e - substituted by the name of the current file without the extension or path.
    • -
  • %f - substituted by the name of the current file without the path.
    • -
  • %p - if a project is open, substituted by the base path from the project.
    • -
-
-

Note

-

If the basepath set in the project preferences is not an absolute path , then it is -taken as relative to the directory of the project file. This allows a project file -stored in the source tree to specify all commands and working directories relative -to the tree itself, so that the whole tree including the project file, can be moved -and even checked into and out of version control without having to re-configure the -build menu.

-
-
-
-

Build menu keyboard shortcuts

-

Keyboard shortcuts can be defined for the first two filetype menu items, the first three -independent menu items, the first two execute menu items and the fixed menu items. -In the keybindings configuration dialog (see Keybinding preferences) -these items are identified by the default labels shown in the Build Menu section above.

-

It is currently not possible to bind keyboard shortcuts to more than these menu items.

-

You can also use underlines in the labels to set mnemonic characters.

-
-
-

Old settings

-

The configurable Build Menu capability was introduced in Geany 0.19 and -required a new section to be added to the configuration files (See -Preferences file format). Geany will still load older format project, -preferences and filetype file settings and will attempt to map them into the new -configuration format. There is not a simple clean mapping between the formats. -The mapping used produces the most sensible results for the majority of cases. -However, if they do not map the way you want, you may have to manually -configure some settings using the Build Commands -Dialog or the Build tab of the project preferences dialog.

-

Any setting configured in either of these dialogs will override settings mapped from -older format configuration files.

-
-
-
-
-

Printing support

-

Since Geany 0.13 there has been printing support using GTK's printing API. -The printed page(s) will look nearly the same as on your screen in Geany. -Additionally, there are some options to modify the printed page(s).

-
-

Note

-

The background text color is set to white, except for text with -a white foreground. This allows dark color schemes to save ink -when printing.

-
-

You can define whether to print line numbers, page numbers at the bottom of -each page and whether to print a page header on each page. This header -contains the filename of the printed document, the current page number and -the date and time of printing. By default, the file name of the document -with full path information is added to the header. If you prefer to add -only the basename of the file(without any path information) you can set it -in the preferences dialog. You can also adjust the format of the date and -time added to the page header. The available conversion specifiers are the -same as the ones which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function.

-

All of these settings can also be changed in the print dialog just before -actual printing is done. -On Unix-like systems the provided print dialog offers a print preview. The -preview file is opened with a PDF viewer and by default GTK uses evince -for print preview. If you have not installed evince or just want to use -another PDF viewer, you can change the program to use in the file -.gtkrc-2.0 (usually found in your home directory). Simply add a line -like:

-
-gtk-print-preview-command = "epdfview %f"
-
-

at the end of the file. Of course, you can also use xpdf, kpdf or whatever -as the print preview command.

-

Geany also provides an alternative basic printing support using a custom -print command. However, the printed document contains no syntax highlighting. -You can adjust the command to which the filename is passed in the preferences -dialog. The default command is:

-
-% lpr %f
-
-

%f will be substituted by the filename of the current file. Geany -will not show errors from the command itself, so you should make -sure that it works before(e.g. by trying to execute it from the -command line).

-

A nicer example, which many prefer is:

-
-% a2ps -1 --medium=A4 -o - %f | xfprint4
-
-

But this depends on a2ps and xfprint4. As a replacement for xfprint4, -gtklp or similar programs can be used.

-
-
-

Plugins

-

Plugins are loaded at startup, if the Enable plugin support -general preference is set. There is also a command-line option, --p, which prevents plugins being loaded. Plugins are scanned in -the following directories:

-
    -
  • $prefix/lib/geany on Unix-like systems (see Installation prefix)
    • -
  • The lib subfolder of the installation path on Windows.
    • -
  • The plugins subfolder of the user configuration directory - see -Configuration file paths.
    • -
  • The Extra plugin path preference (usually blank) - see Paths.
    • -
-

Most plugins add menu items to the Tools menu when they are loaded.

-

See also Plugin documentation for information about single plugins -which are included in Geany.

-
-

Plugin manager

-

The Plugin Manager dialog lets you choose which plugins -should be loaded at startup. You can also load and unload plugins on the -fly using this dialog. Once you click the checkbox for a specific plugin -in the dialog, it is loaded or unloaded according to its previous state. -By default, no plugins are loaded at startup until you select some. -You can also configure some plugin specific options if the plugin -provides any.

-
-
-
-

Keybindings

-

Geany supports the default keyboard shortcuts for the Scintilla -editing widget. For a list of these commands, see Scintilla -keyboard commands. The Scintilla keyboard shortcuts will be overridden -by any custom keybindings with the same keyboard shortcut.

-
-

Switching documents

-

There are a few non-configurable bindings to switch between documents, -listed below. These can also be overridden by custom keybindings.

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
KeyAction
Alt-[1-9]Select left-most tab, from 1 to 9.
Alt-0Select right-most tab.
Ctrl-Shift-PgUpSelect left-most tab.
Ctrl-Shift-PgDnSelect right-most tab.
-
-
-

Configurable keybindings

-

For all actions listed below you can define your own keybindings. Open -the Preferences dialog, select the desired action and click on -change. In the resulting dialog you can press the key combination you -want to assign to the action and it will be saved when you press OK. -You can define only one key combination for each action and each key -combination can only be defined for one action.

-

Some of the default key combinations are common across many -applications, for example Ctrl-N for New and Ctrl-O for Open. -Because they are so common it is not advisable to change these, but -you can add other key combinations for these actions. For example -Ctrl-O is set to execute menu_open by default, but you can also -define Alt-O, so that the file open dialog is shown by pressing -either Ctrl-O or Alt-O.

-

The following tables list all customizable keyboard shortcuts, those -which are common to many applications are marked with (C) after the -shortcut.

-
-

File keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
NewCtrl-N (C)Creates a new file.
OpenCtrl-O (C)Opens a file.
Open selected fileCtrl-Shift-OOpens the selected filename.
Re-open last closed tab Re-opens the last closed document tab.
SaveCtrl-S (C)Saves the current file.
Save As Saves the current file under a new name.
Save allCtrl-Shift-SSaves all open files.
Close allCtrl-Shift-WCloses all open files.
CloseCtrl-W (C)Closes the current file.
Reload fileCtrl-R (C)Reloads the current file. All unsaved changes -will be lost.
PrintCtrl-P (C)Prints the current file.
-
-
-

Editor keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
UndoCtrl-Z (C)Un-does the last action.
RedoCtrl-YRe-does the last action.
Delete current line(s)Ctrl-KDeletes the current line (and any lines with a -selection).
Delete to line endCtrl-Shift-DeleteDeletes from the current caret position to the -end of the current line.
Duplicate line or selectionCtrl-DDuplicates the current line or selection.
Transpose current lineCtrl-TTransposes the current line with the previous one.
Scroll to current lineCtrl-Shift-LScrolls the current line into the centre of the -view. The cursor position and or an existing -selection will not be changed.
Scroll up by one lineAlt-UpScrolls the view.
Scroll down by one lineAlt-DownScrolls the view.
Complete wordCtrl-SpaceShows the autocompletion list. If already showing -tag completion, it shows document word completion -instead, even if it is not enabled for automatic -completion. Likewise if no tag suggestions are -available, it shows document word completion.
Show calltipCtrl-Shift-SpaceShows a calltip for the current function or -method.
Show macro listCtrl-ReturnShows a list of available macros and variables in -the workspace.
Complete snippetTabIf you type a construct like if or for and press -this key, it will be completed with a matching -template.
Suppress snippet completion If you type a construct like if or for and press -this key, it will not be completed, and a space or -tab will be inserted, depending on what the -construct completion keybinding is set to. For -example, if you have set the construct completion -keybinding to space, then setting this to -Shift+space will prevent construct completion and -insert a space.
Context Action Executes a command and passes the current word -(near the cursor position) or selection as an -argument. See the section called Context -actions.
Move cursor in snippet Jumps to the next defined cursor positions in a -completed snippets if multiple cursor positions -where defined.
Word part completionTabWhen the autocompletion list is visible, complete -the currently selected item up to the next word -part.
Move line(s) up Move the current line or selected lines up by -one line.
Move line(s) down Move the current line or selected lines down by -one line.
-
-
-

Clipboard keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
CutCtrl-X (C)Cut the current selection to the clipboard.
CopyCtrl-C (C)Copy the current selection to the clipboard.
PasteCtrl-V (C)Paste the clipboard text into the current document.
Cut current line(s)Ctrl-Shift-XCuts the current line (and any lines with a -selection) to the clipboard.
Copy current line(s)Ctrl-Shift-CCopies the current line (and any lines with a -selection) to the clipboard.
-
-
-

Select keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Select allCtrl-A (C)Makes a selection of all text in the current -document.
Select current wordAlt-Shift-WSelects the current word under the cursor.
Select current paragraphAlt-Shift-PSelects the current paragraph under the cursor -which is defined by two empty lines around it.
Select current line(s)Alt-Shift-LSelects the current line under the cursor (and any -partially selected lines).
Select to previous word part (Extend) selection to previous word part boundary.
Select to next word part (Extend) selection to next word part boundary.
-
-
-

Insert keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Insert dateShift-Alt-DInserts a customisable date.
Insert alternative whitespace Inserts a tab character when spaces should -be used for indentation and inserts space -characters of the amount of a tab width when -tabs should be used for indentation.
Insert New Line Before Current Inserts a new line with indentation.
Insert New Line After Current Inserts a new line with indentation.
-
-
-

Format keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Toggle case of selectionCtrl-Alt-UChanges the case of the selection. A lowercase -selection will be changed into uppercase and vice -versa. If the selection contains lower- and -uppercase characters, all will be converted to -lowercase.
Comment line Comments current line or selection.
Uncomment line Uncomments current line or selection.
Toggle line commentationCtrl-EComments a line if it is not commented or removes -a comment if the line is commented.
Increase indentCtrl-IIndents the current line or selection by one tab -or by spaces in the amount of the tab width -setting.
Decrease indentCtrl-URemoves one tab or the amount of spaces of -the tab width setting from the indentation of the -current line or selection.
Increase indent by one space Indents the current line or selection by one -space.
Decrease indent by one space Deindents the current line or selection by one -space.
Smart line indent Indents the current line or all selected lines -with the same indentation as the previous line.
Send to Custom Command 1 (2,3)Ctrl-1 (2,3)Passes the current selection to a configured -external command (available for the first -three configured commands, see -Sending text through custom commands for -details).
Send Selection to Terminal Sends the current selection or the current -line (if there is no selection) to the -embedded Terminal (VTE).
Reflow lines/block Reformat selected lines or current -(indented) text block, -breaking lines at the long line marker or the -line breaking column if line breaking is -enabled for the current document.
-
-
-

Settings keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
PreferencesCtrl-Alt-POpens preferences dialog.
Plugin Preferences Opens plugin preferences dialog.
-
-
-

Search keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
FindCtrl-F (C)Opens the Find dialog.
Find NextCtrl-GFinds next result.
Find PreviousCtrl-Shift-GFinds previous result.
Find Next Selection Finds next occurence of selected text.
Find Previous Selection Finds previous occurence of selected text.
ReplaceCtrl-H (C)Opens the Replace dialog.
Find in filesCtrl-Shift-FOpens the Find in files dialog.
Next message Jumps to the line with the next message in -the Messages window.
Previous message Jumps to the line with the previous message -in the Messages window.
Find UsageCtrl-Shift-EFinds all occurrences of the current word (near -the keyboard cursor) or selection in all open -documents and displays them in the messages -window.
Find Document UsageCtrl-Shift-DFinds all occurrences of the current word (near -the keyboard cursor) or selection in the current -document and displays them in the messages -window.
Mark AllCtrl-Shift-MHighlight all matches of the current -word/selection in the current document -with a colored box. If there's nothing to -find, highlighted matches will be cleared.
-
-
-

Go to keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Navigate forward a locationAlt-Right (C)Switches to the next location in the navigation -history. See the section called Code Navigation -History.
Navigate back a locationAlt-Left (C)Switches to the previous location in the -navigation history. See the section called -Code navigation history.
Go to lineCtrl-LFocuses the Go to Line entry (if visible) or -shows the Go to line dialog.
Goto matching braceCtrl-BIf the cursor is ahead or behind a brace, then it -is moved to the brace which belongs to the current -one. If this keyboard shortcut is pressed again, -the cursor is moved back to the first brace.
Toggle markerCtrl-MSet a marker on the current line, or clear the -marker if there already is one.
Goto next markerCtrl-.Goto the next marker in the current document.
Goto previous markerCtrl-,Goto the previous marker in the current document.
Go to tag definition Jump to the definition of the current word (near -the keyboard cursor). If the definition cannot be -found (e.g. the relevant file is not open) Geany -will beep and do nothing. See the section called -Go to tag definition.
Go to tag declaration Jump to the declaration of the current word (near -the keyboard cursor). If the declaration cannot be -found (e.g. the relevant file is not open) Geany -will beep and do nothing. See the section called -Go to tag declaration.
Go to Start of LineHomeMove the caret to the end of the line indentation -unless it is already there, in which case it moves -it to the start of the line.
Go to End of LineEndMove the caret to the end of the line.
Go to End of Display LineAlt-EndMove the caret to the end of the display line. -This is useful when you use line wrapping and -want to jump to the end of the wrapped, virtual -line, not the real end of the whole line. -If the line is not wrapped, it behaves like -Go to End of Line, see above.
Go to Previous Word PartCtrl-/Goto the previous part of the current word.
Go to Next Word PartCtrl-Goto the next part of the current word.
-
-
-

View keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
FullscreenF11 (C)Switches to fullscreen mode.
Toggle Messages Window Toggles the message window (status and compiler -messages) on and off.
Toggle Sidebar Shows or hides the sidebar.
Toggle all additional widgets Hide and show all additional widgets like the -notebook tabs, the toolbar, the messages window -and the status bar.
Zoom InCtrl-+ (C)Zooms in the text.
Zoom OutCtrl-- (C)Zooms out the text.
Zoom ResetCtrl-0Reset any previous zoom on the text.
-
-
-

Focus keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Switch to EditorF2Switches to editor widget. -Also reshows the document statistics line -(after a short timeout).
Switch to Search BarF7Switches to the search bar in the toolbar (if -visible).
Switch to Message Window Focus the Message Window's current tab.
Switch to Compiler Focus the Compiler message window tab.
Switch to Messages Focus the Messages message window tab.
Switch to ScribbleF6Switches to scribble widget.
Switch to VTEF4Switches to VTE widget.
Switch to Sidebar Focus the Sidebar.
Switch to Sidebar Symbol List Focus the Symbol list tab in the Sidebar -(if visible).
Switch to Sidebar Document List Focus the Document list tab in the Sidebar -(if visible).
-
-
-

Notebook tab keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Switch to left documentCtrl-PageUp (C)Switches to the previous open document.
Switch to right documentCtrl-PageDown (C)Switches to the next open document.
Switch to last used documentCtrl-TabSwitches to the previously shown document (if it's -still open). -Holding Ctrl (or another modifier if the keybinding -has been changed) will show a dialog, then repeated -presses of the keybinding will switch to the 2nd-last -used document, 3rd-last, etc. Also known as -Most-Recently-Used documents switching.
Move document leftAlt-PageUpChanges the current document with the left hand -one.
Move document rightAlt-PageDownChanges the current document with the right hand -one.
Move document first Moves the current document to the first position.
Move document last Moves the current document to the last position.
-
-
-

Document keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Replace tabs by space Replaces all tabs with the right amount of spaces.
Replace spaces by tabs Replaces all spaces with tab characters.
Toggle current fold Toggles the folding state of the current code block.
Fold all Folds all contractible code blocks.
Unfold all Unfolds all contracted code blocks.
Reload symbol listCtrl-Shift-RReloads the tag/symbol list.
Toggle Line wrapping Enables or disables wrapping of long lines.
Toggle Line breaking Enables or disables automatic breaking of long -lines at a configurable column.
Remove Markers Remove any markers on lines or words which -were set by using 'Mark All' in the -search dialog or by manually marking lines.
Remove Error Indicators Remove any error indicators in the -current document.
Remove Markers and Error Indicators Combines Remove Markers and -Remove Error Indicators.
-
-
-

Build keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
CompileF8Compiles the current file.
BuildF9Builds (compiles if necessary and links) the -current file.
Make allShift-F9Builds the current file with the Make tool.
Make custom targetCtrl-Shift-F9Builds the current file with the Make tool and a -given target.
Make objectShift-F8Compiles the current file with the Make tool.
Next error Jumps to the line with the next error from the -last build process.
Previous error Jumps to the line with the previous error from -the last build process.
RunF5Executes the current file in a terminal emulation.
Set Build Commands Opens the build commands dialog.
-
-
-

Tools keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Show Color Chooser Opens the Color Chooser dialog.
-
-
-

Help keybindings

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
HelpF1 (C)Opens the manual.
-
-
-
-
-
-

Configuration files

-
-

Warning

-

You must use UTF-8 encoding without BOM for configuration files.

-
-
-

Configuration file paths

-

Geany has default configuration files installed for the system and -also per-user configuration files.

-

The system files should not normally be edited because they will be -overwritten when upgrading Geany.

-

The user configuration directory can be overridden with the -c -switch, but this is not normally done. See Command line options.

-
-

Note

-

Any missing subdirectories in the user configuration directory -will be created when Geany starts.

-
-

You can check the paths Geany is using with Help->Debug Messages. -Near the top there should be 2 lines with something like:

-
-Geany-INFO: System data dir: /usr/share/geany
-Geany-INFO: User config dir: /home/username/.config/geany
-
-
-

Paths on Unix-like systems

-

The system path is $prefix/share/geany, where $prefix is the -path where Geany is installed (see Installation prefix).

-

The user configuration directory is normally: -/home/username/.config/geany

-
-
-

Paths on Windows

-

The system path is the data subfolder of the installation path -on Windows.

-

The user configuration directory might vary, but on Windows XP it's: -C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\geany

-
-
-
-

Tools menu items

-

There's a Configuration files submenu in the Tools menu that -contains items for some of the available user configuration files. -Clicking on one opens it in the editor for you to update. Geany will -reload the file after you have saved it.

-
-

Note

-

Other configuration files not shown here will need to be opened -manually, and will not be automatically reloaded when saved. -(see Reload Configuration below).

-
-

There's also a Reload Configuration item which can be used if you -updated one of the other configuration files, or modified or added -template files.

-

Reload Configuration is also necessary to update syntax highlighting colors.

-
-

Note

-

Syntax highlighting colors aren't updated in open documents after -saving filetypes.common as this may take a significant -amount of time.

-
-
-
-

Global configuration file

-

System administrators can add a global configuration file for Geany -which will be used when starting Geany and a user configuration file -does not exist.

-

The global configuration file is read from geany.conf in the -system configuration path - see Configuration file paths. It can -contain any settings which are found in the usual configuration file -created by Geany, but does not have to contain all settings.

-
-

Note

-

This feature is mainly intended for package maintainers or system -admins who want to set up Geany in a multi user environment and -set some sane default values for this environment. Usually users won't -need to do that.

-
-
-
-

Filetype definition files

-

All color definitions and other filetype specific settings are -stored in the filetype definition files. Those settings are colors -for syntax highlighting, general settings like comment characters or -word delimiter characters as well as compiler and linker settings.

-

See also Configuration file paths.

-
-

Filenames

-

Each filetype has a corresponding filetype definition file. The format -for built-in filetype Foo is:

-
-filetypes.foo
-
-

The extension is normally just the filetype name in lower case.

-

However there are some exceptions:

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
FiletypeExtension
C++cpp
C#cs
Makemakefile
Matlab/Octavematlab
-

There is also the special file filetypes.common.

-

For custom filetypes, the filename for Foo is different:

-
-filetypes.Foo.conf
-
-

See the link for details.

-
-
-

System files

-

The system-wide filetype configuration files can be found in the -system configuration path and are called filetypes.$ext, -where $ext is the name of the filetype. For every -filetype there is a corresponding definition file. There is one -exception: filetypes.common -- this file is for general settings, -which are not specific to a certain filetype.

-
-

Warning

-

It is not recommended that users edit the system-wide files, -because they will be overridden when Geany is updated.

-
-
-
-

User files

-

To change the settings, copy a file from the system configuration -path to the subdirectory filedefs in your user configuration -directory. Then you can edit the file and the changes will still be -available after an update of Geany.

-

Alternatively, you can create the file yourself and add only the -settings you want to change. All missing settings will be read from -the corresponding system configuration file.

-
-
-

Custom filetypes

-

At startup Geany looks for filetypes.*.conf files in the system and -user filetype paths, adding any filetypes found with the name matching -the '*' wildcard - e.g. filetypes.Bar.conf.

-

Custom filetypes are not as powerful as built-in filetypes, but -support for the following has been implemented:

-
    -

  • Recognizing and setting the filetype (after the user has manually edited -filetype_extensions.conf).

    -
    • -
  • -
    Reading filetype settings in the [settings] section, including:
    -
      -
    • Using an existing syntax highlighting lexer (lexer_filetype key).
      • -
    • Using an existing tag parser (tag_parser key).
      • -
    -
    -
    -
    • -

  • Build commands ([build-menu] section).

    -
    • -

  • Loading global tags files (sharing the tag_parser namespace).

    -
    • -
-

See Filetype configuration for details on each setting.

-
-

Creating a custom filetype from an existing filetype

-

Because most filetype settings will relate to the syntax -highlighting (e.g. styling, keywords, lexer_properties -sections), it is best to copy an existing filetype file that uses -the lexer you wish to use as the basis of a custom filetype, using -the correct filename extension format shown above, e.g.:

-
-cp filetypes.foo filetypes.Bar.conf
-
-

Then add the lexer_filetype=Foo setting (if not already present) -and add/adjust other settings.

-
-

Warning

-

The [styling] and [keywords] sections have key names -specific to each filetype/lexer. You must follow the same -names - in particular, some lexers only support one keyword -list, or none.

-
-
-
-
-

Filetype configuration

-

As well as the sections listed below, each filetype file can contain -a [build-menu] section as described in [build-menu] section.

-
-

[styling] section

-

In this section the colors for syntax highlighting are defined. The -manual format is:

-
    -
  • key=foreground_color;background_color;bold_flag;italic_flag
    • -
-

Colors have to be specified as RGB hex values prefixed by -0x. For example red is 0xff0000, blue is 0x0000ff. The values are -case-insensitive, but it is a good idea to use small letters. Bold -and italic are flags and should only be "true" or "false". If their -value is something other than "true" or "false", "false" is assumed.

-

You can omit fields to use the values from the style named "default".

-

E.g. key=0xff0000;;true

-

This makes the key style have red foreground text, default background -color text and bold emphasis.

-
-
Using a named style
-

The second format uses a named style name to reference a style -defined in filetypes.common.

-
    -
  • key=named_style
    • -
  • key2=named_style2,bold,italic
    • -
-

The bold and italic parts are optional, and if present are used to -toggle the bold or italic flags to the opposite of the named style's -flags. In contrast to style definition booleans, they are a literal -",bold,italic" and commas are used instead of semi-colons.

-

E.g. key=comment,italic

-

This makes the key style match the "comment" named style, but with -italic emphasis.

-

To define named styles, see the filetypes.common [named_styles] -Section.

-
-
-
Reading styles from another filetype
-

You can automatically copy all of the styles from another filetype -definition file by using the following syntax for the [styling] -group:

-
-[styling=Foo]
-
-

Where Foo is a filetype name. The corresponding [styling] -section from filetypes.foo will be read.

-

This is useful when the same lexer is being used for multiple -filetypes (e.g. C/C++/C#/Java/etc). For example, to make the C++ -styling the same as the C styling, you would put the following in -filetypes.cpp:

-
-[styling=C]
-
-
-
-
-

[keywords] section

-

This section contains keys for different keyword lists specific to -the filetype. Some filetypes do not support keywords, so adding a -new key will not work. You can only add or remove keywords to/from -an existing list.

-
-

Important

-

The keywords list must be in one line without line ending characters.

-
-
-
-

[lexer_properties] section

-

Here any special properties for the Scintilla lexer can be set in the -format key.name.field=some.value.

-

Properties Geany uses are listed in the system filetype files. To find -other properties you need Geany's source code:

-
-egrep -o 'GetProperty\w*\("([^"]+)"[^)]+\)' scintilla/Lex*.cxx
-
-
-
-

[settings] section

-
-
extension
-

This is the default file extension used when saving files, not -including the period character (.). The extension used should -match one of the patterns associated with that filetype (see -Filetype extensions).

-

Example: extension=cxx

-
-
wordchars
-

These characters define word boundaries when making selections -and searching using word matching options.

-

Example: (look at system filetypes.* files)

-
-

Note

-

This can be overridden by the whitespace_chars -filetypes.common setting.

-
-
-
comment_single
-

A character or string which is used to comment code. If you want to use -multiline comments only, don't set this but rather comment_open and -comment_close.

-

Single-line comments are used in priority over multiline comments to -comment a line, e.g. with the Comment/Uncomment line command.

-

Example: comment_single=//

-
-
comment_open
-

A character or string which is used to comment code. You need to also -set comment_close to really use multiline comments. If you want to use -single-line comments, prefer setting comment_single.

-

Multiline comments are used in priority over single-line comments to -comment a block, e.g. template comments.

