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Editing Files

As you develop your software, you spend a lot of time editing files. To be efficient, you want to be able to work with familiar keystrokes and have access to features such as code completion, automatic indenting, syntax coloring, and so on. You also want to open files quickly, find API documentation, enter API declarations, move between header and implementation files, and work with as many or as few windows as you need.

Xcode handles these requirements through an advanced editor with many customizable features:

• You can, in Xcode’s Preferences window:

  • View and modify settings for syntax coloring, indenting, and source code formatting.

  • Turn on code completion, so the editor suggests context-sensitive function names, method names, and arguments as you type.

  • Customize keystroke equivalents for menu items and editing tasks to use the keystrokes you are most familiar with; Xcode provides predefined sets that are compatible with BBEdit, CodeWarrior, and even MPW (Macintosh Programmer’s Workshop, the Apple development environment for Mac OS 9).

  • Choose an external editor for any file type.

• You can edit in one or more standalone editor windows, or in an editor pane in the project window.

• You can use many Xcode shortcuts, such as Command–double-click to go from a selected function name to its definition.

• You can use features described in previous sections to quickly find a desired file, symbol, or text string.

For more information on Xcode’s editor, see “The Xcode Editor.” To learn more about code completion, see “Code Completion.” To learn how to use an external editor with Xcode, see “Using an External Editor.”

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