Navigating
VisualAge for Java gives you many different ways to look at your code. This section
gives you a brief overview of the primary windows in VisualAge for Java and tells you how
to move from one window to another.
Every window in VisualAge for Java has a Window menu. You can move
between windows by selecting the window you want from this menu.
If the window you select is already open, it becomes the active window. If the window
you want is not open, it is opened and becomes the active window. If you select Switch
To in the Window menu, you can select from any of the windows
that are currently open.
Recently-used windows are stored in a list in the File menu. If you
want to open a window that you recently closed, select it from the list in the File
menu.
In addition to being opened explicitly by you, some windows are also opened by
VisualAge for Java as you perform your development tasks. For example, suppose you run a
program by selecting a class in the Workbench window and selecting Run
from the Selected menu. If there is an active breakpoint in your program, the Debugger
window opens when the breakpoint is reached. To return to the Workbench window, select Workbench
from the Window menu in the Debugger window.
Here is a summary of the windows that you can open from the Window
menu:
- Scrapbook - gives you a place to try out code. You can enter and run code fragments
without making them a part of any package, project, or class.

- Console - displays standard out. It also gives you an area for entering input to
standard in. If more than one thread is waiting for input from standard in, you can select
which thread gets the input.

- Log - displays messages and warnings from VisualAge for Java.

- Debugger - displays running threads and the contents of their runtime stacks. In the
Debugger you can suspend and resume execution of threads, inspect and modify variable
values, and set, remove, and configure breakpoints. The Window menu lets
you open the Debugger browser to the Debug page or the Breakpoints page, or open the
dialogs for setting breakpoints on external class methods and caught exceptions. See Debugging for more details.

- Repository Explorer - displays all of the editions of program elements in the
repository. See Exploring the Repository for more
details.

In addition to these windows, you can do the following actions from the Window menu.
- Clone - opens a duplicate of the current window. You can then browse the two windows
independently. Changes made to program elements are reflected in both windows.
- Lock - locks open the current window. If you try to close it, a message box informs you
that the window is locked. You must unlock the window before you can close it.
- Maximize - resizes the current window so that it covers the entire screen.
- Orientation - changes the general layout of the panes in the window. The images in this
information, for example, show the horizontal orientation, which, in the IDE, you can
optionally change to a vertical orientation.
- Show Edition Names - enables or disables edition name labels for program elements.
- Workbench - opens (or brings into focus) the Workbench browser.