-

Example: comment_open=/*

-
-
comment_close
-

If multiline comments are used, this is the character or string to -close the comment.

-

Example: comment_close=*/

-
-
comment_use_indent
-

Set this to false if a comment character or string should start at -column 0 of a line. If set to true it uses any indentation of the -line.

-

Note: Comment indentation

-

comment_use_indent=true would generate this if a line is -commented (e.g. with Ctrl-D):

-
-#command_example();
-
-

comment_use_indent=false would generate this if a line is -commented (e.g. with Ctrl-D):

-
-#   command_example();
-
-

Note: This setting only works for single line comments (like '//', -'#' or ';').

-

Example: comment_use_indent=true

-
-
context_action_cmd
-

A command which can be executed on the current word or the current -selection.

-

Example usage: Open the API documentation for the -current function call at the cursor position.

-

The command can -be set for every filetype or if not set, a global command will -be used. The command itself can be specified without the full -path, then it is searched in $PATH. But for security reasons, -it is recommended to specify the full path to the command. The -wildcard %s will be replaced by the current word at the cursor -position or by the current selection.

-

Hint: for PHP files the following could be quite useful: -context_action_cmd=firefox "http://www.php.net/%s"

-

Example: context_action_cmd=devhelp -s "%s"

-
-
tag_parser
-
The TagManager language name, e.g. "C". Usually the same as the -filetype name.
-
-
-
lexer_filetype
-

A filetype name to setup syntax highlighting from another filetype. -This must not be recursive, i.e. it should be a filetype name that -doesn't use the lexer_filetype key itself, e.g.:

-
-lexer_filetype=C
-#lexer_filetype=C++
-
-

The second line is wrong, because filetypes.cpp itself uses -lexer_filetype=C, which would be recursive.

-
-
symbol_list_sort_mode
-

What the default symbol list sort order should be.

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ValueMeaning
0Sort tags by name
1Sort tags by appearance (line number)
-
-
-
-
xml_indent_tags
-
If this setting is set to true, a new line after a line ending with an -unclosed XML/HTML tag will be automatically indented. This only applies -to filetypes for which the HTML or XML lexer is used. Such filetypes have -this setting in their system configuration files.
-
-
-
-

[indentation] section

-

This section allows definition of default indentation settings specific to -the file type, overriding the ones configured in the preferences. This can -be useful for file types requiring specific indentation settings (e.g. tabs -only for Makefile). These settings don't override auto-detection if activated.

-
-
width
-
The forced indentation width.
-
type
-

The forced indentation type.

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ValueIndentation type
0Spaces only
1Tabs only
2Mixed (tabs and spaces)
-
-
-
-
-

[build_settings] section

-

As of Geany 0.19 this section is supplemented by the [build-menu] section. -Values that are set in the [build-menu] section will override those in this section.

-
-
error_regex
-

This is a GNU-style extended regular expression to parse a filename -and line number from build output. If undefined, Geany will fall -back to its default error message parsing.

-

Only the first two matches will be read by Geany. Geany will look for -a match that is purely digits, and use this for the line number. The -remaining match will be used as the filename.

-

Example: error_regex=(.+):([0-9]+):[0-9]+

-

This will parse a message such as: -test.py:7:24: E202 whitespace before ']'

-
-
-

Build commands

-

If any build menu item settings have been configured in the Build Menu Commands -dialog or the Build tab of the project preferences dialog then these -settings are stored in the [build-menu] section and override the settings in -this section for that item.

-
-
compiler
-

This item specifies the command to compile source code files. But -it is also possible to use it with interpreted languages like Perl -or Python. With these filetypes you can use this option as a kind of -syntax parser, which sends output to the compiler message window.

-

You should quote the filename to also support filenames with -spaces. The following wildcards for filenames are available:

-
    -
  • %f -- complete filename without path
    • -
  • %e -- filename without path and without extension
    • -
-

Example: compiler=gcc -Wall -c "%f"

-
-
linker
-

This item specifies the command to link the file. If the file is not -already compiled, it will be compiled while linking. The -o option -is automatically added by Geany. This item works well with GNU gcc, -but may be problematic with other compilers (esp. with the linker).

-

Example: linker=gcc -Wall "%f"

-
-
run_cmd
-

Use this item to execute your file. It has to have been built -already. Use the %e wildcard to have only the name of the executable -(i.e. without extension) or use the %f wildcard if you need the -complete filename, e.g. for shell scripts.

-

Example: run_cmd="./%e"

-
-
-
-
-
-

Special file filetypes.common

-

There is a special filetype definition file called -filetypes.common. This file defines some general non-filetype-specific -settings.

-

You can open the user filetypes.common with the -Tools->Configuration Files->filetypes.common menu item. This adds -the default settings to the user file if the file doesn't exist. -Alternatively the file can be created manually, adding only the -settings you want to change. All missing settings will be read from -the system file.

-
-

Note

-

See the Filetype configuration section for how to define styles.

-
-
-

[named_styles] section

-

Named styles declared here can be used in the [styling] section of any -filetypes.* file.

-

For example:

-

In filetypes.common:

-
-[named_styles]
-foo=0xc00000;0xffffff;false;true
-bar=foo
-
-

In filetypes.c:

-
-[styling]
-comment=foo
-
-

This saves copying and pasting the whole style definition into several -different files.

-
-

Note

-

You can define aliases for named styles, as shown with the bar -entry in the above example, but they must be declared after the -original style.

-
-

This section can be overridden with color scheme files - see the Color -schemes menu.

-
-
-

[styling] section

-
-
default
-

This is the default style. It is used for styling files without a -filetype set.

-

Example: default=0x000000;0xffffff;false;false

-
-
selection
-

The style for coloring selected text. The format is:

-
    -
  • Foreground color
    • -
  • Background color
    • -
  • Use foreground color
    • -
  • Use background color
    • -
-

The colors are only set if the 3rd or 4th argument is true. When -the colors are not overridden, the default is a dark grey -background with syntax highlighted foreground text.

-

Example: selection=0xc0c0c0;0x00007F;true;true

-
-
brace_good
-

The style for brace highlighting when a matching brace was found.

-

Example: brace_good=0xff0000;0xFFFFFF;true;false

-
-
brace_bad
-

The style for brace highlighting when no matching brace was found.

-

Example: brace_bad=0x0000ff;0xFFFFFF;true;false

-
-
caret
-

The style for coloring the caret(the blinking cursor). Only first -and third argument is interpreted. -Set the third argument to true to change the caret into a block caret.

-

Example: caret=0x000000;0x0;false;false

-
-
caret_width
-

The width for the caret(the blinking cursor). Only the first -argument is interpreted. The width is specified in pixels with -a maximum of three pixel. Use the width 0 to make the caret -invisible.

-

Example: caret=1;0;false;false

-
-
current_line
-

The style for coloring the background of the current line. Only -the second and third arguments are interpreted. The second argument -is the background color. Use the third argument to enable or -disable background highlighting for the current line (has to be -true/false).

-

Example: current_line=0x0;0xe5e5e5;true;false

-
-
indent_guide
-

The style for coloring the indentation guides. Only the first and -second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: indent_guide=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;false;false

-
-
white_space
-

The style for coloring the white space if it is shown. The first -both arguments define the foreground and background colors, the -third argument sets whether to use the defined foreground color -or to use the color defined by each filetype for the white space. -The fourth argument defines whether to use the background color.

-

Example: white_space=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;true;true

-
-
margin_linenumber
-
Line number margin foreground and background colors.
-
-
-
margin_folding
-
Fold margin foreground and background colors.
-
fold_symbol_highlight
-
Highlight color of folding symbols.
-
folding_style
-

The style of folding icons. Only first and second arguments are -used.

-

Valid values for the first argument are:

-
    -
  • 1 -- for boxes
    • -
  • 2 -- for circles
    • -
  • 3 -- for arrows
    • -
  • 4 -- for +/-
    • -
-

Valid values for the second argument are:

-
    -
  • 0 -- for no lines
    • -
  • 1 -- for straight lines
    • -
  • 2 -- for curved lines
    • -
-

Default: folding_style=1;1;

-

Arrows: folding_style=3;0;

-
-
folding_horiz_line
-

Draw a thin horizontal line at the line where text is folded. Only -first argument is used.

-

Valid values for the first argument are:

-
    -
  • 0 -- disable, do not draw a line
    • -
  • 1 -- draw the line above folded text
    • -
  • 2 -- draw the line below folded text
    • -
-

Example: folding_horiz_line=0;0;false;false

-
-
line_wrap_visuals
-

First argument: drawing of visual flags to indicate a line is wrapped. -This is a bitmask of the values:

-
    -
  • 0 -- No visual flags
    • -
  • 1 -- Visual flag at end of subline of a wrapped line
    • -
  • 2 -- Visual flag at begin of subline of a wrapped line. Subline is -indented by at least 1 to make room for the flag.
    • -
-

Second argument: wether the visual flags to indicate a line is wrapped -are drawn near the border or near the text. This is a bitmask of the values:

-
    -
  • 0 -- Visual flags drawn near border
    • -
  • 1 -- Visual flag at end of subline drawn near text
    • -
  • 2 -- Visual flag at begin of subline drawn near text
    • -
-

Only first and second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: line_wrap_visuals=3;0;false;false

-
-
line_wrap_indent
-

First argument: sets the size of indentation of sublines for wrapped lines -in terms of the width of a space, only used when the second argument is 0.

-

Second argument: wrapped sublines can be indented to the position of their -first subline or one more indent level. Possible values:

-
    -
  • 0 - Wrapped sublines aligned to left of window plus amount set by the first argument
    • -
  • 1 - Wrapped sublines are aligned to first subline indent (use the same indentation)
    • -
  • 2 - Wrapped sublines are aligned to first subline indent plus one more level of indentation
    • -
-

Only first and second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: line_wrap_indent=0;1;false;false

-
-
translucency
-

Translucency for the current line (first argument) and the selection -(second argument). Values between 0 and 256 are accepted.

-

Note for Windows 95, 98 and ME users: -keep this value at 256 to disable translucency otherwise Geany might crash.

-

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: translucency=256;256;false;false

-
-
marker_line
-

The style for a highlighted line (e.g when using Goto line or goto tag). -The foreground color (first argument) is only used when the Markers margin -is enabled (see View menu).

-

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: marker_line=0x000000;0xffff00;false;false

-
-
marker_search
-

The style for a marked search results (when using "Mark" in Search dialogs). -The second argument sets the background color for the drawn rectangle.

-

Only the second argument is interpreted.

-

Example: marker_search=0x000000;0xb8f4b8;false;false

-
-
marker_mark
-

The style for a marked line (e.g when using the "Toggle Marker" keybinding -(Ctrl-M)). The foreground color (first argument) is only used -when the Markers margin is enabled (see View menu).

-

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: marker_mark=0x000000;0xb8f4b8;false;false

-
-
marker_translucency
-

Translucency for the line marker (first argument) and the search marker -(second argument). Values between 0 and 256 are accepted.

-

Note for Windows 95, 98 and ME users: -keep this value at 256 to disable translucency otherwise Geany might crash.

-

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: marker_translucency=256;256;false;false

-
-
line_height
-

Amount of space to be drawn above and below the line's baseline. -The first argument defines the amount of space to be drawn above the line, the second -argument defines the amount of space to be drawn below.

-

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

-

Example: line_height=0;0;false;false

-
-
calltips
-

The style for coloring the calltips. The first two arguments -define the foreground and background colors, the third and fourth -arguments set whether to use the defined colors.

-

Example: calltips=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;false;false

-
-
-
-
-

[settings] section

-
-
whitespace_chars
-

Characters to treat as whitespace. These characters are ignored -when moving, selecting and deleting across word boundaries -(see Scintilla keyboard commands).

-

This should include space (\s) and tab (\t).

-

Example: whitespace_chars=\s\t!\"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\\]^`{|}~

-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Filetype extensions

-

To change the default filetype extension used when saving a new file, -see Filetype definition files.

-

You can override the list of file extensions that Geany uses to detect -filetypes using the user filetype_extensions.conf file. Use the -Tools->Configuration Files->filetype_extensions.conf menu item. See -also Configuration file paths.

-

You should only list lines for filetype extensions that you want to -override in the user configuration file and remove or comment out -others. The patterns are listed after the = sign, using a -semi-colon separated list of patterns which should be matched for -that filetype.

-

For example, to override the filetype extensions for Make, the file -should look like:

-
-[Extensions]
-Make=Makefile*;*.mk;Buildfile;
-
-
-
-

Filetype group membership

-

Group membership is also stored in filetype_extensions.conf. This -file is used to store information Geany needs at startup, whereas the -separate filetype definition files hold information only needed when -a document with their filetype is used.

-

The format looks like:

-
-[Groups]
-Programming=C;C++;
-Script=Perl;Python;
-Markup=HTML;XML;
-Misc=Diff;Conf;
-None=None;
-
-

The key names cannot be configured.

-
-

Note

-

Group membership is only read at startup.

-
-
-
-

Preferences file format

-

The user preferences file geany.conf holds settings for all the items configured -in the preferences dialog. This file should not be edited while Geany is running -as the file will be overwritten when the preferences in Geany are changed or Geany -is quit.

-
-

[build-menu] section

-

The [build-menu] section contains the configuration of the build menu. -This section can occur in filetype, preferences and project files and -always has the format described here. Different menu items are loaded -from different files, see the table in the Build Menu Configuration -section for details. All the settings can be configured from the dialogs -except the execute command in filetype files and filetype definitions in -the project file, so these are the only ones which need hand editing.

-

The build-menu section stores one entry for each setting for each menu item that -is configured. The keys for these settings have the format:

-
-GG_NN_FF
-

where:

-
    -
  • GG - is the menu item group,
      -
    • FT for filetype
      • -
    • NF for independent (non-filetype)
      • -
    • EX for execute
      • -
    -
    • -
  • NN - is a two decimal digit number of the item within the group, -starting at 00
    • -
  • FF - is the field,
      -
    • LB for label
      • -
    • CM for command
      • -
    • WD for working directory
      • -
    -
    • -
-
-
-
-

Project file format

-

The project file contains project related settings and possibly a -record of the current session files.

-
-

[build-menu] additions

-

The project file also can have extra fields in the [build-menu] section -in addition to those listed in [build-menu] section above.

-

When filetype menu items are configured for the project they are stored -in the project file.

-

The filetypes entry is a list of the filetypes which exist in the -project file.

-

For each filetype the entries for that filetype have the format defined in -[build-menu] section but the key is prefixed by the name of the filetype -as it appears in the filetypes entry, eg the entry for the label of -filetype menu item 0 for the C filetype would be

-
-CFT_00_LB=Label
-
-
-
-

Templates

-

Geany supports the following templates:

-
    -
  • ChangeLog entry
    • -
  • File header
    • -
  • Function description
    • -
  • Short GPL notice
    • -
  • Short BSD notice
    • -
  • File templates
    • -
-

To use these templates, just open the Edit menu or open the popup menu -by right-clicking in the editor widget, and choose "Insert Comments" -and insert templates as you want.

-

Some templates (like File header or ChangeLog entry) will always be -inserted at the top of the file.

-

To insert a function description, the cursor must be inside -of the function, so that the function name can be determined -automatically. The description will be positioned correctly one line -above the function, just check it out. If the cursor is not inside -of a function or the function name cannot be determined, the inserted -function description won't contain the correct function name but "unknown" -instead.

-
-

Note

-

Geany automatically reloads template information when it notices you -save a file in the user's template configuration directory. You can -also force this by selecting Tools->Reload Configuration.

-
-
-

Template meta data

-

Meta data can be used with all templates, but by default user set -meta data is only used for the ChangeLog and File header templates.

-

In the configuration dialog you can find a tab "Templates" (see -Template preferences). You can define the default values -which will be inserted in the templates.

-
-
-

File templates

-

File templates are templates used as the basis of a new file. To -use them, choose the New (with Template) menu item from the File -menu.

-

By default, file templates are installed for some filetypes. Custom -file templates can be added by creating the appropriate template file. You can -also edit the default file templates.

-

The file's contents are just the text to place in the document, with -optional template wildcards like {fileheader}. The fileheader -wildcard can be placed anywhere, but it's usually put on the first -line of the file, followed by a blank line.

-
-

Adding file templates

-

File templates are read from templates/files under the -Configuration file paths.

-

The filetype to use is detected from the template file's extension, if -any. For example, creating a file module.c would add a menu item -which created a new document with the filetype set to 'C'.

-

The template file is read from disk when the corresponding menu item is -clicked.

-
-
-
-

Customizing templates

-

Each template can be customized to your needs. The templates are -stored in the ~/.config/geany/templates/ directory (see the section called -Command line options for further information about the configuration -directory). Just open the desired template with an editor (ideally, -Geany ;-) ) and edit the template to your needs. There are some -wildcards which will be automatically replaced by Geany at startup.

-
-

Template wildcards

-

All wildcards must be enclosed by "{" and "}", e.g. {date}.

-

Wildcards for character escaping

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
ob{ Opening Brace (used to prevent other -wildcards being expanded).file templates, file header, snippets.
cb} Closing Brace.file templates, file header, snippets.
pc% Percent (used to escape e.g. %block% in -snippets).snippets.
-

Global wildcards

-

These are configurable, see Template preferences.

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
developerThe name of the developer.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
initialThe developer's initials, e.g. "ET" for -Enrico Tröger or "JFD" for John Foobar Doe.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
mailThe email address of the developer.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
companyThe company the developer is working for.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
versionThe initial version of a new file.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
-

Date & time wildcards

-

The format for these wildcards can be changed in the preferences -dialog, see Template preferences. You can use any conversion -specifiers which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. -For details please see http://man.cx/strftime.

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
yearThe current year. Default format is: YYYY.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
dateThe current date. Default format: -YYYY-MM-DD.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
datetimeThe current date and time. Default format: -DD.MM.YYYY HH:mm:ss ZZZZ.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
-

Dynamic wildcards

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
untitledThe string "untitled" (this will be -translated to your locale), used in -file templates.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
geanyversionThe actual Geany version, e.g. -"Geany 1.22".file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
filenameThe filename of the current file. -For new files, it's only replaced when -first saving if found on the first 3 lines -of the file.file header, snippets, file -templates.
projectThe current project's name, if any.file header, snippets, file templates.
descriptionThe current project's description, if any.file header, snippets, file templates.
functionnameThe function name of the function at the -cursor position. This wildcard will only be -replaced in the function description -template.function description.
command:pathExecutes the specified command and replace -the wildcard with the command's standard -output. See Special {command:} wildcard -for details.file templates, file header, -function description, ChangeLog entry, -bsd, gpl, snippets.
-

Template insertion wildcards

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
gplThis wildcard inserts a short GPL notice.file header.
bsdThis wildcard inserts a BSD licence notice.file header.
fileheaderThe file header template. This wildcard -will only be replaced in file templates.snippets, file templates.
-
-
Special {command:} wildcard
-

The {command:} wildcard is a special one because it can execute -a specified command and put the command's output (stdout) into -the template.

-

Example:

-
-{command:uname -a}
-
-

will result in:

-
-Linux localhost 2.6.9-023stab046.2-smp #1 SMP Mon Dec 10 15:04:55 MSK 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux
-
-

Using this wildcard you can insert nearly any arbitrary text into the -template.

-

In the environment of the executed command the variables -GEANY_FILENAME, GEANY_FILETYPE and GEANY_FUNCNAME are set. -The value of these variables is filled in only if Geany knows about it. -For example, GEANY_FUNCNAME is only filled within the function -description template. However, these variables are always set, -just maybe with an empty value. -You can easily access them e.g. within an executed shell script using:

-
-$GEANY_FILENAME
-
-
-

Note

-

If the specified command could not be found or not executed, the wildcard is substituted -by an empty string. In such cases, you can find the occurred error message on Geany's -standard error and in the Help->Debug Messages dialog.

-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Customizing the toolbar

-

You can add, remove and reorder the elements in the toolbar by using -the toolbar editor, or by manually editing the configuration file -ui_toolbar.xml.

-

The toolbar editor can be opened from the preferences editor on the Toolbar tab or -by right-clicking on the toolbar itself and choosing it from the menu.

-
-

Manually editing the toolbar layout

-

To override the system-wide configuration file, copy it to your user -configuration directory (see Configuration file paths).

-

For example:

-
-% cp /usr/local/share/geany/ui_toolbar.xml /home/username/.config/geany/
-
-

Then edit it and add any of the available elements listed in the file or remove -any of the existing elements. Of course, you can also reorder the elements as -you wish and add or remove additional separators. -This file must be valid XML, otherwise the global toolbar UI definition -will be used instead.

-

Your changes are applied once you save the file.

-
-

Note

-
    -
  1. You cannot add new actions which are not listed below.
    2. -
  2. Everything you add or change must be inside the /ui/toolbar/ path.
    3. -
-
-
-
-

Available toolbar elements

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Element nameDescription
NewCreate a new file
OpenOpen an existing file
SaveSave the current file
SaveAllSave all open files
ReloadReload the current file from disk
CloseClose the current file
CloseAllClose all open files
PrintPrint the current file
CutCut the current selection
CopyCopy the current selection
PastePaste the contents of the clipboard
DeleteDelete the current selection
UndoUndo the last modification
RedoRedo the last modification
NavBackNavigate back a location
NavForNavigate forward a location
CompileCompile the current file
BuildBuild the current file, includes a submenu for Make commands. Geany -remembers the last chosen action from the submenu and uses this as default -action when the button itself is clicked.
RunRun or view the current file
ColorOpen a color chooser dialog, to interactively pick colors from a palette
ZoomInZoom in the text
ZoomOutZoom out the text
UnIndentDecrease indentation
IndentIncrease indentation
ReplaceReplace text in the current document
SearchEntryThe search field belonging to the 'Search' element (can be used alone)
SearchFind the entered text in the current file (only useful if you also -use 'SearchEntry')
GotoEntryThe goto field belonging to the 'Goto' element (can be used alone)
GotoJump to the entered line number (only useful if you also use 'GotoEntry')
PreferencesShow the preferences dialog
QuitQuit Geany
-
-
-
-
-

Plugin documentation

-
-

HTML Characters

-

The HTML Characters plugin helps when working with special -characters in XML/HTML, e.g. German Umlauts ü and ä.

-
-

Insert entity dialog

-

When the plugin is enabled, you can insert special character -entities using Tools->Insert Special HTML Characters.

-

This opens up a dialog where you can find a huge amount of special -characters sorted by category that you might like to use inside your -document. You can expand and collapse the categories by clicking on -the little arrow on the left hand side. Once you have found the -desired character click on it and choose "Insert". This will insert -the entity for the character at the current cursor position. You -might also like to double click the chosen entity instead.

-
-
-

Replace special chars by its entity

-

To help make a XML/HTML document valid the plugin supports -replacement of special chars known by the plugin. Both bulk -replacement and immediate replacement during typing are supported.

-
-
A few characters will not be replaced. These are
-
    -
  • "
    • -
  • &
    • -
  • <
    • -
  • >
    • -
  • (&nbsp;)
    • -
-
-
-
-

At typing time

-

You can activate/deactivate this feature using the Tools->HTML -Replacement->Auto-replace Special Characters menu item. If it's -activated, all special characters (beside the given exceptions from -above) known by the plugin will be replaced by their entities.

-

You could also set a keybinding for the plugin to toggle the status -of this feature.

-
-
-

Bulk replacement

-

After inserting a huge amount of text, e.g. by using copy & paste, the -plugin allows bulk replacement of all known characters (beside the -mentioned exceptions). You can find the function under the same -menu at Tools->HTML Replacement->Replace Characters in Selection, or -configure a keybinding for the plugin.

-
-
-
-
-

Save Actions

-
-

Instant Save

-

This plugin sets on every new file (File->New or File->New (with template)) -a randomly chosen filename and set its filetype appropriate to the used template -or when no template was used, to a configurable default filetype. -This enables you to quickly compile, build and/or run the new file without the -need to give it an explicit filename using the Save As dialog. This might be -useful when you often create new files just for testing some code or something -similar.

-
-
-

Backup Copy

-

This plugin creates a backup copy of the current file in Geany when it is -saved. You can specify the directory where the backup copy is saved and -you can configure the automatically added extension in the configure dialog -in Geany's plugin manager.

-

After the plugin was loaded in Geany's plugin manager, every file is -copied into the configured backup directory when the file is saved in Geany.

-
-
-
-
-

Contributing to this document

-

This document (geany.txt) is written in reStructuredText -(or "reST"). The source file for it is located in Geany's doc -subdirectory. If you intend on making changes, you should grab the -source right from SVN to make sure you've got the newest version. After -editing the file, to build the HTML document to see how your changes -look, run "make doc" in the subdirectory doc of Geany's source -directory. This regenerates the geany.html file. To generate a PDF -file, use the command "make pdf" which should generate a file called -geany-1.22.pdf.

-

After you are happy with your changes, create a patch:

-
-% svn diff geany.txt > foo.patch
-
-

and then submit that file to the mailing list for review.

-

Note, you will need the Python docutils software package installed -to build the docs. The package is named python-docutils on Debian -and Fedora systems.

-
-
-

Scintilla keyboard commands

-

Copyright © 1998, 2006 Neil Hodgson <neilh(at)scintilla(dot)org>

-

This appendix is distributed under the terms of the License for -Scintilla and SciTE. A copy of this license can be found in the file -scintilla/License.txt included with the source code of this -program and in the appendix of this document. See License for -Scintilla and SciTE.

