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Projects Page

The Projects page of the Workbench displays every program element in the workspace, grouped by project. Here, you can organize, add, edit, import, create, and delete program elements.

All Projects Pane
The All Projects pane contains an expandable tree view of all program elements, grouped by project.  To expand a project, package, or type to view its contents, click the plus symbol plus.gif (837 bytes).   Each of the program elements has a pop-up menu, which contains actions you can perform on it.  These options are also available from the Selected menu.

The All Projects pane title bar contains the Bookmark button addBookmarkUp.gif (888 bytes). Click it to set a bookmark on the currently-selected program element.  A bookmark number is then added to the title bar, and you can return to the program element at any time by simply clicking on the number.  If you hold your mouse pointer over the number, a pop-up label shows you the name of the bookmarked element.

Comment or Source Pane
When you select a project or package in the All Projects pane, the second pane shows the comment text.  This text is not Java code, and you can edit it as regular flat text.

When you select a class or method in the All Projects pane, the second pane shows the source code, if available.  If a class has been imported from a Java bytecode file (.class), its source code is not shown; if it is in one of the standard class libraries provided in the VisualAge for Java product, its source code is shown, but is not editable.  These bytecode classes are indicated by the bytecode symbol bytecode.gif (892 bytes).

In the Source pane, you can compose Java code normally.  To save the code, select Save from the Edit menu, or from the Source pane's pop-up menu.  Use code assist (type Ctrl+Spacebar) to get help with class, method, and field names.  When you save, the source is automatically compiled.  Compiler errors are brought to your attention.

Tool Bar Buttons

run.gif (1013 bytes) Run Runs an applet or application. If a project or package is selected, you can choose from a list of programs in the project or package (or if there is only one, it runs).   If a method in a runnable class is selected, the class is run.
debugger.gif (1043 bytes) Open Debugger Opens the Debugger browser.
search.gif (1033 bytes) Search Launches the program element search.
newproject.gif (1033 bytes) Add a Project Starts the Add Project SmartGuide, for creating new projects or adding existing ones from the repository.
newpackage.gif (1031 bytes) Add a Package Starts the Add Package SmartGuide, for creating new packages or adding existing ones from the repository.
newclass.gif (1035 bytes) Create a Class Starts the Add Class SmartGuide, for creating new classes or adding existing ones from the repository.
newapplet.gif (1034 bytes) Create an Applet Starts the Add Applet SmartGuide, for creating new applets or applications.
newinterface.gif (1024 bytes) Create an Interface Starts the Add Interface SmartGuide, for creating new interfaces or adding existing ones from the repository.
newmethod.gif (1035 bytes) Create a Method Starts the Add Method SmartGuide, for creating new methods or adding existing ones from the repository.
newfield.gif (1029 bytes) Create a Field Starts the Add Field SmartGuide, for creating new fields.
showedname.gif (1011 bytes) Show Edition Names Click to the down position to show edition names beside program elements in the All Projects pane.

Menus
The Projects page has the following menus:

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Bookmarking Program Elements
Browsing the Workspace
Finding and Fixing Problems
Running an Applet from the IDE
Running an Application from the IDE
Saving Changes to Code
Setting IDE Options
Writing and Formatting Source Code

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Code Assist
VisualAge for Java IDE Symbols