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8  Program options

This section is a small description from the program Options dialog (Figure 21). There is a lot of stuff you can configure, this makes the options dialog appearing huge and confusing, but we tried to make it as intuitive as possible, and we had a look to make the initial settings usable, so you probably don't need to adjust there very much at the beginning. Generally use the tree on the left side of the dialog to select the section (page) you want to edit. Each node in the tree provides a page with options to configure, the parent nodes as well.

Figure 21: Options Dialog
It is possible to export all settings written to the registry to a registry file (*.reg), to do so use the "Backup" button of the dialog. You can import such files with regedit, or you can just doubleclick on such a file to import it into the registry. The "Backup" button starts regedit, which is capable to export registry keys to a file, with the command line regedit /e "<filename>" "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Ascher\syn", before you're prompted to choose a filename for the REG file. This can be useful when you want to uninstall syn (the uninstaller deletes all registry keys), but keep the settings for a possible later installation, or when you plan to reinstall Windows, or upgrade to another Windows version.

8.1  General

MRU files list:
Enter here the count of files in the recent file list.
Show full path:
If activated the list shows the files with path, if not it shows only the file name.
Date/Time Format:
Enter here the format from the date and time to insert with the "Insert Date/Time" (5.12.1) command. Right besides the text box is a preview, how it would look like. The format is modified according your system settings (e.g. language etc.). Characters:
Monitor for external changes:
If you want to monitor opened files for changes made by an external program activate this. For more information see 5.7.
Limit to one instance:
If checked it's not possible to start a second instance of syn. More information about this can be found in section 5.8.
Minimize when last document is closed:
Activate this if you want that syn minimizes itself when the last document has been closed, i.e. there is currently no document opened.
Make backup copy every xxx seconds:
Check this if you wish to make a backup copy from an opened document in specific intervals. The backup file will be deleted when the document closes normal, this is just in case the program or Windows crashes. This uses a timer and may slow the program.
Note:
As Interval units are seconds used, i.e. when you choose 1 as interval it will make every second a copy, which may cause heavy hard disk usage.
The backup file has the same name (and is in the same folder) as the original file, but it appends the extension "bak", e.g. when the original file has the name "mydoc.txt", the backup file will have the name "mydoc.txt.bak".
Save Bookmarks and Caret Position:
When this option is activated the program creates for each file you've opened a file (with the same name as the opened file but with the extension "sbm"), and stores there the bookmarks, the caret position and the top line when this document is closed. If you open this file again, and there is such a file, it will restore the bookmarks, places the caret, and scrolls to the topline where it was on closing it. If you don't activate this, this additional file is not created. See also Section 5.18.
Make Bookmark files (*.sbm) hidden:
Set the hidden attribute for the bookmarks files.

8.2  View

Show "New" dialog when using the New command:(Figure 30)
If checked a dialog to choose the highlighter and filename will appear when you use the New command.
Show "Welcome" Dialog on startup:(Figure 32)
If checked a Dialog will appear on each startup from the program.
Show Workspace when loading Project by default:
If checked and you create a new project the checkbox "Show Workspace when loading this project" in the project options dialog is initially checked.
Hide Workspace Window:
When checked the workspace (7.9) is hidden at startup regardless the visible state on closing the program. The workspace window appears automatically when you open a project and "Show workspace when loading this project" is activated in the project options (11.1).
Hide Output Window:
When checked output window (7.10) is hidden at startup regardless the visible state on closing the program. This is useful for maximizing the editor space, the output window appears automatically when messages arrives.
Outputlist:
Some options to change the appearance from the error and output list. Font changes the font of the list, and itemheight changes the height of the items in the list. Use "Default" to autosize the height to the font one. If you're not using "Default" it may flicker a little when your computer is low of resources. This applies only to the Outputlist, not to the Find in Files lists.
Window Bar:
Options to change the appearance of the window bar (Figure 20). Use "Ownerdraw" if you want to see the icons from the document in the window bar, then you'll be able to change the maximal width of a tab. Use 0 if you don't want to limit the width of the button. It will show then the whole title of the document regardless how long it is, otherwise it will shorten the title using ellipsis (e.g. "mylongdocum..."), like the Windows Taskbar does.