-

20 June 2006

-
-

Keyboard commands

-

Keyboard commands for Scintilla mostly follow common Windows and GTK+ -conventions. All move keys (arrows, page up/down, home and end) -allows to extend or reduce the stream selection when holding the -Shift key, and the rectangular selection when holding the Shift and -Ctrl keys. Some keys may not be available with some national keyboards -or because they are taken by the system such as by a window manager -or GTK. Keyboard equivalents of menu commands are listed in the -menus. Some less common commands with no menu equivalent are:

- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ActionShortcut key
Magnify text size.Ctrl-Keypad+
Reduce text size.Ctrl-Keypad-
Restore text size to normal.Ctrl-Keypad/
Indent block.Tab
Dedent block.Shift-Tab
Delete to start of word.Ctrl-BackSpace
Delete to end of word.Ctrl-Delete
Delete to start of line.Ctrl-Shift-BackSpace
Go to start of document.Ctrl-Home
Extend selection to start of document.Ctrl-Shift-Home
Go to start of display line.Alt-Home
Extend selection to start of display line.Alt-Shift-Home
Go to end of document.Ctrl-End
Extend selection to end of document.Ctrl-Shift-End
Extend selection to end of display line.Alt-Shift-End
Previous paragraph. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Up
Next paragraph. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Down
Previous word. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Left
Next word. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Right
-
-
-
-

Tips and tricks

-
-

Document notebook

-
    -
  • Double-click on empty space in the notebook tab bar to open a -new document.
    • -
  • Middle-click on a document's notebook tab to close the document.
    • -
  • Hold Ctrl and click on any notebook tab to switch to the last used -document.
    • -
  • Double-click on a document's notebook tab to toggle all additional -widgets (to show them again use the View menu or the keyboard -shortcut). The interface pref must be enabled for this to work.
    • -
-
-
-

Editor

-
    -
  • Alt-scroll wheel moves up/down a page.
    • -
  • Ctrl-scroll wheel zooms in/out.
    • -
  • Shift-scroll wheel scrolls 8 characters right/left.
    • -
  • Ctrl-click on a word in a document to perform Go to Tag Definition.
    • -
  • Ctrl-click on a bracket/brace to perform Go to Matching Brace.
    • -
-
-
-

Interface

-
    -
  • Double-click on a symbol-list group to expand or compact it.
    • -
-
- -
-
-

Compile-time options

-

There are some options which can only be changed at compile time, -and some options which are used as the default for configurable -options. To change these options, edit the appropriate source file -in the src subdirectory. Look for a block of lines starting with -#define GEANY_*. Any definitions which are not listed here should -not be changed.

-
-

Note

-

Most users should not need to change these options.

-
-
-

src/geany.h

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_STRING_UNTITLEDA string used as the default name for new -files. Be aware that the string can be -translated, so change it only if you know -what you are doing.untitled
GEANY_WINDOW_MINIMAL_WIDTHThe minimal width of the main window.620
GEANY_WINDOW_MINIMAL_HEIGHTThe minimal height of the main window.440
GEANY_WINDOW_DEFAULT_WIDTHThe default width of the main window at the -first start.900
GEANY_WINDOW_DEFAULT_HEIGHTThe default height of the main window at the -first start.600
Windows specific  
GEANY_USE_WIN32_DIALOGSet this to 1 if you want to use the default -Windows file open and save dialogs instead -GTK's file open and save dialogs. The -default Windows file dialogs are missing -some nice features like choosing a filetype -or an encoding. Do not touch this setting -when building on a non-Win32 system.0
-
-
-

project.h

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_PROJECT_EXTThe default filename extension for Geany -project files. It is used when creating new -projects and as filter mask for the project -open dialog.geany
-
-
-

filetypes.c

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_FILETYPE_SEARCH_LINESThe number of lines to search for the -filetype with the extract filetype regex.2
-
-
-

editor.h

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_WORDCHARSThese characters define word boundaries when -making selections and searching using word -matching options.a string with: -a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and -underscore.
-
-
-

keyfile.c

-

These are default settings that can be overridden in the Preferences dialog.

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_MIN_SYMBOLLIST_CHARSHow many characters you need to type to -trigger the autocompletion list.4
GEANY_DISK_CHECK_TIMEOUTTime in seconds between checking a file for -external changes.30
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_MAKEThe make tool. This can also include a path."make"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_TERMINALA terminal emulator. It has to accept the -command line option "-e". This can also -include a path."xterm"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_BROWSERA web browser. This can also include a path."firefox"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_PRINTCMDA printing tool. It should be able to accept -and process plain text files. This can also -include a path."lpr"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_GREPA grep tool. It should be compatible with -GNU grep. This can also include a path."grep"
GEANY_DEFAULT_MRU_LENGTHThe length of the "Recent files" list.10
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_SYMBOL_LISTThe font used in sidebar to show symbols and -open files."Sans 9"
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_MSG_WINDOWThe font used in the messages window."Sans 9"
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_EDITORThe font used in the editor window."Monospace 10"
GEANY_TOGGLE_MARKA string which is used to mark a toggled -comment."~ "
GEANY_MAX_AUTOCOMPLETE_WORDSHow many autocompletion suggestions should -Geany provide.30
GEANY_DEFAULT_FILETYPE_REGEXThe default regex to extract filetypes from -files.See below.
-

The GEANY_DEFAULT_FILETYPE_REGEX default value is -\*-\s*([^\s]+)\s*-\*- which finds Emacs filetypes.

-
-
-

build.c

- ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_BUILD_ERR_HIGHLIGHT_MAXAmount of build error indicators to -be shown in the editor window. -This affects the special coloring -when Geany detects a compiler output line as -an error message and then highlights the -corresponding line in the source code. -Usually only the first few messages are -interesting because following errors are -just after-effects. -All errors in the Compiler window are parsed -and unaffected by this value.50
PRINTBUILDCMDSEvery time a build menu item priority -calculation is run, print the state of the -menu item table in the form of the table -in Build Menu Configuration. May be -useful to debug configuration file -overloading. Warning produces a lot of -output. Can also be enabled/disabled by the -debugger by setting printbuildcmds to 1/0 -overriding the compile setting.FALSE
-
-
-
-

GNU General Public License

-
-            GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
-               Version 2, June 1991
-
- Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-    51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
- Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
- of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
-
-                Preamble
-
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-Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
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-
-
-
-

License for Scintilla and SciTE

-

Copyright 1998-2003 by Neil Hodgson <neilh(at)scintilla(dot)org>

-

All Rights Reserved

-

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and -its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, -provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and -that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in -supporting documentation.

-

NEIL HODGSON DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, -INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN -NO EVENT SHALL NEIL HODGSON BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR -CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS -OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE -OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE -USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

-
-
-
-
-View document source. -Generated on: 2011-11-16 17:24 UTC. -Generated by Docutils from reStructuredText source. - -
- - + + + + + + +Geany + + + + + +
+

Geany

+

A fast, light, GTK+ IDE

+ +++ + + + + + + + +
Authors:Enrico Tröger +
Nick Treleaven +
Frank Lanitz +
Colomban Wendling
Date:2011-10-02
Version:1.22
+

Copyright © 2005-2011

+

This document is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public +License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 +of the License, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of this +license can be found in the file COPYING included with the source code +of this program, and also in the chapter GNU General Public License.

+
+

Contents

+ +
+
+

Introduction

+
+

About Geany

+

Geany is a small and lightweight Integrated Development Environment. It +was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few +dependencies on other packages. Another goal was to be as independent +as possible from a particular Desktop Environment like KDE or GNOME - +Geany only requires the GTK2 runtime libraries.

+

Some basic features of Geany:

+
    +
  • Syntax highlighting
    • +
  • Code folding
    • +
  • Autocompletion of symbols/words
    • +
  • Construct completion/snippets
    • +
  • Auto-closing of XML and HTML tags
    • +
  • Calltips
    • +
  • Many supported filetypes including C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl, +Pascal, and others
    • +
  • Symbol lists
    • +
  • Code navigation
    • +
  • Build system to compile and execute your code
    • +
  • Simple project management
    • +
  • Plugin interface
    • +
+
+
+

Where to get it

+

You can obtain Geany from http://www.geany.org/ or perhaps also from +your distribution. For a list of available packages, please see +http://www.geany.org/Download/ThirdPartyPackages.

+
+
+

License

+

Geany is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License +as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of +the License, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of this +license can be found in the file COPYING included with the source +code of this program and in the chapter, GNU General Public License.

+

The included Scintilla library (found in the subdirectory +scintilla/) has its own license, which can be found in the chapter, +License for Scintilla and SciTE.

+
+
+

About this document

+

This documentation is available in HTML and text formats. +The latest version can always be found at http://www.geany.org/.

+

If you want to contribute to it, see Contributing to this document.

+
+
+
+

Installation

+
+

Requirements

+

You will need the GTK (>= 2.16.0) libraries and their dependencies +(Pango, GLib and ATK). Your distro should provide packages for these, +usually installed by default. For Windows, you can download an installer +from the website which bundles these libraries.

+
+
+

Binary packages

+

There are many binary packages available. For an up-to-date but maybe +incomplete list see http://www.geany.org/Download/ThirdPartyPackages.

+
+
+

Source compilation

+

Compiling Geany is quite easy. +To do so, you need the GTK (>= 2.16.0) libraries and header files. +You also need the Pango, GLib and ATK libraries and header files. +All these files are available at http://www.gtk.org, but very often +your distro will provide development packages to save the trouble of +building these yourself.

+

Furthermore you need, of course, a C and C++ compiler. The GNU versions +of these tools are recommended.

+
+

Autotools based build system

+

The Autotools based build system is very mature and has been well tested. +To use it, you just need the Make tool, preferably GNU Make.

+

Then run the following commands:

+
+$ ./configure
+$ make
+
+

Then as root:

+
+% make install
+
+
+
+

Waf based build system

+

The Waf build system is still quite young and under heavy development but already in a +usable state. In contrast to the Autotools system, Waf needs Python. So before using Waf, you need +to install Python on your system. +The advantage of the Waf build system over the Autotools based build system is that the whole +build process might be a bit faster. Especially when you use the Waf +cache feature for repetitive builds (e.g. when changing only a few source files +to test something) will become much faster since Waf will cache and re-use the +unchanged built files and only compile the changed code again. See Waf Cache for details. +To build Geany with Waf as run:

+
+$ ./waf configure
+$ ./waf build
+
+

Then as root:

+
+% ./waf install
+
+
+

Waf cache

+

The Waf build system has a nice and interesting feature which can help to avoid +a lot of unnecessary rebuilding of unchanged code. This often happens when developing new features +or trying to debug something in Geany. +Waf is able to store and retrieve the object files from a cache. This cache is declared +using the environment variable WAFCACHE. +A possible location of the cache directory could be ~/.cache/waf. In order to make use of +this, you first need to create this directory:

+
+$ mkdir -p ~/.cache/waf
+
+

then add the environment variable to your shell configuration (the following example is for +Bash and should be adjusted to your used shell):

+
+export WAFCACHE=/home/username/.cache/waf
+
+

Remember to replace username with your actual username.

+

More information about the Waf cache feature are available at +http://code.google.com/p/waf/wiki/CacheObjectFiles.

+
+
Cleaning the cache
+

You should be careful about the size of the cache directory as it may +grow rapidly over time. +Waf doesn't do any cleaning or other house-keeping of the cache yet, so you need to keep it +clean by yourself. +An easy way to keep it clean is to run the following command regularly to remove old +cached files:

+
+$ find /home/username/.cache/waf -mtime +14 -exec rm {} \;
+
+

This will delete all files in the cache directory which are older than 14 days.

+

For details about the find command and its options, check its manual page.

+
+
+
+
+

Custom installation

+

The configure script supports several common options, for a detailed +list, type:

+
+$ ./configure --help
+
+
+
or::
+
$ ./waf --help
+
+

(depending on which build system you use).

+

You may also want to read the INSTALL file for advanced installation +options.

+ +
+
+

Dynamic linking loader support and VTE

+

In the case that your system lacks dynamic linking loader support, you +probably want to pass the option --disable-vte to the configure +script. This prevents compiling Geany with dynamic linking loader +support for automatically loading libvte.so.4 if available.

+
+
+

Build problems

+

If there are any errors during compilation, check your build +environment and try to find the error, otherwise contact the mailing +list or one the authors. Sometimes you might need to ask for specific +help from your distribution.

+
+
+
+

Installation prefix

+

If you want to find Geany's system files after installation you may +want to know the installation prefix.

+

Pass the --print-prefix option to Geany to check this - see +Command line options. The first path is the prefix.

+

On Unix-like systems this is commonly /usr if you installed from +a binary package, or /usr/local if you build from source.

+
+

Note

+

Editing system files is not necessary as you should use the +per-user configuration files instead, which don't need root +permissions. See Configuration files.

+
+
+
+
+

Usage

+
+

Getting started

+

You can start Geany in the following ways:

+
    +

  • From the Desktop Environment menu:

    +

    Choose in your application menu of your used Desktop Environment: +Development --> Geany.

    +
    • +

  • From the command line:

    +

    To start Geany from a command line, type the following and press +Return:

    +
    +% geany
+
    +
    • +
+
+
+

The Geany workspace

+

The Geany window is shown in the following figure:

+./images/main_window.png +

The workspace has the following parts:

+
    +
  • The menu.
    • +
  • An optional toolbar.
    • +
  • An optional sidebar that can show the following tabs:
      +
    • Documents - A document list, and
      • +
    • Symbols - A list of symbols in your code.
      • +
    +
    • +
  • The main editor window.
    • +
  • An optional message window which can show the following tabs:
      +
    • Status - A list of status messages.
      • +
    • Compiler - The output of compiling or building programs.
      • +
    • Messages - Results of 'Find Usage', 'Find Usage' 'Find in Files' and other actions
      • +
    • Scribble - A text scratchpad for any use.
      • +
    • Terminal - An optional terminal window.
      • +
    +
    • +
  • A status bar
    • +
+

Most of these can be configured in the Interface preferences, the +View menu, or the popup menu for the relevant area.

+

Additional tabs may be added to the sidebar and message window by plugins.

+

The position of the tabs can be selected in the interface preferences.

+

The sizes of the sidebar and message window can be adjusted by +dragging the dividers.

+
+
+

Command line options

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Short optionLong optionFunction
none+numberSet initial line number for the first opened file +(same as --line, do not put a space between the + sign +and the number). E.g. "geany +7 foo.bar" will open the +file foo.bar and place the cursor in line 7.
none--columnSet initial column number for the first opened file.
-c dir_name--config=directory_nameUse an alternate configuration directory. The default +configuration directory is ~/.config/geany/ and that +is where geany.conf and other configuration files +reside.
none--ft-namesPrint a list of Geany's internal filetype names (useful +for snippets configuration).
-g--generate-tagsGenerate a global tags file (see +Generating a global tags file).
-P--no-preprocessingDon't preprocess C/C++ files when generating tags.
-i--new-instanceDo not open files in a running instance, force opening +a new instance. Only available if Geany was compiled +with support for Sockets.
-l--lineSet initial line number for the first opened file.
none--list-documentsReturn a list of open documents in a running Geany +instance. +This can be used to read the currently opened documents in +Geany from an external script or tool. The returned list +is separated by newlines (LF) and consists of the full, +UTF-8 encoded filenames of the documents. +Only available if Geany was compiled with support for +Sockets.
-m--no-msgwinDo not show the message window. Use this option if you +do not need compiler messages or VTE support.
-n--no-ctagsDo not load symbol completion and call tip data. Use this +option if you do not want to use them.
-p--no-pluginsDo not load plugins or plugin support.
none--print-prefixPrint installation prefix, the data directory, the lib +directory and the locale directory (in that order) to +stdout, one line each. This is mainly intended for plugin +authors to detect installation paths.
-s--no-sessionDo not load the previous session's files.
-t--no-terminalDo not load terminal support. Use this option if you do +not want to load the virtual terminal emulator widget +at startup. If you do not have libvte.so.4 installed, +then terminal-support is automatically disabled. Only +available if Geany was compiled with support for VTE.
none--socket-file

Use this socket filename for communication with a +running Geany instance. This can be used with the following +command to execute Geany on the current workspace:

+
+geany --socket-file=/tmp/geany-sock-$(xprop -root _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP | awk '{print $3}')
+
+
none--vte-libSpecify explicitly the path including filename or only +the filename to the VTE library, e.g. +/usr/lib/libvte.so or libvte.so. This option is +only needed when the auto-detection does not work. Only +available if Geany was compiled with support for VTE.
-v--verboseBe verbose (print useful status messages).
-V--versionShow version information and exit.
-?--helpShow help information and exit.
none[files ...]

Open all given files at startup. This option causes +Geany to ignore loading stored files from the last +session (if enabled). +Geany also recognizes line and column information when +appended to the filename with colons, e.g. +"geany foo.bar:10:5" will open the file foo.bar and +place the cursor in line 10 at column 5.

+

Projects can also be opened but a project file (*.geany) +must be the first non-option argument. All additionally +given files are ignored.

+
+

You can also pass line number and column number information, e.g.:

+
+geany some_file.foo:55:4
+
+

Geany supports all generic GTK options, a list is available on the +help screen.

+
+
+

General

+
+

Startup

+

At startup, Geany loads all files from the last time Geany was +launched. You can disable this feature in the preferences dialog +(see General Startup preferences). If you specify some +files on the command line, only these files will be opened, but you +can find the files from the last session in the file menu under the +"Recent files" item. By default this contains the last 10 recently +opened files. You can change the number of recently opened files in +the preferences dialog.

+

You can start several instances of Geany, but only the first will +load files from the last session. To run a second instance of Geany, +do not specify any filenames on the command-line, or disable opening +files in a running instance using the appropriate command line option.

+
+
+

Opening files from the command-line in a running instance

+

Geany detects if there is an an instance of itself already running and opens files +from the command-line in that instance. So, Geany can +be used to view and edit files by opening them from other programs +such as a file manager.

+

You can also pass line number and column number information, e.g.:

+
+geany some_file.foo:55:4
+
+

This would open the file some_file.foo with the cursor on line 55, +column 4.

+

If you do not like this for some reason, you can disable using the first +instance by using the appropriate command line option -- see the section +called Command line options.

+
+
+

Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE)

+

If you have installed libvte.so on your system, it is loaded +automatically by Geany, and you will have a terminal widget in the +notebook at the bottom.

+

If Geany cannot find any libvte.so at startup, the terminal widget +will not be loaded. So there is no need to install the package containing +this file in order to run Geany. Additionally, you can disable the use +of the terminal widget by command line option, for more information +see the section called Command line options.

+

You can use this terminal (from now on called VTE) much as you would +a terminal program like xterm. There is basic clipboard support. You +can paste the contents of the clipboard by pressing the right mouse +button to open the popup menu, and choosing Paste. To copy text from +the VTE, just select the desired text and then press the right mouse +button and choose Copy from the popup menu. On systems running the +X Window System you can paste the last selected text by pressing the +middle mouse button in the VTE (on 2-button mice, the middle button +can often be simulated by pressing both mouse buttons together).

+

In the preferences dialog you can specify a shell which should be +started in the VTE. To make the specified shell a login shell just +use the appropriate command line options for the shell. These options +should be found in the manual page of the shell. For zsh and bash +you can use the argument --login.

+
+

Note

+

Geany tries to load libvte.so. If this fails, it tries to load +some other filenames. If this fails too, you should check whether you +installed libvte correctly. Again note, Geany will run without this +library.

+
+

It could be, that the library is called something else than +libvte.so (e.g. on FreeBSD 6.0 it is called libvte.so.8). If so +please set a link to the correct file (as root):

+
+# ln -s /usr/lib/libvte.so.X /usr/lib/libvte.so
+
+

Obviously, you have to adjust the paths and set X to the number of your +libvte.so.

+

You can also specify the filename of the VTE library to use on the command +line (see the section called Command line options) or at compile time +by specifying the command line option --with-vte-module-path to +./configure.

+
+
+

Defining own widget styles using .gtkrc-2.0

+

You can define your widget style for many of Geany's GUI parts. To +do this, just edit your .gtkrc-2.0 (usually found in your home +directory on UNIX-like systems and in the etc subdirectory of your +Geany installation on Windows).

+

To have a defined style used by Geany you must assign it to +at least one of Geany's widgets. For example use the following line:

+
+widget "Geany*" style "geanyStyle"
+
+

This would assign your style "geany_style" to all Geany +widgets. You can also assign styles only to specific widgets. At the +moment you can use the following widgets:

+
    +
  • GeanyMainWindow
    • +
  • GeanyEditMenu
    • +
  • GeanyToolbarMenu
    • +
  • GeanyDialog
    • +
  • GeanyDialogPrefs
    • +
  • GeanyDialogProject
    • +
  • GeanyDialogSearch
    • +
  • GeanyMenubar
    • +
  • GeanyToolbar
    • +
+

An example of a simple .gtkrc-2.0:

+
+style "geanyStyle"
+{
+    font_name="Sans 12"
+}
+widget "GeanyMainWindow" style "geanyStyle"
+
+style "geanyStyle"
+{
+    font_name="Sans 10"
+}
+widget "GeanyPrefsDialog" style "geanyStyle"
+
+
+
+
+

Documents

+
+

Switching between documents

+

The documents list and the editor tabs are two different ways +to switch between documents using the mouse. When you hit the key +combination to move between tabs, the order is determined by the tab +order. It is not alphabetical as shown in the documents list +(regardless of whether or not editor tabs are visible).

+

See the Notebook tab keybindings section for useful +shortcuts including for Most-Recently-Used document switching.

+
+
+
+

Character sets and Unicode Byte-Order-Mark (BOM)

+
+

Using character sets

+

Geany provides support for detecting and converting character sets. So +you can open and save files in different character sets, and even +convert a file from one character set to another. To do this, +Geany uses the character conversion capabilities of the GLib library.

+

Only text files are supported, i.e. opening files which contain +NULL-bytes may fail. Geany will try to open the file anyway but it is +likely that the file will be truncated because it can only be read up +to the first occurrence of a NULL-byte. All characters after this +position are lost and are not written when you save the file.

+

Geany tries to detect the encoding of a file while opening it, but +auto-detecting the encoding of a file is not easy and sometimes an +encoding might not be detected correctly. In this case you have to +set the encoding of the file manually in order to display it +correctly. You can this in the file open dialog by selecting an +encoding in the drop down box or by reloading the file with the +file menu item "Reload as". The auto-detection works well for most +encodings but there are also some encodings where it is known that +auto-detection has problems.

+

There are different ways to set different encodings in Geany:

+
    +

  • Using the file open dialog

    +

    This opens the file with the encoding specified in the encoding drop +down box. If the encoding is set to "Detect from file" auto-detection +will be used. If the encoding is set to "Without encoding (None)" the +file will be opened without any character conversion and Geany will +not try to auto-detect the encoding (see below for more information).

    +
    • +

  • Using the "Reload as" menu item

    +

    This item reloads the current file with the specified encoding. It can +help if you opened a file and found out that the wrong encoding was used.

    +
    • +

  • Using the "Set encoding" menu item

    +

    Contrary to the above two options, this will not change or reload +the current file unless you save it. It is useful when you want to +change the encoding of the file.

    +
    • +

  • Specifying the encoding in the file itself

    +

    As mentioned above, auto-detecting the encoding of a file may fail on +some encodings. If you know that Geany doesn't open a certain file, +you can add the specification line, described in the next section, +to the beginning of the file to force Geany to use a specific +encoding when opening the file.

    +
    • +
+
+
+

In-file encoding specification

+

Geany detects meta tags of HTML files which contain charset information +like:

+
+<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-15" />
+
+

and the specified charset is used when opening the file. This is useful if the +encoding of the file cannot be detected properly. +For non-HTML files you can also define a line like:

+
+/* geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 */
+
+

or:

+
+# geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 #
+
+

to force an encoding to be used. The #, /* and */ are examples +of filetype-specific comment characters. It doesn't matter which +characters are around the string " geany_encoding=ISO-8859-15 " as long +as there is at least one whitespace character before and after this +string. Whitespace characters are in this case a space or tab character. +An example to use this could be you have a file with ISO-8859-15 +encoding but Geany constantly detects the file encoding as ISO-8859-1. +Then you simply add such a line to the file and Geany will open it +correctly the next time.

+

Since Geany 0.15 you can also use lines which match the +regular expression used to find the encoding string: +coding[\t ]*[:=][\t ]*([a-z0-9-]+)[\t ]*

+
+

Note

+

These specifications must be in the first 512 bytes of the file. +Anything after the first 512 bytes will not be recognized.

+
+

Some examples are:

+
+# encoding = ISO-8859-15
+
+

or:

+
+# coding: ISO-8859-15
+
+
+
+

Special encoding "None"

+

There is a special encoding "None" which uses no +encoding. It is useful when you know that Geany cannot auto-detect +the encoding of a file and it is not displayed correctly. Especially +when the file contains NULL-bytes this can be useful to skip auto +detection and open the file properly at least until the occurrence +of the first NULL-byte. Using this encoding opens the file as it is +without any character conversion.

+
+
+

Unicode Byte-Order-Mark (BOM)

+

Furthermore, Geany detects a Unicode Byte Order Mark (see +http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_Order_Mark for details). Of course, +this feature is only available if the opened file is in a Unicode +encoding. The Byte Order Mark helps to detect the encoding of a file, +e.g. whether it is UTF-16LE or UTF-16BE and so on. On Unix-like systems +using a Byte Order Mark could cause some problems for programs not +expecting it, e.g. the compiler gcc stops +with stray errors, PHP does not parse a script containing a BOM and +script files starting with a she-bang maybe cannot be started. In the +status bar you can easily see whether the file starts with a BOM or +not.

+

If you want to set a BOM for a file or if you want to remove it +from a file, just use the document menu and toggle the checkbox.

+
+

Note

+

If you are unsure what a BOM is or if you do not understand where +to use it, then it is probably not important for you and you can +safely ignore it.

+
+
+
+
+

Editing

+
+

Folding

+

Geany provides basic code folding support. Folding means the ability to +show and hide parts of the text in the current file. You can hide +unimportant code sections and concentrate on the parts you are working on +and later you can show hidden sections again. In the editor window there is +a small grey margin on the left side with [+] and [-] symbols which +show hidden parts and hide parts of the file respectively. By +clicking on these icons you can simply show and hide sections which are +marked by vertical lines within this margin. For many filetypes nested +folding is supported, so there may be several fold points within other +fold points.

+
+

Note

+

You can customize the folding icon and line styles - see the +filetypes.common Folding Settings.

+
+

If you don't like it or don't need it at all, you can simply disable +folding support completely in the preferences dialog.

+

The folding behaviour can be changed with the "Fold/Unfold all children of +a fold point" option in the preference dialog. If activated, Geany will +unfold all nested fold points below the current one if they are already +folded (when clicking on a [+] symbol). +When clicking on a [-] symbol, Geany will fold all nested fold points +below the current one if they are unfolded.

+

This option can be inverted by pressing the Shift +key while clicking on a fold symbol. That means, if the "Fold/Unfold all +children of a fold point" option is enabled, pressing Shift will disable +it for this click and vice versa.

+
+
+

Column mode editing (rectangular selections)

+

There is basic support for column mode editing. To use it, create a +rectangular selection by holding down the Control and Shift keys +(or Control and Alt if it doesn't work) while +selecting some text. It is also possible to create a zero-column selection. +Once a rectangular selection exists you can start editing the text within +this selection and the modifications will be done for every line in the +selection.

+
+
+

Drag and drop of text

+

If you drag selected text in the editor widget of Geany the text is +moved to the position where the mouse pointer is when releasing the +mouse button. Holding Control when releasing the mouse button will +copy the text instead. This behaviour was changed in Geany 0.11 - +before the selected text was copied to the new position.

+
+
+

Indentation

+

Geany allows each document to indent either with a tab character, +multiple spaces or a combination of both. The default indent +settings are set in Editor Indentation preferences (see the link +for more information).

+

The default settings can be overridden per-document using the +Document menu. They can also be overridden by projects - see +Project management.

+

The indent mode for the current document is shown on the status bar +as follows:

+
+
TAB
+
Indent with Tab characters.
+
SP
+
Indent with spaces.
+
T/S
+
Indent with tabs and spaces, depending on how much indentation is +on a line.
+
+
+

Applying new indentation settings

+

After changing the default settings you may wish to apply the new +settings to every document in the current session. To do this use the +Project->Apply Default Indentation menu item.

+
+
+

Detecting indent type

+

The Detect from file indentation preference can be used to +scan each file as it's opened and set the indent type based on +how many lines start with a tab vs. 2 or more spaces.

+
+
+
+

Auto-indentation

+

When enabled, auto-indentation happens when pressing Enter in the +Editor. It adds a certain amount of indentation to the new line so the +user doesn't always have to indent each line manually.

+

Geany has four types of auto-indentation:

+
+
None
+
Disables auto-indentation completely.
+
Basic
+
Adds the same amount of whitespace on a new line as on the last line.
+
Current chars
+
Does the same as Basic but also indents a new line after an opening +brace '{', and de-indents when typing a closing brace '}'. For Python, +a new line will be indented after typing ':' at the end of the +previous line.
+
Match braces
+
Similar to Current chars but the closing brace will be aligned to +match the indentation of the line with the opening brace.
+
+

There is also XML-tag auto-indentation. This is enabled when the +mode is more than just Basic, and is also controlled by a filetype +setting - see xml_indent_tags.

+
+
+

Bookmarks

+

Geany provides a handy bookmarking feature that lets you mark one +or more lines in a document, and return the cursor to them using a +key combination.

+

To place a mark on a line, either left-mouse-click in the left margin +of the editor window, or else use Ctrl-m. This will +produce a small green plus symbol in the margin. You can have as many +marks in a document as you like. Click again (or use Ctrl-m again) +to remove the bookmark. To remove all the marks in a given document, +use "Remove Markers" in the Document menu.

+

To navigate down your document, jumping from one mark to the next, +use Ctrl-. (control period). To go in the opposite direction on +the page, use Ctrl-, (control comma). Using the bookmarking feature +together with the commands to switch from one editor tab to another +(Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn and Ctrl-Tab) provides a particularly fast way to +navigate around multiple files.

+
+
+

Code navigation history

+

To ease navigation in source files and especially between +different files, Geany lets you jump between different navigation +points. Currently, this works for the following:

+ +

When using one of these actions, Geany remembers your current position +and jumps to the new one. If you decide to go back to your previous +position in the file, just use "Navigate back a location". To +get back to the new position again, just use "Navigate forward a +location". This makes it easier to navigate in e.g. foreign code +and between different files.

+
+
+

Sending text through custom commands

+

You can define several custom commands in Geany and send the current +selection to one of these commands using the Edit->Format->Send +Selection to menu or keybindings. The output of the command will be +used to replace the current selection. This makes it possible to use +text formatting tools with Geany in a general way.

+

The selected text will be sent to the standard input of the executed +command, so the command should be able to read from it and it should +print all results to its standard output which will be read by +Geany. To help finding errors in executing the command, the output +of the program's standard error will be printed on Geany's standard +output.

+

If there is no selection, the whole current line is used instead.

+

To add a custom command, use the Send Selection to->Set Custom +Commands menu item. Click on Add to get a new item and type the +command. You can also specify some command line options. Empty +commands are not saved.

+

Normal shell quoting is supported, so you can do things like:

+
    +
  • sed 's/\./(dot)/g'
    • +
+

The above example would normally be done with the Replace all +function, but it can be handy to have common commands already set up.

+
+
+

Context actions

+

You can execute the context action command on the current word at the +cursor position or the available selection. This word or selection +can be used as an argument to the command. +The context action is invoked by a menu entry in the popup menu of the +editor and also a keyboard shortcut (see the section called +Keybindings).

+

The command can be specified in the preferences dialog and also for +each filetype (see "context_action_cmd" in the section called +Filetype configuration). When the context action is invoked, the filetype +specific command is used if available, otherwise the command +specified in the preferences dialog is executed.

+

The current word or selection can be referred with the wildcard "%s" +in the command, it will be replaced by the current word or +selection before the command is executed.

+

For example a context action can be used to open API documentation +in a browser window, the command to open the PHP API documentation +would be:

+
+firefox "http://www.php.net/%s"
+
+

when executing the command, the %s is substituted by the word near +the cursor position or by the current selection. If the cursor is at +the word "echo", a browser window will open(assumed your browser is +called firefox) and it will open the address: http://www.php.net/echo.

+
+
+

Autocompletion

+

Geany can offer a list of possible completions for symbols defined in the +tags and for all words in a document.

+

The autocompletion list for symbols is presented when the first few +characters of the symbol are typed (configurable, see Editor Completions +preferences, default 4) or when the Complete word +keybinding is pressed (configurable, see Editor keybindings, +default Ctrl-Space).

+

When the defined keybinding is typed and the Autocomplete all words in +document preference (in Editor Completions preferences) +is selected then the autocompletion list will show all matching words +in the document, if there are no matching symbols.

+

If you don't want to use autocompletion it can be dismissed until +the next symbol by pressing Escape. The autocompletion list is updated +as more characters are typed so that it only shows completions that start +with the characters typed so far. If no symbols begin with the sequence, +the autocompletion window is closed.

+

The up and down arrows will move the selected item. The highlighted +item on the autocompletion list can be chosen from the list by pressing +Enter/Return. You can also double-click to select an item. The sequence +will be completed to match the chosen item, and if the Drop rest of +word on completion preference is set (in Editor Completions +preferences) then any characters after the cursor that match +a symbol or word are deleted.

+
+

Word part completion

+

By default, pressing Tab will complete the selected item by word part; +useful e.g. for adding the prefix gtk_combo_box_entry_ without typing it +manually:

+
    +
  • gtk_com<TAB>
    • +
  • gtk_combo_<TAB>
    • +
  • gtk_combo_box_<e><TAB>
    • +
  • gtk_combo_box_entry_<s><ENTER>
    • +
  • gtk_combo_box_entry_set_text_column
    • +
+

The key combination can be changed from Tab - See Editor keybindings. +If you clear/change the key combination for word part completion, Tab +will complete the whole word instead, like Enter.

+
+
+

Scope autocompletion

+

E.g.:

+
+struct
+{
+    int i;
+    char c;
+} foo;
+
+

When you type foo. it will show an autocompletion list with 'i' and +'c' symbols.

+

It only works for languages that set parent scope names for e.g. struct +members. Currently this means C-like languages. The C tag parser only +parses global scopes, so this won't work for structs or objects declared +in local scope.

+
+
+
+

User-definable snippets

+

Snippets are small strings or code constructs which can be replaced or +completed to a more complex string. So you can save a lot of time when +typing common strings and letting Geany do the work for you. +To know what to complete or replace Geany reads a configuration file +called snippets.conf at startup.

+

Maybe you need to often type your name, so define a snippet like this:

+
+[Default]
+myname=Enrico Tröger
+
+

Every time you write myname <TAB> in Geany, it will replace "myname" +with "Enrico Tröger". The key to start autocompletion can be changed +in the preferences dialog, by default it is TAB. The corresponding keybinding +is called Complete snippet.

+

Paths

+

You can override the default snippets using the user +snippets.conf file. Use the Tools->Configuration +Files->snippets.conf menu item. See also Configuration file paths.

+

This adds the default settings to the user file if the file doesn't +exist. Alternatively the file can be created manually, adding only +the settings you want to change. All missing settings will be read +from the system snippets file.

+

Snippet groups

+

The file snippets.conf contains sections defining snippets that +are available for particular filetypes and in general.

+

The two sections "Default" and "Special" apply to all filetypes. +"Default" contains all snippets which are available for every +filetype and "Special" contains snippets which can only be used in +other snippets. So you can define often used parts of snippets and +just use the special snippet as a placeholder (see the +snippets.conf for details).

+

You can define sections with the name of a filetype eg "C++". The +snippets in that section are only available for use in files with that +filetype. Snippets in filetype sections will hide snippets with the +same name in the "Default" section when used in a file of that +filetype.

+

Substitution sequences for snippets

+

To define snippets you can use several special character sequences which +will be replaced when using the snippet:

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
\n or %newline%Insert a new line (it will be replaced by the used EOL +char(s): LF, CR/LF, or CR).
\t or %ws%Insert an indentation step, it will be replaced according +to the current document's indent mode.
\s\s to force whitespace at beginning or end of a value +('key= value' won't work, use 'key=\svalue')
%cursor%Place the cursor at this position after completion has +been done. You can define multiple %cursor% wildcards +and use the keybinding Move cursor in snippet to jump +to the next defined cursor position in the completed +snippet.
%...%"..." means the name of a key in the "Special" section. +If you have defined a key "brace_open" in the "Special" +section you can use %brace_open% in any other snippet.
+

Snippet names must not contain spaces otherwise they won't +work correctly. But beside that you can define almost any +string as a snippet and use it later in Geany. It is not limited +to existing contructs of certain programming languages(like if, +for, switch). Define whatever you need.

+

Template wildcards

+

Since Geany 0.15 you can also use most of the available templates wildcards +listed in Template wildcards. All wildcards which are listed as +available in snippets can be used. For instance to improve the above example:

+
+[Default]
+myname=My name is {developer}
+mysystem=My system: {command:uname -a}
+
+

this will replace myname with "My name is " and the value of the template +preference developer.

+

Word characters

+

You can change the way Geany recognizes the word to complete, +that is how the start and end of a word is recognised when the +snippet completion is requested. The section "Special" may +contain a key "wordchars" which lists all characters a string may contain +to be recognized as a word for completion. Leave it commented to use +default characters or define it to add or remove characters to fit your +needs.

+
+

Snippet keybindings

+

Normally you would type the snippet name and press Tab. However, you +can define keybindings for snippets under the Keybindings group in +snippets.conf:

+
+[Keybindings]
+for=<Ctrl>7
+block_cursor=<Ctrl>8
+
+
+

Note

+

Snippet keybindings may be overridden by Geany's configurable +keybindings.

+
+
+
+
+

Inserting Unicode characters

+

You can insert Unicode code points by hitting Ctrl-Shift-u, then still holding +Ctrl-Shift, type some hex digits representing the code point for the character +you want and hit Enter or Return (still holding Ctrl-Shift). If you release +Ctrl-Shift before hitting Enter or Return (or any other character), the code +insertion is completed, but the typed character is also entered. In the case +of Enter/Return, it is a newline, as you might expect.

+

In some earlier versions of Geany, you might need to first unbind Ctrl-Shift-u +in the keybinding preferences, then select Tools->Reload Configuration +or restart Geany. Note that it works slightly differently from other GTK +applications, in that you'll need to continue to hold down the Ctrl and Shift +keys while typing the code point hex digits (and the Enter or Return to finish the code point).

+
+
+
+

Search, replace and go to

+

This section describes search-related commands from the Search menu +and the editor window's popup menu:

+
    +
  • Find
    • +
  • Find selection
    • +
  • Find usage
    • +
  • Find in files
    • +
  • Replace
    • +
  • Go to tag definition
    • +
  • Go to tag declaration
    • +
  • Go to line
    • +
+
+

Toolbar entries

+

There are also two toolbar entries:

+
    +
  • Search bar
    • +
  • Go to line entry
    • +
+

There are keybindings to focus each of these - see Focus +keybindings. Pressing Escape will then focus the editor.

+ +
+
+

Find

+

The Find dialog is used for finding text in one or more open documents.

+./images/find_dialog.png +
+

Matching options

+

The syntax for the Use regular expressions option is shown in +Regular expressions.

+
+

Note

+

Use escape sequences is implied for regular expressions.

+
+

The Use escape sequences option will transform any escaped characters +into their UTF-8 equivalent. For example, \t will be transformed into +a tab character. Other recognized symbols are: \\, \n, \r, \uXXXX +(Unicode characters).

+
+
+

Find all

+

To find all matches, click on the Find All expander. This will reveal +several options:

+
    +
  • In Document
    • +
  • In Session
    • +
  • Mark
    • +
+

Find All In Document will show a list of matching lines in the +current document in the Messages tab of the Message Window. Find All +In Session does the same for all open documents.

+

Mark will highlight all matches in the current document with a +colored box. These markers can be removed by selecting the +Remove Markers command from the Document menu.

+
+
+

Change font in search dialog text fields

+

All search related dialogs use a Monospace for the text input fields to +increase the readability of input text. This is useful when you are +typing input such as regular expressions with spaces, periods and commas which +might it hard to read with a proportional font.

+

If you want to change the font, you can do this easily +by inserting the following style into your .gtkrc-2.0 +(usually found in your home directory on UNIX-like systems and in the +etc subdirectory of your Geany installation on Windows):

+
+style "search_style"
+{
+    font_name="Monospace 8"
+}
+widget "GeanyDialogSearch.*.GtkEntry" style:highest "search_style"
+
+

Please note the addition of ":highest" in the last line which sets the priority +of this style to the highest available. Otherwise, the style is ignored +for the search dialogs.

+
+
+
+

Find selection

+

The Find Next/Previous Selection commands perform a search for the +current selected text. If nothing is selected, by default the current +word is used instead. This can be customized by the +find_selection_type preference - see Various preferences.

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Valuefind_selection_type behaviour
0Use the current word (default).
1Try the X selection first, then current word.
2Repeat last search.
+
+
+

Find usage

+

Find usage searches all open files. It is similar to the Find All In +Session option in the Find dialog.

+

If there is a selection, then it is used as the search text; otherwise +the current word is used. The current word is either taken from the +word nearest the edit cursor, or the word underneath the popup menu +click position when the popup menu is used. The search results are +shown in the Messages tab of the Message Window.

+
+
+

Find in files

+

Find in files is a more powerful version of Find usage that searches +all files in a certain directory using the Grep tool. The Grep tool +must be correctly set in Preferences to the path of the system's Grep +utility. GNU Grep is recommended (see note below).

+./images/find_in_files_dialog.png +

The Files setting allows to choose which files are included in the +search, depending on the mode:

+
+
All
+
Search in all files;
+
Project
+
Use the current project's patterns, see Project properties;
+
Custom
+
Use custom patterns.
+
+

Both project and custom patterns use a glob-style syntax, each +pattern separated by a space. To search all .c and .h files, +use: *.c *.h. +Note that an empty pattern list searches in all files rather +than none.

+

The Encoding field can be used to define the encoding of the files +to be searched. The entered search text is converted to the chosen encoding +and the search results are converted back to UTF-8.

+

The Extra options field is used to pass any additional arguments to +the grep tool.

+
+

Note

+

The Files setting uses --include= when searching recursively, +Recurse in subfolders uses -r; both are GNU Grep options and may +not work with other Grep implementations.

+
+
+

Filtering out version control files

+

When using the Recurse in subfolders option with a directory that's +under version control, you can set the Extra options field to filter +out version control files.

+

If you have GNU Grep >= 2.5.2 you can use the --exclude-dir +argument to filter out CVS and hidden directories like .svn.

+

Example: --exclude-dir=.svn --exclude-dir=CVS

+

If you have an older Grep, you can try using the --exclude flag +to filter out filenames.

+

SVN Example: --exclude=*.svn-base

+

The --exclude argument only matches the file name part, not the path.

+
+
+
+

Replace

+

The Replace dialog is used for replacing text in one or more open +documents.

+./images/replace_dialog.png +

The Replace dialog has the same options for matching text as the Find +dialog. See the section Matching options.

+

The Use regular expressions option allows regular expressions to +be used in the search string and back references in the replacement +text -- see the entry for '\n' in Regular expressions.

+
+

Replace all

+

To replace several matches, click on the Replace All expander. This +will reveal several options:

+
    +
  • In Document
    • +
  • In Session
    • +
  • In Selection
    • +
+

Replace All In Document will replace all matching text in the +current document. Replace All In Session does the same for all open +documents. Replace All In Selection will replace all matching text +in the current selection of the current document.

+
+
+
+

Go to tag definition

+

If the current word is the name of a tag definition (like a function +body) and the file containing the tag definition is open, this command +will switch to that file and go to the corresponding line number. The +current word is either the word nearest the edit cursor, +or the word underneath the popup menu click position when the popup +menu is used.

+
+

Note

+

If the current word's tag is on the current line, Geany will try +to look for a tag declaration instead, as this is more useful. +Likewise 'Go to tag declaration' will search for a tag definition +in this case also.

+
+
+
+

Go to tag declaration

+

Like Go to tag definition, but for a forward declaration such as a +C function prototype or extern declaration instead of a function +body.

+
+
+

Go to line

+

Go to a particular line number in the current file.

+
+
+

Regular expressions

+

You can use regular expressions in the Find and Replace dialogs +by selecting the Use regular expressions check box (see Matching +options). The syntax is POSIX compatible, as described in the table +below.

+
+

Note

+
    +
  1. The Use escape sequences dialog option always applies for regular +expressions.
    2. +
  2. Searching backwards with regular expressions is not supported.
    3. +
  3. \b, \d, \s, \w are GNU extensions and may not be available +on non-GNU POSIX systems unless you built Geany with the +--enable-gnu-regex option (this is always used on Windows).
    4. +
+
+

In a regular expression, the following characters are interpreted:

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
.Matches any character.
(This marks the start of a region for tagging a match.
)This marks the end of a tagged region.
\n

Where n is 1 through 9 refers to the first through ninth tagged +region when searching or replacing.

+

Searching for (Wiki)\1 matches WikiWiki.

+

If the search string was Fred([1-9])XXX and the +replace string was Sam\1YYY, when applied to Fred2XXX this +would generate Sam2YYY.

+
\0When replacing, the whole matching text.
\bThis matches a word boundary.
\c

A backslash followed by d, D, s, S, w or W, becomes a +character class (both inside and outside sets []).

+
    +
  • d: decimal digits
    • +
  • D: any char except decimal digits
    • +
  • s: whitespace (space, \t \n \r \f \v)
    • +
  • S: any char except whitespace (see above)
    • +
  • w: alphanumeric & underscore
    • +
  • W: any char except alphanumeric & underscore
    • +
+
\xThis allows you to use a character x that would otherwise have +a special meaning. For example, \[ would be interpreted as [ +and not as the start of a character set. Use \\ for a literal +backslash.
[...]

Matches one of the characters in the set. If the first +character in the set is ^, it matches the characters NOT in +the set, i.e. complements the set. A shorthand S-E (start +dash end) is used to specify a set of characters S up to E, +inclusive.

+

The special characters ] and - have no special +meaning if they appear first in the set. - can also be last +in the set. To include both, put ] first: []A-Z-].

+

Examples:

+
+[]|-]    matches these 3 chars
+[]-|]    matches from ] to | chars
+[a-z]    any lowercase alpha
+[^]-]    any char except - and ]
+[^A-Z]   any char except uppercase alpha
+[a-zA-Z] any alpha
+
+
^This matches the start of a line (unless used inside a set, see +above).
$This matches the end of a line.
*This matches 0 or more times. For example, Sa*m matches Sm, Sam, +Saam, Saaam and so on.
+This matches 1 or more times. For example, Sa+m matches Sam, +Saam, Saaam and so on.
?This matches 0 or 1 time(s). For example, Joh?n matches John, Jon.
+
+

Note

+

This table is adapted from Scintilla and SciTE documentation, +distributed under the License for Scintilla and SciTE.

+
+
+
+
+

View menu

+

The View menu allows various elements of the main window to be shown +or hidden, and also provides various display-related editor options.

+
+

Color schemes menu

+

The Color schemes menu is available under the View->Editor submenu. +It lists various color schemes for editor highlighting styles, +including the default scheme first. Other items are available based +on what color scheme files Geany found at startup.

+

Color scheme files are read from the Configuration file paths under +the colorschemes subdirectory. They should have the extension +.conf. The default color scheme +is read from filetypes.common.

+

The [named_styles] section is the same as for filetypes.common.

+
+

Note

+

Some filetypes do not yet support named styles so will ignore +any chosen color scheme.

+
+

The [theme_info] section can contain information about the +theme. The name and description keys are read to set the +menu item text and tooltip, respectively. These keys can have +translations, e.g.:

+
+key=Hello
+key[de]=Hallo
+key[fr_FR]=Bonjour
+
+
+
+
+

Tags

+

Tags are information that relates symbols in a program with the +source file location of the declaration and definition.

+

Geany has built-in functionality for generating tag information (aka +"workspace tags") for supported filetypes when you open a file. You +can also have Geany automatically load external tag files (aka "global +tags files") upon startup, or manually using Tools --> Load Tags.

+

Geany uses its own tag file format, similar to what ctags uses +(but is incompatible with ctags). You use Geany to generate global +tags files, as described below.

+
+

Workspace tags

+

Tags for each document are parsed whenever a file is loaded, saved or +modified (see Symbol list update frequency preference in the Editor +Completions preferences). These are shown in the Symbol list in the +Sidebar. These tags are also used for autocompletion of symbols and calltips +for all documents open in the current session that have the same filetype.

+

The Go to Tag commands can be used with all workspace tags. See +Go to tag definition.

+
+
+

Global tags

+

Global tags are used to provide autocompletion of symbols and calltips +without having to open the corresponding source files. This is intended +for library APIs, as the tags file only has to be updated when you upgrade +the library.

+

You can load a custom global tags file in two ways:

+
    +
  • Using the Load Tags command in the Tools menu.
    • +
  • By moving or symlinking tags files to the tags subdirectory of +one of the configuration file paths before starting Geany.
    • +
+

You can either download these files or generate your own. They have +the format:

+
+name.lang_ext.tags
+
+

lang_ext is one of the extensions set for the filetype associated +with the tags. See the section called Filetype extensions for +more information.

+
+

Default global tags files

+

For some languages, a list of global tags is loaded when the +corresponding filetype is first used. Currently these are for:

+
    +
  • C -- GTK+ and GLib
    • +
  • Pascal
    • +
  • PHP
    • +
  • HTML -- &symbol; completion, e.g. for ampersand, copyright, etc.
    • +
  • LaTeX
    • +
  • Python
    • +
+
+
+

Global tags file format

+

Global tags files can have two different formats:

+
    +
  • Tagmanager format
    • +
  • Pipe-separated format
    • +
+

The first line of global tags files should be a comment, introduced +by # followed by a space and a string like format=pipe +or format=tagmanager respectively, these are case-sensitive. +This helps Geany to read the file properly. If this line +is missing, Geany tries to auto-detect the used format but this +might fail.

+

The Tagmanager format is a bit more complex and is used for files +created by the geany -g command. There is one tag per line. +Different tag attributes like the return value or the argument list +are separated with different characters indicating the type of the +following argument.