8.3  Print

Highlight:
If checked the program will print the document with the syntax highlighting.
Use colors:
If checked the program uses colors for the syntax highlighting.
line numbers:
If checked the program will print the line numbers.
line numbers in Margins:
If checked the program will print the line numbers in the left margin.
Pageoffset:
Lineoffset:
Wrap long lines:
If checked long lines which would exceed the page width will be breaked at the end of the page.
Orientation:
Print portrait or landscape. This doesn't change your system settings.

8.4  Associations

You can associate syn with file types, so it will appear in the context menu of the Windows Explorer, when you rightclick on such a file. It's also possible to make the entry of syn the default command. It will add an association for each filetype in the filter string of the checked item.
Files to associate:
This list lists all filetypes which have an associated highlighter. Check here the file types to associate with syn.
Menutext:
Enter here the text of the menu item in the Windows Explorer.
Add:
Click this button to add the association.
Remove:
Click this button to remove the association.
Note 1:
It could be possible that syn is not able to remove all the keys from the registry when you remove an association.
Note 2:
You'll need write access to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key. Ordinary users are not allowed to write to this key on Windows 2000, you'll need Administrator or Power User privileges, when you're using Windows 2000; Windows NT 4.0 is no problem.

8.5  Run

Save before Run/Check:
If checked the program will save all opened files before it starts the program for running or checking.
Outputlist:
Options to control the output list. This applies only to the Outputlist, not to the Find in Files lists.
Clear before running:
Clears the contents of the outputlist.
Print command line and...:
Writes some information, like the command line and working directories to the list.
Scroll List automatically down:
scrolls the list automatically to the bottom of the list.
Priority class:
Choose here the priority of the called program. Handle this feature with care, all above Normal priority (High, Realtime) will slow all other processes extremely! You won't even get the possibility to terminate such a process, because syn has no chance to respond to a user input. Possible values are, read them carefully:
Idle:
Indicates a process whose threads run only when the system is idle and are preempted by the threads of any process running in a higher priority class. An example is a screen saver. The idle priority class is inherited by child processes.
Normal:
Indicates a normal process with no special scheduling needs.
High:
Indicates a process that performs time-critical tasks that must be executed immediately for it to run correctly. The threads of a high-priority class process preempt the threads of normal-priority or idle-priority class processes. An example is Windows Task List, which must respond quickly when called by the user, regardless of the load on the operating system. Use extreme care when using the high-priority class, because a high-priority class CPU-bound application can use nearly all available cycles.
Realtime:
Indicates a process that has the highest possible priority. The threads of a real-time priority class process preempt the threads of all other processes, including operating system processes performing important tasks. For example, a real-time process that executes for more than a very brief interval can cause disk caches not to flush or cause the mouse to be unresponsive.

Timeout for the Console:
Choose here the time the program should wait until it shows an message box which asks you whether you want to terminate the process, or to wait some more time. It's not possible to pass user inputs to the program, when it waits for some.
Linehighlight:
Choose here the color the line should be highlighted with when you doubleclick in the output list.
Log to file:
If checked it will save the entire Outputlist to a file, when the process is finished. The filename is either the project filename, when a project is loaded, or the filename of the active document with the date and time, to get a unique name, and the extension LOG. Example: myfile 14.01.02 11-56-57.log. The format may differ from this example depending on the language you're using.

8.6  Scripts

Default Scriptengine:
Specifies the default script engine you want to use. Further information in the Script Reference.
Allow UI:
Allow the use of a user interface.
Use save Subset:
Allow only the use of save controls.
Load Scripts at Startup:
Specify here whether the program should create a toolbar button and menu item for a script and which ones.
Events:
syn can execute a script on certain events, like program start, open document etc. Add here a list of script files you wish to execute on such events.