+

The Pipe-separated format is easier to read and write. +There is one tag per line and different tag attributes are separated +by the pipe character (|). A line looks like:

+
+basename|string|(string path [, string suffix])|
+
+
+
The first field is the tag name (usually a function name).
+
The second field is the type of the return value.
+
The third field is the argument list for this tag.
+
The fourth field is the description for this tag but +currently unused and should be left empty.
+
+

Except for the first field (tag name), all other field can be left +empty but the pipe separator must appear for them.

+

You can easily write your own global tag files using this format. +Just save them in your tags directory, as described earlier in the +section Global tags.

+
+
+

Generating a global tags file

+

You can generate your own global tags files by parsing a list of +source files. The command is:

+
+geany -g [-P] <Tag File> <File list>
+
+
    +
  • Tag File filename should be in the format described earlier -- +see the section called Global tags.
    • +
  • File list is a list of filenames, each with a full path (unless +you are generating C/C++ tags and have set the CFLAGS environment +variable appropriately).
    • +
  • -P or --no-preprocessing disables using the C pre-processor +to process #include directives for C/C++ source files. Use this +option if you want to specify each source file on the command-line +instead of using a 'master' header file. Also can be useful if you +don't want to specify the CFLAGS environment variable.
    • +
+

Example for the wxD library for the D programming language:

+
+geany -g wxd.d.tags /home/username/wxd/wx/*.d
+
+

Generating C/C++ tag files:

+

For C/C++ tag files, gcc and grep are required, so that header files +can be preprocessed to include any other headers they depend upon.

+

For C/C++ files, the environment variable CFLAGS should be set with +appropriate -I/path include paths. The following example works with +the bash shell, generating tags for the GnomeUI library:

+
+CFLAGS=`pkg-config --cflags libgnomeui-2.0` geany -g gnomeui.c.tags \
+/usr/include/libgnomeui-2.0/gnome.h
+
+

You can adapt this command to use CFLAGS and header files appropriate +for whichever libraries you want.

+

Replacing the default C/C++ tags file:

+

Geany currently uses a default global tags file c99.tags for +C and C++, commonly installed in /usr/share/geany. This file can +be replaced with one containing tags parsed from a different set +of header files. When Geany is next started, your custom tags file +will be loaded instead of the default c99.tags. You should keep a +copy of the generated tags file because it will get overwritten when +upgrading Geany.

+

Generating tag files on Windows:

+

This works basically the same as on other platforms but you need to make +sure you have grep installed and Geany can find it, i.e. it must be +in the PATH environment variable. To test this, open a console window +and type grep and see whether it is executed. +If it is, then you can create a tags file like the following:

+
+"c:\program files\geany\bin\geany" -g c:\mytags.php.tags c:\code\somefile.php
+
+
+
+
+

C ignore.tags

+

You can ignore certain tags for C-based languages if they would lead +to wrong parsing of the code. Use the Tools->Configuration +Files->ignore.tags menu item to open the user ignore.tags file. +See also Configuration file paths.

+

List all tag names you want to ignore in this file, separated by spaces +and/or newlines.

+

Example:

+
+G_GNUC_NULL_TERMINATED
+G_GNUC_PRINTF
+G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT
+
+

This will parse code like:

+

gchar **utils_strv_new(const gchar *first, ...) +G_GNUC_NULL_TERMINATED;

+

More detailed information about ignore tags usage from the Exuberant Ctags +manual page:

+
+Specifies a list of identifiers which are to be specially handled +while parsing C and C++ source files. This option is specifically +provided to handle special cases arising through the use of +pre-processor macros. When the identifiers listed are simple identifiers, +these identifiers will be ignored during parsing of the source files. +If an identifier is suffixed with a '+' character, ctags will also +ignore any parenthesis-enclosed argument list which may immediately +follow the identifier in the source files. +If two identifiers are separated with the '=' character, the first +identifiers is replaced by the second identifiers for parsing purposes.
+

For even more detailed information please read the manual page of +Exuberant Ctags.

+
+
+
+

Preferences

+

You may adjust Geany's settings using the Edit --> Preferences +dialog. Any changes you make there can be applied by hitting either +the Apply or the OK button. These settings will persist between Geany +sessions. Note that most settings here have descriptive popup bubble +help -- just hover the mouse over the item in question to get help +on it.

+

You may also adjust some View settings (under the View menu) that +persist between Geany sessions. The settings under the Document menu, +however, are only for the current document and revert to defaults +when restarting Geany.

+
+

Note

+

In the paragraphs that follow, the text describing a dialog tab +comes after the screenshot of that tab.

+
+
+

General Startup preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_gen_startup.png +
+

Startup

+
+
Load files from the last session
+
On startup, load the same files you had open the last time you +used Geany.
+
Load virtual terminal support
+
Load the library for running a terminal in the message window area.
+
Enable plugin support
+
Allow plugins to be used in Geany.
+
+
+
+

Shutdown

+
+
Save window position and geometry
+
Save the current position and size of the main window so next time +you open Geany it's in the same location.
+
Confirm Exit
+
Have a dialog pop up to confirm that you really want to quit Geany.
+
+
+
+

Paths

+
+
Startup path
+
Path to start in when opening or saving files. +It must be an absolute path. +Leave it blank to use the current working directory.
+
Project files
+
Path to start in when opening project files.
+
Extra plugin path
+
By default Geany looks in the system installation and the user +configuration - see Plugins. In addition the path entered here will be +searched. +Usually you do not need to set an additional path to search for +plugins. It might be useful when Geany is installed on a multi-user machine +and additional plugins are available in a common location for all users. +Leave blank to not set an additional lookup path.
+
+
+
+
+

General Miscellaneous preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_gen_misc.png +
+

Miscellaneous

+
+
Beep on errors when compilation has finished
+
Have the computer make a beeping sound when compilation of your program +has completed or any errors occurred.
+
Switch status message list at new message
+
Switch to the status message tab (in the notebook window at the bottom) +once a new status message arrives.
+
Suppress status messages in the status bar
+

Remove all messages from the status bar. The messages are still displayed +in the status messages window.

+
+

Tip

+

Another option is to use the Switch to Editor keybinding - it +reshows the document statistics on the status bar. See Focus +keybindings.

+
+
+
Use Windows File Open/Save dialogs
+
Defines whether to use the native Windows File Open/Save dialogs or +whether to use the GTK default dialogs.
+
Auto-focus widgets (focus follows mouse)
+
Give the focus automatically to widgets below the mouse cursor. +This works for the main editor widget, the scribble, the toolbar search field +goto line fields and the VTE.
+
+
+ +
+

Projects

+
+
Use project-based session files
+
Save your current session when closing projects. You will be able to +resume different project sessions, automatically opening the files +you had open previously.
+
Store project file inside the project base directory
+
When creating new projects, the default path for the project file contains +the project base path. Without this option enabled, the default project file +path is one level above the project base path. +In either case, you can easily set the final project file path in the +New Project dialog. This option provides the more common +defaults automatically for convenience.
+
+
+
+
+

Interface preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_interface_interface.png + +
+

Fonts

+
+
Editor
+
Change the font used to display documents.
+
Symbol list
+
Change the font used for the Symbols sidebar tab.
+
Message window
+
Change the font used for the message window area.
+
+
+
+

Miscellaneous

+
+
Show status bar
+
Show the status bar at the bottom of the main window. It gives information about +the file you are editing like the line and column you are on, whether any +modifications were done, the file encoding, the filetype and other information.
+
+
+
+
+

Interface Notebook tab preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_interface_notebook.png +
+

Editor tabs

+
+
Show editor tabs
+
Show a notebook tab for all documents so you can switch between them +using the mouse (instead of using the Documents window).
+
Show close buttons
+
Make each tab show a close button so you can easily close open +documents.
+
Placement of new file tabs
+
Whether to create a document with its notebook tab to the left or +right of all existing tabs.
+
Next to current
+
Whether to place file tabs next to the current tab +rather than at the edges of the notebook.
+
Double-clicking hides all additional widgets
+
Whether to call the View->Toggle All Additional Widgets command +when double-clicking on a notebook tab.
+
+
+
+

Tab positions

+
+
Editor
+
Set the positioning of the editor's notebook tabs to the right, +left, top, or bottom of the editing window.
+
Sidebar
+
Set the positioning of the sidebar's notebook tabs to the right, +left, top, or bottom of the sidebar window.
+
Message window
+
Set the positioning of the message window's notebook tabs to the +right, left, top, or bottom of the message window.
+
+
+
+
+

Interface Toolbar preferences

+

Affects the main toolbar underneath the menu bar.

+./images/pref_dialog_interface_toolbar.png +
+

Toolbar

+
+
Show Toolbar
+
Whether to show the toolbar.
+
Append Toolbar to the Menu
+
Allows to append the toolbar to the main menu bar instead of placing it below. +This is useful to save vertical space.
+
Customize Toolbar
+
See Customizing the toolbar.
+
+
+
+

Appearance

+
+
Icon Style
+
Select the toolbar icon style to use - either icons and text, just +icons or just text. +The choice System default uses whatever icon style is set by GTK.
+
Icon size
+
Select the size of the icons you see (large, small or very small). +The choice System default uses whatever icon size is set by GTK.
+
+
+
+
+

Editor Features preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_edit_features.png +
+

Features

+
+
Line wrapping
+
Show long lines wrapped around to new display lines.
+
"Smart" home key
+
Whether to move the cursor to the first non-whitespace character +on the line when you hit the home key on your keyboard. Pressing it +again will go to the very start of the line.
+
Disable Drag and Drop
+
Do not allow the dragging and dropping of selected text in documents.
+
Code folding
+
Allow groups of lines in a document to be collapsed for easier +navigation/editing.
+
Fold/Unfold all children of a fold point
+
Whether to fold/unfold all child fold points when a parent line +is folded.
+
Use indicators to show compile errors
+
Underline lines with compile errors using red squiggles to indicate +them in the editor area.
+
Newline strip trailing spaces
+
Remove any white space at the end of the line when you hit the +Enter/Return key.
+
Line breaking column
+
The editor column number to insert a newline at when Line Breaking +is enabled for the current document.
+
Comment toggle marker
+
A string which is added when toggling a line comment in a source file. +It is used to mark the comment as toggled.
+
+
+
+
+

Editor Indentation preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_edit_indentation.png +
+

Indentation group

+

See Indentation for more information.

+
+
Width
+
The width of a single indent size in spaces. By default the indent +size is equivalent to 4 spaces.
+
Detect width from file
+
Try to detect and set the indent width based on file content, when +a file is opened.
+
Type
+

When Geany inserts indentation, whether to use:

+
    +
  • Just Tabs
    • +
  • Just Spaces
    • +
  • Tabs and Spaces, depending on how much indentation is on a line
    • +
+

The Tabs and Spaces indent type is also known as Soft tab +support in some other editors.

+
+
Detect type from file
+
Try to detect and set the indent type based on file content, when +a file is opened.
+
Auto-indent mode
+

The type of auto-indentation you wish to use after pressing Enter, +if any.

+
+
Basic
+
Just add the indentation of the previous line.
+
Current chars
+
Add indentation based on the current filetype and any characters at +the end of the line such as {, } for C, : for Python.
+
Match braces
+
Like Current chars but for C-like languages, make a closing +} brace line up with the matching opening brace.
+
+
+
Tab key indents
+

If set, pressing tab will indent the current line or selection, and +unindent when pressing Shift-tab. Otherwise, the tab key will +insert a tab character into the document (which can be different +from indentation, depending on the indent type).

+
+

Note

+

There are also separate configurable keybindings for indent & +unindent, but this preference allows the tab key to have different +meanings in different contexts - e.g. for snippet completion.

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Editor Completions preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_edit_completions.png +
+

Completions

+
+
Snippet Completion
+
Whether to replace special keywords after typing Tab into a +pre-defined text snippet. +See User-definable snippets.
+
XML/HTML tag auto-closing
+
When you open an XML/HTML tag automatically generate its +completion tag.
+
Automatic continuation multi-line comments
+

Continue automatically multi-line comments in languages like C, C++ +and Java when a new line is entered inside such a comment. +With this option enabled, Geany will insert a * on every new line +inside a multi-line comment, for example when you press return in the +following C code:

+
+/*
+ * This is a C multi-line comment, press <Return>
+
+

then Geany would insert:

+
+*
+
+

on the next line with the correct indentation based on the previous line, +as long as the multi-line is not closed by */.

+
+
Autocomplete symbols
+
When you start to type a symbol name, look for the full string to +allow it to be completed for you.
+
Autocomplete all words in document
+
When you start to type a word, Geany will search the whole document for +words starting with the typed part to complete it, assuming there +are no tag names to show.
+
Drop rest of word on completion
+
Remove any word part to the right of the cursor when choosing a +completion list item.
+
Characters to type for autocompletion
+
Number of characters of a word to type before autocompletion is +displayed.
+
Completion list height
+
The number of rows to display for the autocompletion window.
+
Max. symbol name suggestions
+
The maximum number of items in the autocompletion list.
+
Symbol list update frequency
+

The minimum delay (in milliseconds) between two symbol list updates.

+

This option determines how frequently the tag list is updated for the +current document. The smaller the delay, the more up-to-date the symbol +list (and then the completions); but rebuilding the symbol list has a +cost in performance, especially with large files.

+

The default value is 250ms, which means the symbol list will be updated +at most four times per second, even if the document changes continuously.

+

A value of 0 disables automatic updates, so the symbol list will only be +updated upon document saving.

+
+
+
+
+

Auto-close quotes and brackets

+

Geany can automatically insert a closing bracket and quote characters when +you open them. For instance, you type a ( and Geany will automatically +insert ). With the following options, you can define for which +characters this should work.

+
+
Parenthesis ( )
+
Auto-close parenthesis when typing an opening one
+
Curly brackets { }
+
Auto-close curly brackets (braces) when typing an opening one
+
Square brackets [ ]
+
Auto-close square brackets when typing an opening one
+
Single quotes ' '
+
Auto-close single quotes when typing an opening one
+
Double quotes " "
+
Auto-close double quotes when typing an opening one
+
+
+
+
+

Editor Display preferences

+

This is for visual elements displayed in the editor window.

+./images/pref_dialog_edit_display.png +
+

Display

+
+
Invert syntax highlighting colors
+
Invert all colors, by default this makes white text on a black +background.
+
Show indendation guides
+
Show vertical lines to help show how much leading indentation there +is on each line.
+
Show whitespaces
+
Mark all tabs with an arrow "-->" symbol and spaces with dots to +show which kinds of whitespace are used.
+
Show line endings
+
Display a symbol everywhere that a carriage return or line feed +is present.
+
Show line numbers
+
Show or hide the Line Number margin.
+
Show markers margin
+
Show or hide the small margin right of the line numbers, which is used +to mark lines.
+
Stop scrolling at last line
+
When enabled Geany stops scrolling when at the last line of the document. +Otherwise you can scroll one more page even if there are no real lines.
+
+
+
+

Long line marker

+

The long line marker helps to indicate overly-long lines, or as a hint +to the user for when to break the line.

+
+
Type
+
+
Line
+
Show a thin vertical line in the editor window at the given column +position.
+
Background
+
Change the background color of characters after the given column +position to the color set below. (This is recommended over the +Line setting if you use proportional fonts).
+
Disabled
+
Don't mark long lines at all.
+
+
+
Long line marker
+
Set this value to a value greater than zero to specify the column +where it should appear.
+
Long line marker color
+
Set the color of the long line marker.
+
+
+
+

Virtual spaces

+

Virtual space is space beyond the end of each line. +The cursor may be moved into virtual space but no real space will be +added to the document until there is some text typed or some other +text insertion command is used.

+
+
Disabled
+
Do not show virtual spaces
+
Only for rectangular selections
+
Only show virtual spaces beyond the end of lines when drawing a rectangular selection
+
Always
+
Always show virtual spaces beyond the end of lines
+
+
+
+
+

Files preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_files.png +
+

New files

+
+
Open new documents from the command-line
+
Whether to create new documents when passing filenames that don't +exist from the command-line.
+
Default encoding (new files)
+
The type of file encoding you wish to use when creating files.
+
Used fixed encoding when opening files
+
Assume all files you are opening are using the type of encoding specified below.
+
Default encoding (existing files)
+
Opens all files with the specified encoding instead of auto-detecting it. +Use this option when it's not possible for Geany to detect the exact encoding.
+
Default end of line characters
+
The end of line characters to which should be used for new files. +On Windows systems, you generally want to use CR/LF which are the common +characters to mark line breaks. +On Unix-like systems, LF is default and CR is used on MAC systems.
+
+
+
+

Saving files

+

Perform formatting operations when a document is saved. These +can each be undone with the Undo command.

+
+
Ensure newline at file end
+
Add a newline at the end of the document if one is missing.
+
Ensure consistent line endings
+
Ensures that newline characters always get converted before +saving, avoiding mixed line endings in the same file.
+
Strip trailing spaces
+
Remove the trailing spaces on each line of the document.
+
Replace tabs by space
+

Replace all tabs in the document with the equivalent number of spaces.

+
+

Note

+

It is better to use spaces to indent than use this preference - see +Indentation.

+
+
+
+
+
+

Miscellaneous

+
+
Recent files list length
+
The number of files to remember in the recently used files list.
+
Disk check timeout
+

The number of seconds to periodically check the current document's +file on disk in case it has changed. Setting it to 0 will disable +this feature.

+
+

Note

+

These checks are only performed on local files. Remote files are +not checked for changes due to performance issues +(remote files are files in ~/.gvfs/).

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Tools preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_tools.png +
+

Tool paths

+
+
Terminal
+
The location of your terminal executable.
+
Browser
+
The location of your web browser executable.
+
Grep
+
The location of the grep executable.
+
+
+

Note

+

For Windows users: at the time of writing it is recommended to use +the grep.exe from the UnxUtils project +(http://sourceforge.net/projects/unxutils). The grep.exe from the +Mingw project for instance might not work with Geany at the moment.

+
+
+
+

Commands

+
+
Context action
+
Set this to a command to execute on the current word. +You can use the "%s" wildcard to pass the current word below the cursor +to the specified command.
+
+
+
+
+

Template preferences

+

This data is used as meta data for various template text to insert into +a document, such as the file header. You only need to set fields that +you want to use in your template files.

+./images/pref_dialog_templ.png +
+

Template data

+
+
Developer
+
The name of the developer who will be creating files.
+
Initials
+
The initials of the developer.
+
Mail address
+

The email address of the developer.

+
+

Note

+

You may wish to add anti-spam markup, e.g. name<at>site<dot>ext.

+
+
+
Company
+
The company the developer is working for.
+
Initial version
+
The initial version of files you will be creating.
+
Year
+
Specify a format for the the {year} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers +which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see +http://man.cx/strftime.
+
Date
+
Specify a format for the the {date} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers +which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see +http://man.cx/strftime.
+
Date & Time
+
Specify a format for the the {datetime} wildcard. You can use any conversion specifiers +which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. For details please see +http://man.cx/strftime.
+
+
+
+
+

Keybinding preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_keys.png +

There are some commands listed in the keybinding dialog that are not, by default, +bound to a key combination, and may not be available as a menu item.

+
+

Note

+

For more information see the section Keybindings.

+
+
+
+

Printing preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_printing.png +
+
Use external command for printing
+
Use a system command to print your file out.
+
Use native GTK printing
+
Let the GTK GUI toolkit handle your print request.
+
Print line numbers
+
Print the line numbers on the left of your paper.
+
Print page number
+
Print the page number on the bottom right of your paper.
+
Print page header
+
Print a header on every page that is sent to the printer.
+
Use base name of the printed file
+
Don't use the entire path for the header, only the filename.
+
Date format
+
How the date should be printed. You can use the same format +specifiers as in the ANSI C function strftime(). For details please +see http://man.cx/strftime.
+
+
+
+

Various preferences

+./images/pref_dialog_various.png +

Rarely used preferences, explained in the table below. A few of them require +restart to take effect, and a few other will only affect newly opened or created +documents before restart.

+ ++++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
KeyDescriptionDefaultApplies
Editor related   
use_gtk_word_boundariesWhether to look for the end of a word +when using word-boundary related +Scintilla commands (see Scintilla +keyboard commands).trueto new +documents
brace_match_ltgtWhether to highlight <, > angle brackets.falseimmediately
complete_snippets_whilst_editingWhether to allow completion of snippets +when editing an existing line (i.e. there +is some text after the current cursor +position on the line). Only used when the +keybinding Complete snippet is set to +Space.falseimmediately
show_editor_scrollbarsWhether to display scrollbars. If set to +false, the horizontal and vertical +scrollbars are hidden completely.trueimmediately
indent_hard_tab_widthThe size of a tab character. Don't change +it unless you really need to; use the +indentation settings instead.8immediately
Interface related   
show_symbol_list_expandersWhether to show or hide the small +expander icons on the symbol listtrueto new +documents
allow_always_savetreeview. Whether files can be saved +always, even if they don't have any +changes. By default, the Save button and +menu item are disabled when a file is +unchanged. When setting this option to +true, the Save button and menu item are +always active and files can be saved.falseimmediately
compiler_tab_autoscrollWhether to automatically scroll to the +last line of the output in the Compiler +tab.trueimmediately
statusbar_templateThe status bar statistics line format. +(Search in src/ui_utils.c for details).See below.immediately
new_document_after_closeWhether to open a new document after all +documents have been closed.falseimmediately
msgwin_status_visibleWhether to show the Status tab in the +Messages Windowtrueimmediately
msgwin_compiler_visibleWhether to show the Compiler tab in the +Messages Windowtrueimmediately
msgwin_messages_visibleWhether to show the Messages tab in the +Messages Windowtrueimmediately
msgwin_scribble_visibleWhether to show the Scribble tab in the +Messages Windowtrueimmediately
+

By default, statusbar_template is empty. This tells Geany to use its +internal default, which is currently:

+

line: %l / %L\t col: %c\t sel: %s\t %w      %t      %mmode: %M      encoding: %e      filetype: %f      scope: %S

+

Note that \t = tab.

+ ++++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
KeyDescriptionDefaultApplies
VTE related   
emulationTerminal emulation mode. Only change this +if you have VTE termcap files other than +vte/termcap/xterm.xtermimmediately
send_selection_unsafeBy default, Geany strips any trailing +newline characters from the current +selection before sending it to the terminal +to not execute arbitrary code. This is +mainly a security feature. +If, for whatever reasons, you really want +it to be executed directly, set this option +to true.falseimmediately
send_cmd_prefixString with which prefix the commands sent +to the shell. This may be used to tell +some shells (BASH with HISTCONTROL set +to ignorespace, ZSH with +HIST_IGNORE_SPACE enabled, etc.) from +putting these commands in their history by +setting this to a space. Note that leading +spaces must be escaped using s in the +configuration file.Emptyimmediately
File related   
use_atomic_file_savingDefines the mode how Geany saves files to +disk. If disabled, Geany directly writes +the content of the document to disk. This +might cause loss of data when there is +no more free space on disk to save the +file. When set to true, Geany first saves +the contents into a temporary file and if +this succeeded, the temporary file is +moved to the real file to save. +This gives better error checking in case of +no more free disk space. But it also +destroys hard links of the original file +and its permissions (e.g. executable flags +are reset). Use this with care as it can +break things seriously. +The better approach would be to ensure your +disk won't run out of free space.falseimmediately
use_gio_unsafe_file_savingWhether to use GIO as the unsafe file +saving backend. It is better on most +situations but is known not to work +correctly on some complex setups.trueimmediately
gio_unsafe_save_backupMake a backup when using GIO unsafe file +saving. Backup is named filename~.falseimmediately
Filetype related   
extract_filetype_regexRegex to extract filetype name from file +via capture group one.See below.immediately
Search related   
find_selection_typeSee Find selection.0immediately
Build Menu related   
number_ft_menu_itemsThe maximum number of menu items in the +filetype section of the Build menu.2on restart
number_non_ft_menu_itemsThe maximum number of menu items in the +independent section of the Build menu.3on restart
number_exec_menu_itemsThe maximum number of menu items in the +execute section of the Build menu.2on restart
+

The extract_filetype_regex has the default value GEANY_DEFAULT_FILETYPE_REGEX.

+
+
+

Terminal (VTE) preferences

+

See also: Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE).

+./images/pref_dialog_vte.png +
+

Terminal widget

+
+
Terminal font
+
Select the font that will be used in the terminal emulation control.
+
Foreground color
+
Select the font color.
+
Background color
+
Select the background color of the terminal.
+
Scrollback lines
+
The number of lines buffered so that you can scroll though the history.
+
Shell
+
The location of the shell on your system.
+
Scroll on keystroke
+
Scroll the terminal to the prompt line when pressing a key.
+
Scroll on output
+
Scroll the output down.
+
Cursor blinks
+
Let the terminal cursor blink.
+
Override Geany keybindings
+
Allow the VTE to receive keyboard shortcuts (apart from focus commands).
+
Disable menu shortcut key (F10 by default)
+
Disable the menu shortcut when you are in the virtual terminal.
+
Follow path of the current file
+
Make the path of the terminal change according to the path of the +current file.
+
Execute programs in VTE
+
Execute programs in the virtual terminal instead of using the external +terminal tool. Note that if you run multiple execute commands at once +the output may become mixed together in the VTE.
+
Don't use run script
+
Don't use the simple run script which is usually used to display +the exit status of the executed program. +This can be useful if you already have a program running in the VTE +like a Python console (e.g. ipython). Use this with care.
+
+
+
+
+
+

Project management

+

Project management is optional in Geany. Currently it can be used for:

+
    +
  • Storing and opening session files on a project basis.
    • +
  • Overriding default settings with project equivalents.
    • +
  • Configuring the Build menu on a project basis.
    • +
+

A list of session files can be stored and opened with the project +when the Use project-based session files preference is enabled, +in the Project group of the Preferences dialog.

+

As long as a project is open, the Build menu will use +the items defined in project's settings, instead of the defaults. +See Build Menu Configuration for information on configuring the menu.

+

The current project's settings are saved when it is closed, or when +Geany is shutdown. When restarting Geany, the previously opened project +file that was in use at the end of the last session will be reopened.

+

The project menu items are detailed below.

+
+

New project

+

To create a new project, fill in the Name field. By default this +will setup a new project file ~/projects/name.geany. Usually it's +best to store all your project files in the same directory (they are +independent of any source directory trees).

+

The Base path text field is setup to use ~/projects/name. This +can safely be set to any existing path -- it will not touch the file +structure contained in it.

+
+
+

Project properties

+

You can set an optional description for the project. Currently it's +only used for a template wildcard - see Template wildcards.

+

The Base path field is used as the directory to run the Build menu commands. +The specified path can be an absolute path or it is considered to be +relative to the project's file name.

+

The File patterns field allows to specify a list of file patterns for the +project, which can be used in the Find in files dialog.

+

The Indentation tab allows you to override the default +Indentation settings.

+
+
+

Open project

+

The Open command displays a standard file chooser, starting in +~/projects. Choose a project file named with the .geany +extension.

+

When project session support is enabled, Geany will close the currently +open files and open the session files associated with the project.

+
+
+

Close project

+

Project file settings are saved when the project is closed.

+

When project session support is enabled, Geany will close the project +session files and open any previously closed default session files.

+
+
+
+

Build menu

+

After editing code with Geany, the next step is to compile, link, build, +interpret, run etc. As Geany supports many languages each with a different +approach to such operations, and as there are also many language independent +software building systems, Geany does not have a built-in build system, nor +does it limit which system you can use. Instead the build menu provides +a configurable and flexible means of running any external commands to +execute your preferred build system.

+

This section provides a description of the default configuration of the +build menu and then covers how to configure it, and where the defaults fit in.

+

Running the commands from within Geany has two benefits:

+
    +
  • The current file is automatically saved before the command is run.
    • +
  • The output is captured in the Compiler notebook tab and parsed for +warnings or errors.
    • +
+

Warnings and errors that can be parsed for line numbers will be shown in +red in the Compiler tab and you can click on them to switch to the relevant +source file (or open it) and mark the line number. Also lines with +warnings or errors are marked in the source, see Indicators below.

+
+

Tip

+

If Geany's default error message parsing does not parse errors for +the tool you're using, you can set a custom regex in the Build Commands +Dialog, see Build Menu Configuration.

+
+
+

Indicators

+

Indicators are red squiggly underlines which are used to highlight +errors which occurred while compiling the current file. So you can +easily see where your code failed to compile. You can remove them by +selecting Remove Error Indicators in the Document menu.

+

If you do not like this feature, you can disable it - see Editor Features +preferences.

+
+
+

Default build menu items

+

Depending on the current file's filetype, the default Build menu will contain +the following items:

+
    +
  • Compile
    • +
  • Build
    • +
  • Make All
    • +
  • Make Custom Target
    • +
  • Make Object
    • +
  • Next Error
    • +
  • Previous Error
    • +
  • Execute
    • +
  • Set Build Menu Commands
    • +
+
+

Compile

+

The Compile command has different uses for different kinds of files.

+

For compilable languages such as C and C++, the Compile command is +set up to compile the current source file into a binary object file.

+

Java source files will be compiled to class file bytecode.

+

Interpreted languages such as Perl, Python, Ruby will compile to +bytecode if the language supports it, or will run a syntax check, +or if that is not available will run the file in its language interpreter.

+
+
+

Build

+

For compilable languages such as C and C++, the Build command will link +the current source file's equivalent object file into an executable. If +the object file does not exist, the source will be compiled and linked +in one step, producing just the executable binary.

+

Interpreted languages do not use the Build command.

+
+

Note

+

If you need complex settings for your build system, or several +different settings, then writing a Makefile and using the Make +commands is recommended; this will also make it easier for users to +build your software.

+
+
+
+

Make

+

This runs "make" in the same directory as the +current file.

+
+
+

Make custom target

+

This is similar to running 'Make' but you will be prompted for +the make target name to be passed to the Make tool. For example, +typing 'clean' in the dialog prompt will run "make clean".

+
+
+

Make object

+

Make object will run "make current_file.o" in the same directory as +the current file, using the filename for 'current_file'. It is useful +for building just the current file without building the whole project.

+
+
+

Next error

+

The next error item will move to the next detected error in the file.

+
+
+

Previous error

+

The previous error item will move to the previous detected error in the file.

+
+
+

Execute

+

Execute will run the corresponding executable file, shell script or +interpreted script in a terminal window. Note that the Terminal tool +path must be correctly set in the Tools tab of the Preferences dialog - +you can use any terminal program that runs a Bourne compatible shell +and accept the "-e" command line argument to start a command or can be +selected to use the built-in VTE if it is available - see +Virtual terminal emulator widget (VTE).

+

After your program or script has finished executing, you will be +prompted to press the return key. This allows you to review any text +output from the program before the terminal window is closed.

+
+

Note

+

The execute command output is not parsed for errors.

+
+
+
+

Stopping running processes

+

When there is a running program, the Execute menu item in the menu and +the Run button in the toolbar +each become a stop button so you can stop the current running program (and +any child processes). This works by sending the SIGQUIT signal to the process.

+

Depending on the process you started it is possible that the process +cannot be stopped. For example this can happen when the process creates +more than one child process.

+
+
Terminal emulators
+

Xterm is known to work properly. If you are using "Terminal" +(the terminal program of Xfce), you should add the command line +option --disable-server otherwise the started process cannot be +stopped. Just add this option in the preferences dialog on the Tools +tab in the terminal field.

+
+
+
+

Set build commands

+

By default Compile, Build and Execute are fairly basic commands. You +may wish to customise them using Set Build Commands.

+

E.g. for C you can add any include paths and compile flags for the +compiler, any library names and paths for the linker, and any +arguments you want to use when running Execute.

+
+
+
+

Build menu configuration

+

The build menu has considerable flexibility and configurability, allowing +both menu labels the commands they execute and the directory they execute +in to be configured.

+

For example, if you change one of the default make commands to run say 'waf' +you can also change the label to match.

+

These settings are saved automatically when Geany is shut down.

+

The build menu is divided into four groups of items each with different +behaviors:

+
    +
  • Filetype build commands - are configurable and depend on the filetype of the +current document; they capture output in the compiler tab and parse it for +errors.
    • +
  • Independent build commands - are configurable and mostly don't depend on the +filetype of the current document; they also capture output in the +compiler tab and parse it for errors.
    • +
  • Execute commands - are configurable and intended for executing your +program or other long running programs. The output is not parsed for errors +and is directed to the terminal selected in preferences.
    • +
  • Fixed commands - these perform built-in actions:
      +
    • Go to the next error.
      • +
    • Go to the previous error.
      • +
    • Show the build menu commands dialog.
      • +
    +
    • +
+

The maximum numbers of items in each of the configurable groups can be +configured in the Various preferences. Even though the maximum number of +items may have been increased, only those menu items that have values +configured are shown in the menu.

+

The groups of menu items obtain their configuration from four potential +sources. The highest priority source that has the menu item defined will +be used. The sources in decreasing priority are:

+
    +
  • A project file if open
    • +
  • The user preferences
    • +
  • The system filetype definitions
    • +
  • The defaults
    • +
+

The detailed relationships between sources and the configurable menu item groups +is shown in the following table.

+ +++++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
GroupProject FilePreferencesSystem FiletypeDefaults
Filetype

Loads From: project +file

+

Saves To: project +file

+

Loads From: +filetypes.xxx file in +~/.config/geany/filedefs

+

Saves to: as above, +creating if needed.

+

Loads From: +filetypes.xxx in +Geany install

+

Saves to: as user +preferences left.

+		None
Filetype +Independent

Loads From: project +file

+

Saves To: project +file

+

Loads From: +geany.conf file in +~/.config/geany

+

Saves to: as above, +creating if needed.

+

Loads From: +filetypes.xxx in +Geany install

+

Saves to: as user +preferences left.

+
+
1:
+
Label: _Make +Command: make
+
2:
+
Label: Make Custom _Target +Command: make
+
3:
+
Label: Make _Object +Command: make %e.o
+
+
Execute

Loads From: project +file or else +filetype defined in +project file

+

Saves To: +project file

+

Loads From: +geany.conf file in +~/.config/geany or else +filetypes.xxx file in +~/.config/geany/filedefs

+

Saves To: +filetypes.xxx file in +~/.config/geany/filedefs

+

Loads From: +filetypes.xxx in +Geany install

+

Saves To: as user +preferences left.

+		Label: _Execute +Command: ./%e
+

The following notes on the table reference cells by coordinate as (group,source):

+
    +
  • General - for filetypes.xxx substitute the appropriate extension for +the filetype of the current document for xxx - see filenames.
    • +
  • System Filetypes - Labels loaded from these sources are locale sensitive +and can contain translations.
    • +
  • (Filetype, Project File) and (Filetype, Preferences) - preferences use a full +filetype file so that users can configure all other filetype preferences +as well. Projects can only configure menu items per filetype. Saving +in the project file means that there is only one file per project not +a whole directory.
    • +
  • (Filetype-Independent, System Filetype) - although conceptually strange, defining +filetype-independent commands in a filetype file, this provides the ability to +define filetype dependent default menu items.
    • +
  • (Execute, Project File) and (Execute, Preferences) - the project independent +execute and preferences independent execute commands can only be set by hand +editing the appropriate file, see Preferences file format and Project file +format.
    • +
+
+
+

Build menu commands dialog

+

Most of the configuration of the build menu is done through the Build Menu +Commands Dialog. You edit the configuration sourced from preferences in the +dialog opened from the Build->Build Menu Commands item and you edit the +configuration from the project in the build tab of the project preferences +dialog. Both use the same form shown below.

+./images/build_menu_commands_dialog.png +

The dialog is divided into three sections:

+
    +
  • Filetype build commands (selected based on the current document's filetype).
    • +
  • Independent build commands (available regardless of filetype).
    • +
  • Filetype execute commands.
    • +
+

The filetype and independent sections also each contain a field for the regular +expression used for parsing command output for error and warning messages.

+

The columns in the first three sections allow setting of the label, command, +and working directory to run the command in.

+

An item with an empty label will not be shown in the menu.

+

An empty working directory will default to the directory of the current document. +If there is no current document then the command will not run.

+

The dialog will always show the command selected by priority, not just the +commands configured in this configuration source. This ensures that you always +see what the menu item is going to do if activated.

+

If the current source of the menu item is higher priority than the +configuration source you are editing then the command will be shown +in the dialog but will be insensitive (greyed out). This can't happen +with the project source but can with the preferences source dialog.

+

The clear buttons remove the definition from the configuration source you are editing. +When you do this the command from the next lower priority source will be shown. +To hide lower priority menu items without having anything show in the menu +configure with a nothing in the label but at least one character in the command.

+
+

Substitutions in commands and working directories

+

The first occurence of each of the following character sequences in each of the +command and working directory fields is substituted by the items specified below +before the command is run.

+
    +
  • %d - substituted by the absolute path to the directory of the current file.
    • +
  • %e - substituted by the name of the current file without the extension or path.
    • +
  • %f - substituted by the name of the current file without the path.
    • +
  • %p - if a project is open, substituted by the base path from the project.
    • +
+
+

Note

+

If the basepath set in the project preferences is not an absolute path , then it is +taken as relative to the directory of the project file. This allows a project file +stored in the source tree to specify all commands and working directories relative +to the tree itself, so that the whole tree including the project file, can be moved +and even checked into and out of version control without having to re-configure the +build menu.

+
+
+
+

Build menu keyboard shortcuts

+

Keyboard shortcuts can be defined for the first two filetype menu items, the first three +independent menu items, the first two execute menu items and the fixed menu items. +In the keybindings configuration dialog (see Keybinding preferences) +these items are identified by the default labels shown in the Build Menu section above.

+

It is currently not possible to bind keyboard shortcuts to more than these menu items.

+

You can also use underlines in the labels to set mnemonic characters.

+
+
+

Old settings

+

The configurable Build Menu capability was introduced in Geany 0.19 and +required a new section to be added to the configuration files (See +Preferences file format). Geany will still load older format project, +preferences and filetype file settings and will attempt to map them into the new +configuration format. There is not a simple clean mapping between the formats. +The mapping used produces the most sensible results for the majority of cases. +However, if they do not map the way you want, you may have to manually +configure some settings using the Build Commands +Dialog or the Build tab of the project preferences dialog.

+

Any setting configured in either of these dialogs will override settings mapped from +older format configuration files.

+
+
+
+
+

Printing support

+

Since Geany 0.13 there has been printing support using GTK's printing API. +The printed page(s) will look nearly the same as on your screen in Geany. +Additionally, there are some options to modify the printed page(s).

+
+

Note

+

The background text color is set to white, except for text with +a white foreground. This allows dark color schemes to save ink +when printing.

+
+

You can define whether to print line numbers, page numbers at the bottom of +each page and whether to print a page header on each page. This header +contains the filename of the printed document, the current page number and +the date and time of printing. By default, the file name of the document +with full path information is added to the header. If you prefer to add +only the basename of the file(without any path information) you can set it +in the preferences dialog. You can also adjust the format of the date and +time added to the page header. The available conversion specifiers are the +same as the ones which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function.

+

All of these settings can also be changed in the print dialog just before +actual printing is done. +On Unix-like systems the provided print dialog offers a print preview. The +preview file is opened with a PDF viewer and by default GTK uses evince +for print preview. If you have not installed evince or just want to use +another PDF viewer, you can change the program to use in the file +.gtkrc-2.0 (usually found in your home directory). Simply add a line +like:

+
+gtk-print-preview-command = "epdfview %f"
+
+

at the end of the file. Of course, you can also use xpdf, kpdf or whatever +as the print preview command.

+

Geany also provides an alternative basic printing support using a custom +print command. However, the printed document contains no syntax highlighting. +You can adjust the command to which the filename is passed in the preferences +dialog. The default command is:

+
+% lpr %f
+
+

%f will be substituted by the filename of the current file. Geany +will not show errors from the command itself, so you should make +sure that it works before(e.g. by trying to execute it from the +command line).

+

A nicer example, which many prefer is:

+
+% a2ps -1 --medium=A4 -o - %f | xfprint4
+
+

But this depends on a2ps and xfprint4. As a replacement for xfprint4, +gtklp or similar programs can be used.

+
+
+

Plugins

+

Plugins are loaded at startup, if the Enable plugin support +general preference is set. There is also a command-line option, +-p, which prevents plugins being loaded. Plugins are scanned in +the following directories:

+
    +
  • $prefix/lib/geany on Unix-like systems (see Installation prefix)
    • +
  • The lib subfolder of the installation path on Windows.
    • +
  • The plugins subfolder of the user configuration directory - see +Configuration file paths.
    • +
  • The Extra plugin path preference (usually blank) - see Paths.
    • +
+

Most plugins add menu items to the Tools menu when they are loaded.

+

See also Plugin documentation for information about single plugins +which are included in Geany.

+
+

Plugin manager

+

The Plugin Manager dialog lets you choose which plugins +should be loaded at startup. You can also load and unload plugins on the +fly using this dialog. Once you click the checkbox for a specific plugin +in the dialog, it is loaded or unloaded according to its previous state. +By default, no plugins are loaded at startup until you select some. +You can also configure some plugin specific options if the plugin +provides any.

+
+
+
+

Keybindings

+

Geany supports the default keyboard shortcuts for the Scintilla +editing widget. For a list of these commands, see Scintilla +keyboard commands. The Scintilla keyboard shortcuts will be overridden +by any custom keybindings with the same keyboard shortcut.

+
+

Switching documents

+

There are a few non-configurable bindings to switch between documents, +listed below. These can also be overridden by custom keybindings.

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
KeyAction
Alt-[1-9]Select left-most tab, from 1 to 9.
Alt-0Select right-most tab.
Ctrl-Shift-PgUpSelect left-most tab.
Ctrl-Shift-PgDnSelect right-most tab.
+
+
+

Configurable keybindings

+

For all actions listed below you can define your own keybindings. Open +the Preferences dialog, select the desired action and click on +change. In the resulting dialog you can press the key combination you +want to assign to the action and it will be saved when you press OK. +You can define only one key combination for each action and each key +combination can only be defined for one action.

+

Some of the default key combinations are common across many +applications, for example Ctrl-N for New and Ctrl-O for Open. +Because they are so common it is not advisable to change these, but +you can add other key combinations for these actions. For example +Ctrl-O is set to execute menu_open by default, but you can also +define Alt-O, so that the file open dialog is shown by pressing +either Ctrl-O or Alt-O.

+

The following tables list all customizable keyboard shortcuts, those +which are common to many applications are marked with (C) after the +shortcut.

+
+

File keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
NewCtrl-N (C)Creates a new file.
OpenCtrl-O (C)Opens a file.
Open selected fileCtrl-Shift-OOpens the selected filename.
Re-open last closed tab Re-opens the last closed document tab.
SaveCtrl-S (C)Saves the current file.
Save As Saves the current file under a new name.
Save allCtrl-Shift-SSaves all open files.
Close allCtrl-Shift-WCloses all open files.
CloseCtrl-W (C)Closes the current file.
Reload fileCtrl-R (C)Reloads the current file. All unsaved changes +will be lost.
PrintCtrl-P (C)Prints the current file.
+
+
+

Editor keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
UndoCtrl-Z (C)Un-does the last action.
RedoCtrl-YRe-does the last action.
Delete current line(s)Ctrl-KDeletes the current line (and any lines with a +selection).
Delete to line endCtrl-Shift-DeleteDeletes from the current caret position to the +end of the current line.
Duplicate line or selectionCtrl-DDuplicates the current line or selection.
Transpose current lineCtrl-TTransposes the current line with the previous one.
Scroll to current lineCtrl-Shift-LScrolls the current line into the centre of the +view. The cursor position and or an existing +selection will not be changed.
Scroll up by one lineAlt-UpScrolls the view.
Scroll down by one lineAlt-DownScrolls the view.
Complete wordCtrl-SpaceShows the autocompletion list. If already showing +tag completion, it shows document word completion +instead, even if it is not enabled for automatic +completion. Likewise if no tag suggestions are +available, it shows document word completion.
Show calltipCtrl-Shift-SpaceShows a calltip for the current function or +method.
Show macro listCtrl-ReturnShows a list of available macros and variables in +the workspace.
Complete snippetTabIf you type a construct like if or for and press +this key, it will be completed with a matching +template.
Suppress snippet completion If you type a construct like if or for and press +this key, it will not be completed, and a space or +tab will be inserted, depending on what the +construct completion keybinding is set to. For +example, if you have set the construct completion +keybinding to space, then setting this to +Shift+space will prevent construct completion and +insert a space.
Context Action Executes a command and passes the current word +(near the cursor position) or selection as an +argument. See the section called Context +actions.
Move cursor in snippet Jumps to the next defined cursor positions in a +completed snippets if multiple cursor positions +where defined.
Word part completionTabWhen the autocompletion list is visible, complete +the currently selected item up to the next word +part.
Move line(s) up Move the current line or selected lines up by +one line.
Move line(s) down Move the current line or selected lines down by +one line.
+
+
+

Clipboard keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
CutCtrl-X (C)Cut the current selection to the clipboard.
CopyCtrl-C (C)Copy the current selection to the clipboard.
PasteCtrl-V (C)Paste the clipboard text into the current document.
Cut current line(s)Ctrl-Shift-XCuts the current line (and any lines with a +selection) to the clipboard.
Copy current line(s)Ctrl-Shift-CCopies the current line (and any lines with a +selection) to the clipboard.
+
+
+

Select keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Select allCtrl-A (C)Makes a selection of all text in the current +document.
Select current wordAlt-Shift-WSelects the current word under the cursor.
Select current paragraphAlt-Shift-PSelects the current paragraph under the cursor +which is defined by two empty lines around it.
Select current line(s)Alt-Shift-LSelects the current line under the cursor (and any +partially selected lines).
Select to previous word part (Extend) selection to previous word part boundary.
Select to next word part (Extend) selection to next word part boundary.
+
+
+

Insert keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Insert dateShift-Alt-DInserts a customisable date.
Insert alternative whitespace Inserts a tab character when spaces should +be used for indentation and inserts space +characters of the amount of a tab width when +tabs should be used for indentation.
Insert New Line Before Current Inserts a new line with indentation.
Insert New Line After Current Inserts a new line with indentation.
+
+
+

Format keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Toggle case of selectionCtrl-Alt-UChanges the case of the selection. A lowercase +selection will be changed into uppercase and vice +versa. If the selection contains lower- and +uppercase characters, all will be converted to +lowercase.
Comment line Comments current line or selection.
Uncomment line Uncomments current line or selection.
Toggle line commentationCtrl-EComments a line if it is not commented or removes +a comment if the line is commented.
Increase indentCtrl-IIndents the current line or selection by one tab +or by spaces in the amount of the tab width +setting.
Decrease indentCtrl-URemoves one tab or the amount of spaces of +the tab width setting from the indentation of the +current line or selection.
Increase indent by one space Indents the current line or selection by one +space.
Decrease indent by one space Deindents the current line or selection by one +space.
Smart line indent Indents the current line or all selected lines +with the same indentation as the previous line.
Send to Custom Command 1 (2,3)Ctrl-1 (2,3)Passes the current selection to a configured +external command (available for the first +three configured commands, see +Sending text through custom commands for +details).
Send Selection to Terminal Sends the current selection or the current +line (if there is no selection) to the +embedded Terminal (VTE).
Reflow lines/block Reformat selected lines or current +(indented) text block, +breaking lines at the long line marker or the +line breaking column if line breaking is +enabled for the current document.
+
+
+

Settings keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
PreferencesCtrl-Alt-POpens preferences dialog.
Plugin Preferences Opens plugin preferences dialog.
+
+
+

Search keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
FindCtrl-F (C)Opens the Find dialog.
Find NextCtrl-GFinds next result.
Find PreviousCtrl-Shift-GFinds previous result.
Find Next Selection Finds next occurence of selected text.
Find Previous Selection Finds previous occurence of selected text.
ReplaceCtrl-H (C)Opens the Replace dialog.
Find in filesCtrl-Shift-FOpens the Find in files dialog.
Next message Jumps to the line with the next message in +the Messages window.
Previous message Jumps to the line with the previous message +in the Messages window.
Find UsageCtrl-Shift-EFinds all occurrences of the current word (near +the keyboard cursor) or selection in all open +documents and displays them in the messages +window.
Find Document UsageCtrl-Shift-DFinds all occurrences of the current word (near +the keyboard cursor) or selection in the current +document and displays them in the messages +window.
Mark AllCtrl-Shift-MHighlight all matches of the current +word/selection in the current document +with a colored box. If there's nothing to +find, highlighted matches will be cleared.
+
+
+

Go to keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Navigate forward a locationAlt-Right (C)Switches to the next location in the navigation +history. See the section called Code Navigation +History.
Navigate back a locationAlt-Left (C)Switches to the previous location in the +navigation history. See the section called +Code navigation history.
Go to lineCtrl-LFocuses the Go to Line entry (if visible) or +shows the Go to line dialog.
Goto matching braceCtrl-BIf the cursor is ahead or behind a brace, then it +is moved to the brace which belongs to the current +one. If this keyboard shortcut is pressed again, +the cursor is moved back to the first brace.
Toggle markerCtrl-MSet a marker on the current line, or clear the +marker if there already is one.
Goto next markerCtrl-.Goto the next marker in the current document.
Goto previous markerCtrl-,Goto the previous marker in the current document.
Go to tag definition Jump to the definition of the current word (near +the keyboard cursor). If the definition cannot be +found (e.g. the relevant file is not open) Geany +will beep and do nothing. See the section called +Go to tag definition.
Go to tag declaration Jump to the declaration of the current word (near +the keyboard cursor). If the declaration cannot be +found (e.g. the relevant file is not open) Geany +will beep and do nothing. See the section called +Go to tag declaration.
Go to Start of LineHomeMove the caret to the end of the line indentation +unless it is already there, in which case it moves +it to the start of the line.
Go to End of LineEndMove the caret to the end of the line.
Go to End of Display LineAlt-EndMove the caret to the end of the display line. +This is useful when you use line wrapping and +want to jump to the end of the wrapped, virtual +line, not the real end of the whole line. +If the line is not wrapped, it behaves like +Go to End of Line, see above.
Go to Previous Word PartCtrl-/Goto the previous part of the current word.
Go to Next Word PartCtrl-Goto the next part of the current word.
+
+
+

View keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
FullscreenF11 (C)Switches to fullscreen mode.
Toggle Messages Window Toggles the message window (status and compiler +messages) on and off.
Toggle Sidebar Shows or hides the sidebar.
Toggle all additional widgets Hide and show all additional widgets like the +notebook tabs, the toolbar, the messages window +and the status bar.
Zoom InCtrl-+ (C)Zooms in the text.
Zoom OutCtrl-- (C)Zooms out the text.
Zoom ResetCtrl-0Reset any previous zoom on the text.
+
+
+

Focus keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Switch to EditorF2Switches to editor widget. +Also reshows the document statistics line +(after a short timeout).
Switch to Search BarF7Switches to the search bar in the toolbar (if +visible).
Switch to Message Window Focus the Message Window's current tab.
Switch to Compiler Focus the Compiler message window tab.
Switch to Messages Focus the Messages message window tab.
Switch to ScribbleF6Switches to scribble widget.
Switch to VTEF4Switches to VTE widget.
Switch to Sidebar Focus the Sidebar.
Switch to Sidebar Symbol List Focus the Symbol list tab in the Sidebar +(if visible).
Switch to Sidebar Document List Focus the Document list tab in the Sidebar +(if visible).
+
+
+

Notebook tab keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Switch to left documentCtrl-PageUp (C)Switches to the previous open document.
Switch to right documentCtrl-PageDown (C)Switches to the next open document.
Switch to last used documentCtrl-TabSwitches to the previously shown document (if it's +still open). +Holding Ctrl (or another modifier if the keybinding +has been changed) will show a dialog, then repeated +presses of the keybinding will switch to the 2nd-last +used document, 3rd-last, etc. Also known as +Most-Recently-Used documents switching.
Move document leftAlt-PageUpChanges the current document with the left hand +one.
Move document rightAlt-PageDownChanges the current document with the right hand +one.
Move document first Moves the current document to the first position.
Move document last Moves the current document to the last position.
+
+
+

Document keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Replace tabs by space Replaces all tabs with the right amount of spaces.
Replace spaces by tabs Replaces all spaces with tab characters.
Toggle current fold Toggles the folding state of the current code block.
Fold all Folds all contractible code blocks.
Unfold all Unfolds all contracted code blocks.
Reload symbol listCtrl-Shift-RReloads the tag/symbol list.
Toggle Line wrapping Enables or disables wrapping of long lines.
Toggle Line breaking Enables or disables automatic breaking of long +lines at a configurable column.
Remove Markers Remove any markers on lines or words which +were set by using 'Mark All' in the +search dialog or by manually marking lines.
Remove Error Indicators Remove any error indicators in the +current document.
Remove Markers and Error Indicators Combines Remove Markers and +Remove Error Indicators.
+
+
+

Build keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
CompileF8Compiles the current file.
BuildF9Builds (compiles if necessary and links) the +current file.
Make allShift-F9Builds the current file with the Make tool.
Make custom targetCtrl-Shift-F9Builds the current file with the Make tool and a +given target.
Make objectShift-F8Compiles the current file with the Make tool.
Next error Jumps to the line with the next error from the +last build process.
Previous error Jumps to the line with the previous error from +the last build process.
RunF5Executes the current file in a terminal emulation.
Set Build Commands Opens the build commands dialog.
+
+
+

Tools keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
Show Color Chooser Opens the Color Chooser dialog.
+
+
+

Help keybindings

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionDefault shortcutDescription
HelpF1 (C)Opens the manual.
+
+
+
+
+
+

Configuration files

+
+

Warning

+

You must use UTF-8 encoding without BOM for configuration files.