8.7  Tools

Setup here the user tools, more information can be found 5.5.

8.8  FTP

Configure here the FTP Feature (5.16):
Password for anonymous login:
1 Enter here the password you want to use when you login as anonymous to a FTP Server, it is usually your email address (or any email address).
Save Password to the Registry:
If checked the passwords to login into a FTP server will be saved to the registry. This is the default value for "Save Password" in the Open/Save dialogs, and has no other effects.
Server:
Here you can add, remove and edit your favorite server, which you'll find in the Open and Save dialogs. It won't make much sense when you're using binary as transfer type, because you'll edit mainly ASCII files, which should be uploaded in ASCII transfermode, but, of course, it's up to you.
Warning:
The passwords are saved to the registry using a simple cryption algorithm. If you don't want to save the passwords to the registry leave the password field blank and uncheck the checkbox "Save Password" in the Open and Save dialogs.

8.9  Editor General

Some general options for the editor. Most of this settings are read when a document is created, hence changes won't take place immediately.
Font:
Changes the font from the editor. Font color and style are only used when no highlighter is assigned.
Max Undo:
Enter here the count of maximum undoable actions.
Max left Char:
The right "end" of the editor, lines are not exceeding this limit. If you are loading a file into an editor which has a line longer than this limit it will truncate this line.
Right Edge at:
Enter the count of characters where the gray line in the editor should appear. Use zero to hide this line.
Extra Linespacing:
Extra spacing between the lines.
Block Indent Size:
Enter here the count of characters for indenting a selected block.
Default Linebreak:
Choose here your preferred linebreak style.
Tabs:
Enter here how tabs should be handled, if Want Tabs is not checked, you won't be able to enter tabs.
TabStops:
Enter here your custom tab stops. Separate the values with a comma, e.g. "3,8,10". Each comma must follow a numeric value, spaces and other characters are not allowed and will raise an exception. Changes requires a program restart to take place.
Colors:
Changes some colors in the editor. The default colors are taken from the system colors.
Background:
The background color for the editor window.
Selected Background:
The background color for the selection.
Selected foreground:
The font color for the selection.
Current Line:
The background color for the line where the caret is. If you don't want to highlight this line use the system color "Window", or click the "Don't highlight" entry.

8.10  syntax highlighting

Choose Highlighter:
Choose here how the program should choose the highlighter.
From File extension:
the highlighter is chosen according to the associated file extension.
Use none:
No highlighter is used, when you load a document. You can choose one manually with the View menu.
Use always:
The highlighter chosen in the combobox below is always used, regardless what file it is.

8.11  Highlighter

This page is for configuring language dependent options. Everything which is individual for a language can be found here.

8.11.1  Highlight

Choose here the style how the files should be highlighted, the font colors and styles for the tokens, and the comment style for this language (used for Un/Comment Block, 5.12). Changes here will take effect immediately, you even don't need to click the OK button, because it writes these settings directly to the registry.

8.11.2  Autocomplete

Customize here the Autocomplete feature, for more information see 5.11.

Figure 22: Options Autocomplete
Autocomplete file:
The file name from the Autocomplete file. Use the Browse button (...) to browse for a file.
Delimiter Chars:
Enter here the characters which should be taken as delimiters between the tokens.
The ListView:
Shows all defined code templates. To edit one, select it in the list and click "Edit..." or "Delete", to delete one item. Write the body of the template into the memo at the bottom.
Add...:
Adds a code template, it will prompt you to enter a name and a description.
Edit...:
Edits the name or description from the selected code template.
Delete:
Deletes the selected code template. Before you're prompted whether you're sure, check it again because you can't undo this action.
The Memo:
Enter in the memo the body from the code template. This text will appear in the editor, when you insert a template.