+
+
+

Configuration file paths

+

Geany has default configuration files installed for the system and +also per-user configuration files.

+

The system files should not normally be edited because they will be +overwritten when upgrading Geany.

+

The user configuration directory can be overridden with the -c +switch, but this is not normally done. See Command line options.

+
+

Note

+

Any missing subdirectories in the user configuration directory +will be created when Geany starts.

+
+

You can check the paths Geany is using with Help->Debug Messages. +Near the top there should be 2 lines with something like:

+
+Geany-INFO: System data dir: /usr/share/geany
+Geany-INFO: User config dir: /home/username/.config/geany
+
+
+

Paths on Unix-like systems

+

The system path is $prefix/share/geany, where $prefix is the +path where Geany is installed (see Installation prefix).

+

The user configuration directory is normally: +/home/username/.config/geany

+
+
+

Paths on Windows

+

The system path is the data subfolder of the installation path +on Windows.

+

The user configuration directory might vary, but on Windows XP it's: +C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\geany

+
+
+
+

Tools menu items

+

There's a Configuration files submenu in the Tools menu that +contains items for some of the available user configuration files. +Clicking on one opens it in the editor for you to update. Geany will +reload the file after you have saved it.

+
+

Note

+

Other configuration files not shown here will need to be opened +manually, and will not be automatically reloaded when saved. +(see Reload Configuration below).

+
+

There's also a Reload Configuration item which can be used if you +updated one of the other configuration files, or modified or added +template files.

+

Reload Configuration is also necessary to update syntax highlighting colors.

+
+

Note

+

Syntax highlighting colors aren't updated in open documents after +saving filetypes.common as this may take a significant +amount of time.

+
+
+
+

Global configuration file

+

System administrators can add a global configuration file for Geany +which will be used when starting Geany and a user configuration file +does not exist.

+

The global configuration file is read from geany.conf in the +system configuration path - see Configuration file paths. It can +contain any settings which are found in the usual configuration file +created by Geany, but does not have to contain all settings.

+
+

Note

+

This feature is mainly intended for package maintainers or system +admins who want to set up Geany in a multi user environment and +set some sane default values for this environment. Usually users won't +need to do that.

+
+
+
+

Filetype definition files

+

All color definitions and other filetype specific settings are +stored in the filetype definition files. Those settings are colors +for syntax highlighting, general settings like comment characters or +word delimiter characters as well as compiler and linker settings.

+

See also Configuration file paths.

+
+

Filenames

+

Each filetype has a corresponding filetype definition file. The format +for built-in filetype Foo is:

+
+filetypes.foo
+
+

The extension is normally just the filetype name in lower case.

+

However there are some exceptions:

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
FiletypeExtension
C++cpp
C#cs
Makemakefile
Matlab/Octavematlab
+

There is also the special file filetypes.common.

+

For custom filetypes, the filename for Foo is different:

+
+filetypes.Foo.conf
+
+

See the link for details.

+
+
+

System files

+

The system-wide filetype configuration files can be found in the +system configuration path and are called filetypes.$ext, +where $ext is the name of the filetype. For every +filetype there is a corresponding definition file. There is one +exception: filetypes.common -- this file is for general settings, +which are not specific to a certain filetype.

+
+

Warning

+

It is not recommended that users edit the system-wide files, +because they will be overridden when Geany is updated.

+
+
+
+

User files

+

To change the settings, copy a file from the system configuration +path to the subdirectory filedefs in your user configuration +directory. Then you can edit the file and the changes will still be +available after an update of Geany.

+

Alternatively, you can create the file yourself and add only the +settings you want to change. All missing settings will be read from +the corresponding system configuration file.

+
+
+

Custom filetypes

+

At startup Geany looks for filetypes.*.conf files in the system and +user filetype paths, adding any filetypes found with the name matching +the '*' wildcard - e.g. filetypes.Bar.conf.

+

Custom filetypes are not as powerful as built-in filetypes, but +support for the following has been implemented:

+
    +

  • Recognizing and setting the filetype (after the user has manually edited +filetype_extensions.conf).

    +
    • +
  • +
    Reading filetype settings in the [settings] section, including:
    +
      +
    • Using an existing syntax highlighting lexer (lexer_filetype key).
      • +
    • Using an existing tag parser (tag_parser key).
      • +
    +
    +
    +
    • +

  • Build commands ([build-menu] section).

    +
    • +

  • Loading global tags files (sharing the tag_parser namespace).

    +
    • +
+

See Filetype configuration for details on each setting.

+
+

Creating a custom filetype from an existing filetype

+

Because most filetype settings will relate to the syntax +highlighting (e.g. styling, keywords, lexer_properties +sections), it is best to copy an existing filetype file that uses +the lexer you wish to use as the basis of a custom filetype, using +the correct filename extension format shown above, e.g.:

+
+cp filetypes.foo filetypes.Bar.conf
+
+

Then add the lexer_filetype=Foo setting (if not already present) +and add/adjust other settings.

+
+

Warning

+

The [styling] and [keywords] sections have key names +specific to each filetype/lexer. You must follow the same +names - in particular, some lexers only support one keyword +list, or none.

+
+
+
+
+

Filetype configuration

+

As well as the sections listed below, each filetype file can contain +a [build-menu] section as described in [build-menu] section.

+
+

[styling] section

+

In this section the colors for syntax highlighting are defined. The +manual format is:

+
    +
  • key=foreground_color;background_color;bold_flag;italic_flag
    • +
+

Colors have to be specified as RGB hex values prefixed by +0x. For example red is 0xff0000, blue is 0x0000ff. The values are +case-insensitive, but it is a good idea to use small letters. Bold +and italic are flags and should only be "true" or "false". If their +value is something other than "true" or "false", "false" is assumed.

+

You can omit fields to use the values from the style named "default".

+

E.g. key=0xff0000;;true

+

This makes the key style have red foreground text, default background +color text and bold emphasis.

+
+
Using a named style
+

The second format uses a named style name to reference a style +defined in filetypes.common.

+
    +
  • key=named_style
    • +
  • key2=named_style2,bold,italic
    • +
+

The bold and italic parts are optional, and if present are used to +toggle the bold or italic flags to the opposite of the named style's +flags. In contrast to style definition booleans, they are a literal +",bold,italic" and commas are used instead of semi-colons.

+

E.g. key=comment,italic

+

This makes the key style match the "comment" named style, but with +italic emphasis.

+

To define named styles, see the filetypes.common [named_styles] +Section.

+
+
+
Reading styles from another filetype
+

You can automatically copy all of the styles from another filetype +definition file by using the following syntax for the [styling] +group:

+
+[styling=Foo]
+
+

Where Foo is a filetype name. The corresponding [styling] +section from filetypes.foo will be read.

+

This is useful when the same lexer is being used for multiple +filetypes (e.g. C/C++/C#/Java/etc). For example, to make the C++ +styling the same as the C styling, you would put the following in +filetypes.cpp:

+
+[styling=C]
+
+
+
+
+

[keywords] section

+

This section contains keys for different keyword lists specific to +the filetype. Some filetypes do not support keywords, so adding a +new key will not work. You can only add or remove keywords to/from +an existing list.

+
+

Important

+

The keywords list must be in one line without line ending characters.

+
+
+
+

[lexer_properties] section

+

Here any special properties for the Scintilla lexer can be set in the +format key.name.field=some.value.

+

Properties Geany uses are listed in the system filetype files. To find +other properties you need Geany's source code:

+
+egrep -o 'GetProperty\w*\("([^"]+)"[^)]+\)' scintilla/Lex*.cxx
+
+
+
+

[settings] section

+
+
extension
+

This is the default file extension used when saving files, not +including the period character (.). The extension used should +match one of the patterns associated with that filetype (see +Filetype extensions).

+

Example: extension=cxx

+
+
wordchars
+

These characters define word boundaries when making selections +and searching using word matching options.

+

Example: (look at system filetypes.* files)

+
+

Note

+

This can be overridden by the whitespace_chars +filetypes.common setting.

+
+
+
comment_single
+

A character or string which is used to comment code. If you want to use +multiline comments only, don't set this but rather comment_open and +comment_close.

+

Single-line comments are used in priority over multiline comments to +comment a line, e.g. with the Comment/Uncomment line command.

+

Example: comment_single=//

+
+
comment_open
+

A character or string which is used to comment code. You need to also +set comment_close to really use multiline comments. If you want to use +single-line comments, prefer setting comment_single.

+

Multiline comments are used in priority over single-line comments to +comment a block, e.g. template comments.

+

Example: comment_open=/*

+
+
comment_close
+

If multiline comments are used, this is the character or string to +close the comment.

+

Example: comment_close=*/

+
+
comment_use_indent
+

Set this to false if a comment character or string should start at +column 0 of a line. If set to true it uses any indentation of the +line.

+

Note: Comment indentation

+

comment_use_indent=true would generate this if a line is +commented (e.g. with Ctrl-D):

+
+#command_example();
+
+

comment_use_indent=false would generate this if a line is +commented (e.g. with Ctrl-D):

+
+#   command_example();
+
+

Note: This setting only works for single line comments (like '//', +'#' or ';').

+

Example: comment_use_indent=true

+
+
context_action_cmd
+

A command which can be executed on the current word or the current +selection.

+

Example usage: Open the API documentation for the +current function call at the cursor position.

+

The command can +be set for every filetype or if not set, a global command will +be used. The command itself can be specified without the full +path, then it is searched in $PATH. But for security reasons, +it is recommended to specify the full path to the command. The +wildcard %s will be replaced by the current word at the cursor +position or by the current selection.

+

Hint: for PHP files the following could be quite useful: +context_action_cmd=firefox "http://www.php.net/%s"

+

Example: context_action_cmd=devhelp -s "%s"

+
+
tag_parser
+
The TagManager language name, e.g. "C". Usually the same as the +filetype name.
+
+
+
lexer_filetype
+

A filetype name to setup syntax highlighting from another filetype. +This must not be recursive, i.e. it should be a filetype name that +doesn't use the lexer_filetype key itself, e.g.:

+
+lexer_filetype=C
+#lexer_filetype=C++
+
+

The second line is wrong, because filetypes.cpp itself uses +lexer_filetype=C, which would be recursive.

+
+
symbol_list_sort_mode
+

What the default symbol list sort order should be.

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ValueMeaning
0Sort tags by name
1Sort tags by appearance (line number)
+
+
+
+
xml_indent_tags
+
If this setting is set to true, a new line after a line ending with an +unclosed XML/HTML tag will be automatically indented. This only applies +to filetypes for which the HTML or XML lexer is used. Such filetypes have +this setting in their system configuration files.
+
+
+
+

[indentation] section

+

This section allows definition of default indentation settings specific to +the file type, overriding the ones configured in the preferences. This can +be useful for file types requiring specific indentation settings (e.g. tabs +only for Makefile). These settings don't override auto-detection if activated.

+
+
width
+
The forced indentation width.
+
type
+

The forced indentation type.

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ValueIndentation type
0Spaces only
1Tabs only
2Mixed (tabs and spaces)
+
+
+
+
+

[build_settings] section

+

As of Geany 0.19 this section is supplemented by the [build-menu] section. +Values that are set in the [build-menu] section will override those in this section.

+
+
error_regex
+

This is a GNU-style extended regular expression to parse a filename +and line number from build output. If undefined, Geany will fall +back to its default error message parsing.

+

Only the first two matches will be read by Geany. Geany will look for +a match that is purely digits, and use this for the line number. The +remaining match will be used as the filename.

+

Example: error_regex=(.+):([0-9]+):[0-9]+

+

This will parse a message such as: +test.py:7:24: E202 whitespace before ']'

+
+
+

Build commands

+

If any build menu item settings have been configured in the Build Menu Commands +dialog or the Build tab of the project preferences dialog then these +settings are stored in the [build-menu] section and override the settings in +this section for that item.

+
+
compiler
+

This item specifies the command to compile source code files. But +it is also possible to use it with interpreted languages like Perl +or Python. With these filetypes you can use this option as a kind of +syntax parser, which sends output to the compiler message window.

+

You should quote the filename to also support filenames with +spaces. The following wildcards for filenames are available:

+
    +
  • %f -- complete filename without path
    • +
  • %e -- filename without path and without extension
    • +
+

Example: compiler=gcc -Wall -c "%f"

+
+
linker
+

This item specifies the command to link the file. If the file is not +already compiled, it will be compiled while linking. The -o option +is automatically added by Geany. This item works well with GNU gcc, +but may be problematic with other compilers (esp. with the linker).

+

Example: linker=gcc -Wall "%f"

+
+
run_cmd
+

Use this item to execute your file. It has to have been built +already. Use the %e wildcard to have only the name of the executable +(i.e. without extension) or use the %f wildcard if you need the +complete filename, e.g. for shell scripts.

+

Example: run_cmd="./%e"

+
+
+
+
+
+

Special file filetypes.common

+

There is a special filetype definition file called +filetypes.common. This file defines some general non-filetype-specific +settings.

+

You can open the user filetypes.common with the +Tools->Configuration Files->filetypes.common menu item. This adds +the default settings to the user file if the file doesn't exist. +Alternatively the file can be created manually, adding only the +settings you want to change. All missing settings will be read from +the system file.

+
+

Note

+

See the Filetype configuration section for how to define styles.

+
+
+

[named_styles] section

+

Named styles declared here can be used in the [styling] section of any +filetypes.* file.

+

For example:

+

In filetypes.common:

+
+[named_styles]
+foo=0xc00000;0xffffff;false;true
+bar=foo
+
+

In filetypes.c:

+
+[styling]
+comment=foo
+
+

This saves copying and pasting the whole style definition into several +different files.

+
+

Note

+

You can define aliases for named styles, as shown with the bar +entry in the above example, but they must be declared after the +original style.

+
+

This section can be overridden with color scheme files - see the Color +schemes menu.

+
+
+

[styling] section

+
+
default
+

This is the default style. It is used for styling files without a +filetype set.

+

Example: default=0x000000;0xffffff;false;false

+
+
selection
+

The style for coloring selected text. The format is:

+
    +
  • Foreground color
    • +
  • Background color
    • +
  • Use foreground color
    • +
  • Use background color
    • +
+

The colors are only set if the 3rd or 4th argument is true. When +the colors are not overridden, the default is a dark grey +background with syntax highlighted foreground text.

+

Example: selection=0xc0c0c0;0x00007F;true;true

+
+
brace_good
+

The style for brace highlighting when a matching brace was found.

+

Example: brace_good=0xff0000;0xFFFFFF;true;false

+
+
brace_bad
+

The style for brace highlighting when no matching brace was found.

+

Example: brace_bad=0x0000ff;0xFFFFFF;true;false

+
+
caret
+

The style for coloring the caret(the blinking cursor). Only first +and third argument is interpreted. +Set the third argument to true to change the caret into a block caret.

+

Example: caret=0x000000;0x0;false;false

+
+
caret_width
+

The width for the caret(the blinking cursor). Only the first +argument is interpreted. The width is specified in pixels with +a maximum of three pixel. Use the width 0 to make the caret +invisible.

+

Example: caret=1;0;false;false

+
+
current_line
+

The style for coloring the background of the current line. Only +the second and third arguments are interpreted. The second argument +is the background color. Use the third argument to enable or +disable background highlighting for the current line (has to be +true/false).

+

Example: current_line=0x0;0xe5e5e5;true;false

+
+
indent_guide
+

The style for coloring the indentation guides. Only the first and +second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: indent_guide=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;false;false

+
+
white_space
+

The style for coloring the white space if it is shown. The first +both arguments define the foreground and background colors, the +third argument sets whether to use the defined foreground color +or to use the color defined by each filetype for the white space. +The fourth argument defines whether to use the background color.

+

Example: white_space=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;true;true

+
+
margin_linenumber
+
Line number margin foreground and background colors.
+
+
+
margin_folding
+
Fold margin foreground and background colors.
+
fold_symbol_highlight
+
Highlight color of folding symbols.
+
folding_style
+

The style of folding icons. Only first and second arguments are +used.

+

Valid values for the first argument are:

+
    +
  • 1 -- for boxes
    • +
  • 2 -- for circles
    • +
  • 3 -- for arrows
    • +
  • 4 -- for +/-
    • +
+

Valid values for the second argument are:

+
    +
  • 0 -- for no lines
    • +
  • 1 -- for straight lines
    • +
  • 2 -- for curved lines
    • +
+

Default: folding_style=1;1;

+

Arrows: folding_style=3;0;

+
+
folding_horiz_line
+

Draw a thin horizontal line at the line where text is folded. Only +first argument is used.

+

Valid values for the first argument are:

+
    +
  • 0 -- disable, do not draw a line
    • +
  • 1 -- draw the line above folded text
    • +
  • 2 -- draw the line below folded text
    • +
+

Example: folding_horiz_line=0;0;false;false

+
+
line_wrap_visuals
+

First argument: drawing of visual flags to indicate a line is wrapped. +This is a bitmask of the values:

+
    +
  • 0 -- No visual flags
    • +
  • 1 -- Visual flag at end of subline of a wrapped line
    • +
  • 2 -- Visual flag at begin of subline of a wrapped line. Subline is +indented by at least 1 to make room for the flag.
    • +
+

Second argument: wether the visual flags to indicate a line is wrapped +are drawn near the border or near the text. This is a bitmask of the values:

+
    +
  • 0 -- Visual flags drawn near border
    • +
  • 1 -- Visual flag at end of subline drawn near text
    • +
  • 2 -- Visual flag at begin of subline drawn near text
    • +
+

Only first and second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: line_wrap_visuals=3;0;false;false

+
+
line_wrap_indent
+

First argument: sets the size of indentation of sublines for wrapped lines +in terms of the width of a space, only used when the second argument is 0.

+

Second argument: wrapped sublines can be indented to the position of their +first subline or one more indent level. Possible values:

+
    +
  • 0 - Wrapped sublines aligned to left of window plus amount set by the first argument
    • +
  • 1 - Wrapped sublines are aligned to first subline indent (use the same indentation)
    • +
  • 2 - Wrapped sublines are aligned to first subline indent plus one more level of indentation
    • +
+

Only first and second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: line_wrap_indent=0;1;false;false

+
+
translucency
+

Translucency for the current line (first argument) and the selection +(second argument). Values between 0 and 256 are accepted.

+

Note for Windows 95, 98 and ME users: +keep this value at 256 to disable translucency otherwise Geany might crash.

+

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: translucency=256;256;false;false

+
+
marker_line
+

The style for a highlighted line (e.g when using Goto line or goto tag). +The foreground color (first argument) is only used when the Markers margin +is enabled (see View menu).

+

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: marker_line=0x000000;0xffff00;false;false

+
+
marker_search
+

The style for a marked search results (when using "Mark" in Search dialogs). +The second argument sets the background color for the drawn rectangle.

+

Only the second argument is interpreted.

+

Example: marker_search=0x000000;0xb8f4b8;false;false

+
+
marker_mark
+

The style for a marked line (e.g when using the "Toggle Marker" keybinding +(Ctrl-M)). The foreground color (first argument) is only used +when the Markers margin is enabled (see View menu).

+

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: marker_mark=0x000000;0xb8f4b8;false;false

+
+
marker_translucency
+

Translucency for the line marker (first argument) and the search marker +(second argument). Values between 0 and 256 are accepted.

+

Note for Windows 95, 98 and ME users: +keep this value at 256 to disable translucency otherwise Geany might crash.

+

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: marker_translucency=256;256;false;false

+
+
line_height
+

Amount of space to be drawn above and below the line's baseline. +The first argument defines the amount of space to be drawn above the line, the second +argument defines the amount of space to be drawn below.

+

Only the first and second arguments are interpreted.

+

Example: line_height=0;0;false;false

+
+
calltips
+

The style for coloring the calltips. The first two arguments +define the foreground and background colors, the third and fourth +arguments set whether to use the defined colors.

+

Example: calltips=0xc0c0c0;0xffffff;false;false

+
+
+
+
+

[settings] section

+
+
whitespace_chars
+

Characters to treat as whitespace. These characters are ignored +when moving, selecting and deleting across word boundaries +(see Scintilla keyboard commands).

+

This should include space (\s) and tab (\t).

+

Example: whitespace_chars=\s\t!\"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\\]^`{|}~

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Filetype extensions

+

To change the default filetype extension used when saving a new file, +see Filetype definition files.

+

You can override the list of file extensions that Geany uses to detect +filetypes using the user filetype_extensions.conf file. Use the +Tools->Configuration Files->filetype_extensions.conf menu item. See +also Configuration file paths.

+

You should only list lines for filetype extensions that you want to +override in the user configuration file and remove or comment out +others. The patterns are listed after the = sign, using a +semi-colon separated list of patterns which should be matched for +that filetype.

+

For example, to override the filetype extensions for Make, the file +should look like:

+
+[Extensions]
+Make=Makefile*;*.mk;Buildfile;
+
+
+
+

Filetype group membership

+

Group membership is also stored in filetype_extensions.conf. This +file is used to store information Geany needs at startup, whereas the +separate filetype definition files hold information only needed when +a document with their filetype is used.

+

The format looks like:

+
+[Groups]
+Programming=C;C++;
+Script=Perl;Python;
+Markup=HTML;XML;
+Misc=Diff;Conf;
+None=None;
+
+

The key names cannot be configured.

+
+

Note

+

Group membership is only read at startup.

+
+
+
+

Preferences file format

+

The user preferences file geany.conf holds settings for all the items configured +in the preferences dialog. This file should not be edited while Geany is running +as the file will be overwritten when the preferences in Geany are changed or Geany +is quit.

+
+

[build-menu] section

+

The [build-menu] section contains the configuration of the build menu. +This section can occur in filetype, preferences and project files and +always has the format described here. Different menu items are loaded +from different files, see the table in the Build Menu Configuration +section for details. All the settings can be configured from the dialogs +except the execute command in filetype files and filetype definitions in +the project file, so these are the only ones which need hand editing.

+

The build-menu section stores one entry for each setting for each menu item that +is configured. The keys for these settings have the format:

+
+GG_NN_FF
+

where:

+
    +
  • GG - is the menu item group,
      +
    • FT for filetype
      • +
    • NF for independent (non-filetype)
      • +
    • EX for execute
      • +
    +
    • +
  • NN - is a two decimal digit number of the item within the group, +starting at 00
    • +
  • FF - is the field,
      +
    • LB for label
      • +
    • CM for command
      • +
    • WD for working directory
      • +
    +
    • +
+
+
+
+

Project file format

+

The project file contains project related settings and possibly a +record of the current session files.

+
+

[build-menu] additions

+

The project file also can have extra fields in the [build-menu] section +in addition to those listed in [build-menu] section above.

+

When filetype menu items are configured for the project they are stored +in the project file.

+

The filetypes entry is a list of the filetypes which exist in the +project file.

+

For each filetype the entries for that filetype have the format defined in +[build-menu] section but the key is prefixed by the name of the filetype +as it appears in the filetypes entry, eg the entry for the label of +filetype menu item 0 for the C filetype would be

+
+CFT_00_LB=Label
+
+
+
+

Templates

+

Geany supports the following templates:

+
    +
  • ChangeLog entry
    • +
  • File header
    • +
  • Function description
    • +
  • Short GPL notice
    • +
  • Short BSD notice
    • +
  • File templates
    • +
+

To use these templates, just open the Edit menu or open the popup menu +by right-clicking in the editor widget, and choose "Insert Comments" +and insert templates as you want.

+

Some templates (like File header or ChangeLog entry) will always be +inserted at the top of the file.

+

To insert a function description, the cursor must be inside +of the function, so that the function name can be determined +automatically. The description will be positioned correctly one line +above the function, just check it out. If the cursor is not inside +of a function or the function name cannot be determined, the inserted +function description won't contain the correct function name but "unknown" +instead.

+
+

Note

+

Geany automatically reloads template information when it notices you +save a file in the user's template configuration directory. You can +also force this by selecting Tools->Reload Configuration.

+
+
+

Template meta data

+

Meta data can be used with all templates, but by default user set +meta data is only used for the ChangeLog and File header templates.

+

In the configuration dialog you can find a tab "Templates" (see +Template preferences). You can define the default values +which will be inserted in the templates.

+
+
+

File templates

+

File templates are templates used as the basis of a new file. To +use them, choose the New (with Template) menu item from the File +menu.

+

By default, file templates are installed for some filetypes. Custom +file templates can be added by creating the appropriate template file. You can +also edit the default file templates.

+

The file's contents are just the text to place in the document, with +optional template wildcards like {fileheader}. The fileheader +wildcard can be placed anywhere, but it's usually put on the first +line of the file, followed by a blank line.

+
+

Adding file templates

+

File templates are read from templates/files under the +Configuration file paths.

+

The filetype to use is detected from the template file's extension, if +any. For example, creating a file module.c would add a menu item +which created a new document with the filetype set to 'C'.

+

The template file is read from disk when the corresponding menu item is +clicked.

+
+
+
+

Customizing templates

+

Each template can be customized to your needs. The templates are +stored in the ~/.config/geany/templates/ directory (see the section called +Command line options for further information about the configuration +directory). Just open the desired template with an editor (ideally, +Geany ;-) ) and edit the template to your needs. There are some +wildcards which will be automatically replaced by Geany at startup.

+
+

Template wildcards

+

All wildcards must be enclosed by "{" and "}", e.g. {date}.

+

Wildcards for character escaping

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
ob{ Opening Brace (used to prevent other +wildcards being expanded).file templates, file header, snippets.
cb} Closing Brace.file templates, file header, snippets.
pc% Percent (used to escape e.g. %block% in +snippets).snippets.
+

Global wildcards

+

These are configurable, see Template preferences.

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
developerThe name of the developer.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
initialThe developer's initials, e.g. "ET" for +Enrico Tröger or "JFD" for John Foobar Doe.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
mailThe email address of the developer.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
companyThe company the developer is working for.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
versionThe initial version of a new file.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
+

Date & time wildcards

+

The format for these wildcards can be changed in the preferences +dialog, see Template preferences. You can use any conversion +specifiers which can be used with the ANSI C strftime function. +For details please see http://man.cx/strftime.

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
yearThe current year. Default format is: YYYY.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
dateThe current date. Default format: +YYYY-MM-DD.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
datetimeThe current date and time. Default format: +DD.MM.YYYY HH:mm:ss ZZZZ.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
+

Dynamic wildcards

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
untitledThe string "untitled" (this will be +translated to your locale), used in +file templates.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
geanyversionThe actual Geany version, e.g. +"Geany 1.22".file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
filenameThe filename of the current file. +For new files, it's only replaced when +first saving if found on the first 3 lines +of the file.file header, snippets, file +templates.
projectThe current project's name, if any.file header, snippets, file templates.
descriptionThe current project's description, if any.file header, snippets, file templates.
functionnameThe function name of the function at the +cursor position. This wildcard will only be +replaced in the function description +template.function description.
command:pathExecutes the specified command and replace +the wildcard with the command's standard +output. See Special {command:} wildcard +for details.file templates, file header, +function description, ChangeLog entry, +bsd, gpl, snippets.
+

Template insertion wildcards

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
WildcardDescriptionAvailable in
gplThis wildcard inserts a short GPL notice.file header.
bsdThis wildcard inserts a BSD licence notice.file header.
fileheaderThe file header template. This wildcard +will only be replaced in file templates.snippets, file templates.
+
+
Special {command:} wildcard
+

The {command:} wildcard is a special one because it can execute +a specified command and put the command's output (stdout) into +the template.

+

Example:

+
+{command:uname -a}
+
+

will result in:

+
+Linux localhost 2.6.9-023stab046.2-smp #1 SMP Mon Dec 10 15:04:55 MSK 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux
+
+

Using this wildcard you can insert nearly any arbitrary text into the +template.

+

In the environment of the executed command the variables +GEANY_FILENAME, GEANY_FILETYPE and GEANY_FUNCNAME are set. +The value of these variables is filled in only if Geany knows about it. +For example, GEANY_FUNCNAME is only filled within the function +description template. However, these variables are always set, +just maybe with an empty value. +You can easily access them e.g. within an executed shell script using:

+
+$GEANY_FILENAME
+
+
+

Note

+

If the specified command could not be found or not executed, the wildcard is substituted +by an empty string. In such cases, you can find the occurred error message on Geany's +standard error and in the Help->Debug Messages dialog.

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Customizing the toolbar

+

You can add, remove and reorder the elements in the toolbar by using +the toolbar editor, or by manually editing the configuration file +ui_toolbar.xml.

+

The toolbar editor can be opened from the preferences editor on the Toolbar tab or +by right-clicking on the toolbar itself and choosing it from the menu.

+
+

Manually editing the toolbar layout

+

To override the system-wide configuration file, copy it to your user +configuration directory (see Configuration file paths).

+

For example:

+
+% cp /usr/local/share/geany/ui_toolbar.xml /home/username/.config/geany/
+
+

Then edit it and add any of the available elements listed in the file or remove +any of the existing elements. Of course, you can also reorder the elements as +you wish and add or remove additional separators. +This file must be valid XML, otherwise the global toolbar UI definition +will be used instead.

+

Your changes are applied once you save the file.

+
+

Note

+
    +
  1. You cannot add new actions which are not listed below.
    2. +
  2. Everything you add or change must be inside the /ui/toolbar/ path.
    3. +
+
+
+
+

Available toolbar elements

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Element nameDescription
NewCreate a new file
OpenOpen an existing file
SaveSave the current file
SaveAllSave all open files
ReloadReload the current file from disk
CloseClose the current file
CloseAllClose all open files
PrintPrint the current file
CutCut the current selection
CopyCopy the current selection
PastePaste the contents of the clipboard
DeleteDelete the current selection
UndoUndo the last modification
RedoRedo the last modification
NavBackNavigate back a location
NavForNavigate forward a location
CompileCompile the current file
BuildBuild the current file, includes a submenu for Make commands. Geany +remembers the last chosen action from the submenu and uses this as default +action when the button itself is clicked.
RunRun or view the current file
ColorOpen a color chooser dialog, to interactively pick colors from a palette
ZoomInZoom in the text
ZoomOutZoom out the text
UnIndentDecrease indentation
IndentIncrease indentation
ReplaceReplace text in the current document
SearchEntryThe search field belonging to the 'Search' element (can be used alone)
SearchFind the entered text in the current file (only useful if you also +use 'SearchEntry')
GotoEntryThe goto field belonging to the 'Goto' element (can be used alone)
GotoJump to the entered line number (only useful if you also use 'GotoEntry')
PreferencesShow the preferences dialog
QuitQuit Geany
+
+
+
+
+

Plugin documentation

+
+

HTML Characters

+

The HTML Characters plugin helps when working with special +characters in XML/HTML, e.g. German Umlauts ü and ä.

+
+

Insert entity dialog

+

When the plugin is enabled, you can insert special character +entities using Tools->Insert Special HTML Characters.

+

This opens up a dialog where you can find a huge amount of special +characters sorted by category that you might like to use inside your +document. You can expand and collapse the categories by clicking on +the little arrow on the left hand side. Once you have found the +desired character click on it and choose "Insert". This will insert +the entity for the character at the current cursor position. You +might also like to double click the chosen entity instead.

+
+
+

Replace special chars by its entity

+

To help make a XML/HTML document valid the plugin supports +replacement of special chars known by the plugin. Both bulk +replacement and immediate replacement during typing are supported.

+
+
A few characters will not be replaced. These are
+
    +
  • "
    • +
  • &
    • +
  • <
    • +
  • >
    • +
  • (&nbsp;)
    • +
+
+
+
+

At typing time

+

You can activate/deactivate this feature using the Tools->HTML +Replacement->Auto-replace Special Characters menu item. If it's +activated, all special characters (beside the given exceptions from +above) known by the plugin will be replaced by their entities.

+

You could also set a keybinding for the plugin to toggle the status +of this feature.

+
+
+

Bulk replacement

+

After inserting a huge amount of text, e.g. by using copy & paste, the +plugin allows bulk replacement of all known characters (beside the +mentioned exceptions). You can find the function under the same +menu at Tools->HTML Replacement->Replace Characters in Selection, or +configure a keybinding for the plugin.

+
+
+
+
+

Save Actions

+
+

Instant Save

+

This plugin sets on every new file (File->New or File->New (with template)) +a randomly chosen filename and set its filetype appropriate to the used template +or when no template was used, to a configurable default filetype. +This enables you to quickly compile, build and/or run the new file without the +need to give it an explicit filename using the Save As dialog. This might be +useful when you often create new files just for testing some code or something +similar.

+
+
+

Backup Copy

+

This plugin creates a backup copy of the current file in Geany when it is +saved. You can specify the directory where the backup copy is saved and +you can configure the automatically added extension in the configure dialog +in Geany's plugin manager.

+

After the plugin was loaded in Geany's plugin manager, every file is +copied into the configured backup directory when the file is saved in Geany.

+
+
+
+
+

Contributing to this document

+

This document (geany.txt) is written in reStructuredText +(or "reST"). The source file for it is located in Geany's doc +subdirectory. If you intend on making changes, you should grab the +source right from SVN to make sure you've got the newest version. After +editing the file, to build the HTML document to see how your changes +look, run "make doc" in the subdirectory doc of Geany's source +directory. This regenerates the geany.html file. To generate a PDF +file, use the command "make pdf" which should generate a file called +geany-1.22.pdf.

+

After you are happy with your changes, create a patch:

+
+% svn diff geany.txt > foo.patch
+
+

and then submit that file to the mailing list for review.

+

Note, you will need the Python docutils software package installed +to build the docs. The package is named python-docutils on Debian +and Fedora systems.

+
+
+

Scintilla keyboard commands

+

Copyright © 1998, 2006 Neil Hodgson <neilh(at)scintilla(dot)org>

+

This appendix is distributed under the terms of the License for +Scintilla and SciTE. A copy of this license can be found in the file +scintilla/License.txt included with the source code of this +program and in the appendix of this document. See License for +Scintilla and SciTE.

+

20 June 2006

+
+

Keyboard commands

+

Keyboard commands for Scintilla mostly follow common Windows and GTK+ +conventions. All move keys (arrows, page up/down, home and end) +allows to extend or reduce the stream selection when holding the +Shift key, and the rectangular selection when holding the Shift and +Ctrl keys. Some keys may not be available with some national keyboards +or because they are taken by the system such as by a window manager +or GTK. Keyboard equivalents of menu commands are listed in the +menus. Some less common commands with no menu equivalent are:

+ ++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ActionShortcut key
Magnify text size.Ctrl-Keypad+
Reduce text size.Ctrl-Keypad-
Restore text size to normal.Ctrl-Keypad/
Indent block.Tab
Dedent block.Shift-Tab
Delete to start of word.Ctrl-BackSpace
Delete to end of word.Ctrl-Delete
Delete to start of line.Ctrl-Shift-BackSpace
Go to start of document.Ctrl-Home
Extend selection to start of document.Ctrl-Shift-Home
Go to start of display line.Alt-Home
Extend selection to start of display line.Alt-Shift-Home
Go to end of document.Ctrl-End
Extend selection to end of document.Ctrl-Shift-End
Extend selection to end of display line.Alt-Shift-End
Previous paragraph. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Up
Next paragraph. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Down
Previous word. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Left
Next word. Shift extends selection.Ctrl-Right
+
+
+
+

Tips and tricks

+
+

Document notebook

+
    +
  • Double-click on empty space in the notebook tab bar to open a +new document.
    • +
  • Middle-click on a document's notebook tab to close the document.
    • +
  • Hold Ctrl and click on any notebook tab to switch to the last used +document.
    • +
  • Double-click on a document's notebook tab to toggle all additional +widgets (to show them again use the View menu or the keyboard +shortcut). The interface pref must be enabled for this to work.
    • +
+
+
+

Editor

+
    +
  • Alt-scroll wheel moves up/down a page.
    • +
  • Ctrl-scroll wheel zooms in/out.
    • +
  • Shift-scroll wheel scrolls 8 characters right/left.
    • +
  • Ctrl-click on a word in a document to perform Go to Tag Definition.
    • +
  • Ctrl-click on a bracket/brace to perform Go to Matching Brace.
    • +
+
+
+

Interface

+
    +
  • Double-click on a symbol-list group to expand or compact it.
    • +
+
+ +
+
+

Compile-time options

+

There are some options which can only be changed at compile time, +and some options which are used as the default for configurable +options. To change these options, edit the appropriate source file +in the src subdirectory. Look for a block of lines starting with +#define GEANY_*. Any definitions which are not listed here should +not be changed.

+
+

Note

+

Most users should not need to change these options.

+
+
+

src/geany.h

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_STRING_UNTITLEDA string used as the default name for new +files. Be aware that the string can be +translated, so change it only if you know +what you are doing.untitled
GEANY_WINDOW_MINIMAL_WIDTHThe minimal width of the main window.620
GEANY_WINDOW_MINIMAL_HEIGHTThe minimal height of the main window.440
GEANY_WINDOW_DEFAULT_WIDTHThe default width of the main window at the +first start.900
GEANY_WINDOW_DEFAULT_HEIGHTThe default height of the main window at the +first start.600
Windows specific  
GEANY_USE_WIN32_DIALOGSet this to 1 if you want to use the default +Windows file open and save dialogs instead +GTK's file open and save dialogs. The +default Windows file dialogs are missing +some nice features like choosing a filetype +or an encoding. Do not touch this setting +when building on a non-Win32 system.0
+
+
+

project.h

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_PROJECT_EXTThe default filename extension for Geany +project files. It is used when creating new +projects and as filter mask for the project +open dialog.geany
+
+
+

filetypes.c

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_FILETYPE_SEARCH_LINESThe number of lines to search for the +filetype with the extract filetype regex.2
+
+
+

editor.h

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_WORDCHARSThese characters define word boundaries when +making selections and searching using word +matching options.a string with: +a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and +underscore.
+
+
+

keyfile.c

+

These are default settings that can be overridden in the Preferences dialog.

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_MIN_SYMBOLLIST_CHARSHow many characters you need to type to +trigger the autocompletion list.4
GEANY_DISK_CHECK_TIMEOUTTime in seconds between checking a file for +external changes.30
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_MAKEThe make tool. This can also include a path."make"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_TERMINALA terminal emulator. It has to accept the +command line option "-e". This can also +include a path."xterm"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_BROWSERA web browser. This can also include a path."firefox"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_PRINTCMDA printing tool. It should be able to accept +and process plain text files. This can also +include a path."lpr"
GEANY_DEFAULT_TOOLS_GREPA grep tool. It should be compatible with +GNU grep. This can also include a path."grep"
GEANY_DEFAULT_MRU_LENGTHThe length of the "Recent files" list.10
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_SYMBOL_LISTThe font used in sidebar to show symbols and +open files."Sans 9"
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_MSG_WINDOWThe font used in the messages window."Sans 9"
GEANY_DEFAULT_FONT_EDITORThe font used in the editor window."Monospace 10"
GEANY_TOGGLE_MARKA string which is used to mark a toggled +comment."~ "
GEANY_MAX_AUTOCOMPLETE_WORDSHow many autocompletion suggestions should +Geany provide.30
GEANY_DEFAULT_FILETYPE_REGEXThe default regex to extract filetypes from +files.See below.
+

The GEANY_DEFAULT_FILETYPE_REGEX default value is -\*-\s*([^\s]+)\s*-\*- which finds Emacs filetypes.

+
+
+

build.c

+ +++++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
OptionDescriptionDefault
GEANY_BUILD_ERR_HIGHLIGHT_MAXAmount of build error indicators to +be shown in the editor window. +This affects the special coloring +when Geany detects a compiler output line as +an error message and then highlights the +corresponding line in the source code. +Usually only the first few messages are +interesting because following errors are +just after-effects. +All errors in the Compiler window are parsed +and unaffected by this value.50
PRINTBUILDCMDSEvery time a build menu item priority +calculation is run, print the state of the +menu item table in the form of the table +in Build Menu Configuration. May be +useful to debug configuration file +overloading. Warning produces a lot of +output. Can also be enabled/disabled by the +debugger by setting printbuildcmds to 1/0 +overriding the compile setting.FALSE
+
+
+
+

GNU General Public License

+
+            GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
+               Version 2, June 1991
+
+ Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+    51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
+ of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
+
+                Preamble
+
+  The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
+freedom to share and change it.  By contrast, the GNU General Public
+License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
+software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.  This
+General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
+Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
+using it.  (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
+the GNU Library General Public License instead.)  You can apply it to
+your programs, too.
+
+  When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
+price.  Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
+have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
+this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
+if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
+in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
+
+  To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
+anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
+These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
+distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.
+
+  For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
+gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
+you have.  You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
+source code.  And you must show them these terms so they know their
+rights.
+
+  We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and
+(2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
+distribute and/or modify the software.
+
+  Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
+that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
+software.  If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we
+want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so
+that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original
+authors' reputations.
+
+  Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
+patents.  We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
+program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the
+program proprietary.  To prevent this, we have made it clear that any
+patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.
+
+  The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
+modification follow.
+
+            GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
+   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
+
+  0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains
+a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
+under the terms of this General Public License.  The "Program", below,
+refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program"
+means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:
+that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,
+either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another
+language.  (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in
+the term "modification".)  Each licensee is addressed as "you".
+
+Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
+covered by this License; they are outside its scope.  The act of
+running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program
+is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the
+Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).
+Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
+
+  1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
+source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
+conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
+copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
+notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty;
+and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License
+along with the Program.
+
+You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and
+you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
+
+  2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion
+of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and
+distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
+above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
+
+    a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
+    stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
+
+    b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in
+    whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
+    part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
+    parties under the terms of this License.
+
+    c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
+    when run, you must cause it, when started running for such
+    interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an
+    announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a
+    notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide
+    a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under
+    these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this
+    License.  (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but
+    does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on
+    the Program is not required to print an announcement.)
+
+These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole.  If
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+distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
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+
+Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
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+
+In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program
+with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of
+a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
+the scope of this License.
+
+  3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
+under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
+Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
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+    a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
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+  4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
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+This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
+be a consequence of the rest of this License.
+
+  8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
+certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
+original copyright holder who places the Program under this License
+may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding
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+countries not thus excluded.  In such case, this License incorporates
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+
+  9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions
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+
+                NO WARRANTY
+
+  11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
+FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.  EXCEPT WHEN
+OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
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+TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD THE
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+REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
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+WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
+REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,
+INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
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+YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
+PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+             END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
+
+        How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
+
+  If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
+possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
+free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.
+
+  To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest
+to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
+convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least
+the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.
+
+    <one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does.>
+    Copyright (C) <year>  <name of author>
+
+    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+    Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301 USA
+
+
+Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
+
+If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like this
+when it starts in an interactive mode:
+
+    Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) year  name of author
+    Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type `show w'.
+    This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
+    under certain conditions; type `show c' for details.
+
+The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the appropriate
+parts of the General Public License.  Of course, the commands you use may
+be called something other than `show w' and `show c'; they could even be
+mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever suits your program.
+
+You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your
+school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program, if
+necessary.  Here is a sample; alter the names:
+
+  Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the program
+  `Gnomovision' (which makes passes at compilers) written by James Hacker.
+
+  <signature of Ty Coon>, 1 April 1989
+  Ty Coon, President of Vice
+
+This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into
+proprietary programs.  If your program is a subroutine library, you may
+consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the
+library.  If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Library General
+Public License instead of this License.
+
+
+
+

License for Scintilla and SciTE

+

Copyright 1998-2003 by Neil Hodgson <neilh(at)scintilla(dot)org>

+

All Rights Reserved

+

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and +its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, +provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and +that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in +supporting documentation.

+

NEIL HODGSON DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, +INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN +NO EVENT SHALL NEIL HODGSON BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR +CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS +OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE +OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE +USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

+
+
+
+
+View document source. +Generated on: 2011-11-17 02:56 UTC. +Generated by Docutils from reStructuredText source. + +
+ + diff --git a/doc/geany.txt b/doc/geany.txt index 85a62806..255c5f2a 100644 --- a/doc/geany.txt +++ b/doc/geany.txt @@ -2512,6 +2512,15 @@ send_selection_unsafe By default, Geany strips any trailing f If, for whatever reasons, you really want it to be executed directly, set this option to true. +send_cmd_prefix String with which prefix the commands sent Empty immediately + to the shell. This may be used to tell + some shells (BASH with ``HISTCONTROL`` set + to ``ignorespace``, ZSH with + ``HIST_IGNORE_SPACE`` enabled, etc.) from + putting these commands in their history by + setting this to a space. Note that leading + spaces must be escaped using `\s` in the + configuration file. **File related** use_atomic_file_saving Defines the mode how Geany saves files to false immediately disk. If disabled, Geany directly writes diff --git a/src/keyfile.c b/src/keyfile.c index ffb0fbc7..356de05e 100644 --- a/src/keyfile.c +++ b/src/keyfile.c @@ -496,6 +496,8 @@ static void save_dialog_prefs(GKeyFile *config) if (!g_key_file_has_key(config, "VTE", "send_selection_unsafe", NULL)) /* hidden */ g_key_file_set_boolean(config, "VTE", "send_selection_unsafe", vc->send_selection_unsafe); + if (!g_key_file_has_key(config, "VTE", "send_cmd_prefix", NULL)) /* hidden */ + g_key_file_set_string(config, "VTE", "send_cmd_prefix", vc->send_cmd_prefix); g_key_file_set_string(config, "VTE", "font", vc->font); g_key_file_set_boolean(config, "VTE", "scroll_on_key", vc->scroll_on_key); g_key_file_set_boolean(config, "VTE", "scroll_on_out", vc->scroll_on_out); @@ -826,6 +828,7 @@ static void load_dialog_prefs(GKeyFile *config) vc->enable_bash_keys = utils_get_setting_boolean(config, "VTE", "enable_bash_keys", TRUE); vc->ignore_menu_bar_accel = utils_get_setting_boolean(config, "VTE", "ignore_menu_bar_accel", FALSE); vc->follow_path = utils_get_setting_boolean(config, "VTE", "follow_path", FALSE); + vc->send_cmd_prefix = utils_get_setting_string(config, "VTE", "send_cmd_prefix", ""); vc->run_in_vte = utils_get_setting_boolean(config, "VTE", "run_in_vte", FALSE); vc->skip_run_script = utils_get_setting_boolean(config, "VTE", "skip_run_script", FALSE); vc->cursor_blinks = utils_get_setting_boolean(config, "VTE", "cursor_blinks", FALSE); diff --git a/src/vte.c b/src/vte.c index e357b039..81dd7ca5 100644 --- a/src/vte.c +++ b/src/vte.c @@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ void vte_close(void) g_free(vc->font); g_free(vc->colour_back); g_free(vc->colour_fore); + g_free(vc->send_cmd_prefix); g_free(vc); g_free(gtk_menu_key_accel); /* Don't unload the module explicitly because it causes a segfault on FreeBSD. The segfault @@ -660,7 +661,7 @@ void vte_cwd(const gchar *filename, gboolean force) { /* use g_shell_quote to avoid problems with spaces, '!' or something else in path */ gchar *quoted_path = g_shell_quote(path); - gchar *cmd = g_strconcat("cd ", quoted_path, "\n", NULL); + gchar *cmd = g_strconcat(vc->send_cmd_prefix, "cd ", quoted_path, "\n", NULL); if (! vte_send_cmd(cmd)) { ui_set_statusbar(FALSE, diff --git a/src/vte.h b/src/vte.h index 44b00d6b..fbd73faf 100644 --- a/src/vte.h +++ b/src/vte.h @@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ typedef struct gchar *emulation; gchar *shell; gchar *font; + gchar *send_cmd_prefix; GdkColor *colour_fore; GdkColor *colour_back; } VteConfig;