8.11.3  Profiles

Configure here the Profiles you want to use when you use the "Run File" commands.

8.11.4  Help

Choose here the helpfile you want to associate with this syntax scheme, see 5.15 for more information. You can also define a map, which help topic should be shown for a specific token, rather than searching the token in the index. Enter as Topic ID the numeric identifier from the topic to show. This works for *.hlp and *.chm files only.

8.11.5  ctags

Here you can enter what additional parameters should be passed to the ctags program. For a list of possible options and parameters see the ctags documentation. You may also disable the automatic call of ctags for this particular language.

8.12  Autocorrect

Enabled:
Activate this to use this feature.
Correct on Mousedown:
If activated it will correct the word when you press the mouse button.
Beep on correct:
If it corrects something it will beep.
Ignore Case:
If activated it will ignore the case from the word to replace, e.g. it will replace "(c)" as well as "(C)".
Maintain Case:
If activated it will use the same case.

8.13  Spell Checker

Dictionary:
The dictionary file. You can download dictionaries for different languages from Jacob Dybalas Homepage at http://www.synspellcheck.prv.pl/.
Auto Check:
If checked, it underlines bad words in the editor.
Start from Cursor:
If checked it begins from the cursor rather than from the beginning.
Ignore single Characters:
Ignore words with only one character.
Ignore Words with Numbers:
Ignore words which contains numbers.
Hash Length:
A higher value will shorten the list of suggested words.
Pen Color:
Choose the color to underline bad words.
Check What:
Enter here the attributes which should be checked.
Edit Dic., Edit user Dic.:
Opens either the dictionary or the user dictionary in Notepad, so you can edit it.

8.14  Editoroptions

Some other options for the editor.
ALT sets Columnselection Mode:
If activated then the Alt key sets the editor in column selection mode. i.e. you'll be able to select columns from a text.
Autodetect URL's:
Enables automatic detection of URLs in the editor. If you hold the Ctrl key down and click on a URL it will open it with the associated program (a browser, whatever).
Autoindent:
Enables automatic indentation.
Clear Undo after saving:
If checked, the undo buffer is cleared after you save the document. If not, you can undo changes made before your last save.
Drag and Drop editing:
If activated you will abe able to drag text and drop it to another position.
Drop files:
If activated, files dropped into the editor will be inserted at the position from the mouse, if not it will open it in a new editor window.
Enhanced Homekey:
If activated and you use the Home key one time, the caret is placed at the first occurrence of a non white-space, the second time it's placed in column 1.
Group Undo:
Half pagescroll:
When scrolling with PageDown and PageUp keys, scrol of a half screen instead of a full.
Scroll past EOF:
Cursor can go after the theoretical EOF.
Scroll past EOL:
You'll be able to place the caret beyond the text (width).
Show Scrollhint:
Shows a hint window with the numbers of the displayed lines when you scroll the editor.
Tab Indent:
If activated you can also use the Tab and Shift+Tab keys to un/indent text.
Tabs to Space:
Replaces tabs with spaces while you're typing.
Trim trailing Spaces:
Removes all spaces at the end of the lines.
Highlight matching Brackets:
Highlights bracket pairs.

8.15  Gutter

The Margin at the left hand side from the Editor.
Visible:
If not checked the right margin with the line numbers will not be visible.
Autosize:
Autosize the width to the line numbers.
Color:
Choose the backgroundcolor from the gutter.
Show line numbers:
Selfexplaining.
Digitcount:
Choose here the number of digits for line numbers.
Leading Zero:
If checked it shows a leading zero (for tens).
Zero start:
The first line number will be zero.

8.16  Shortcuts

The list shows all shortcuts you can use in the editor, use the buttons at right hand side to add, edit, or delete one or more of them.

1
This is just that it's complete, you won't be able to upload files to a FTP Server when you're logged on as Anonymous in most cases.
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