Configuration Variables

SlickEdit® Core has many behaviors that are controlled through properties not exposed in the options dialogs. They are set through global configuration macro variables in Slick-C®, using the set_var command. The most commonly used of these variables are listed in the table below.

Viewing Configuration Variables

To view the complete list of configuration variables, bring up the SlickEdit® Core command line and type set_var def- (note the hyphen). The completion list will provide the full list of available variables. Use the Help system to look up information on a variable by typing the name of the variable into the Index search field.

Alternatively, you can use the Symbols View to find where the variable is defined in the Slick-C® code. Expand the Slick-C folder and then expand the Global Variables folder. If Slick-C hasn't already been tagged, type fp into the SlickEdit Core command line. This is an abbreviation of the find_proc command, which will trigger tagging if it hasn't already been done.

Setting/Changing Configuration Variables

There are two ways to set/change these macro variables:

  • From the SlickEdit® Core menu, click Macro → Set Macro Variable (or use the gui_set_var command) and enter the macro variable in the Variable field. The current value of the variable will be shown in the Value text box. Click Edit to edit this variable, then click OK to accept the change.

  • From the SlickEdit Core command line, invoke the set_var command with the macro variable name (for example, set_var def_auto_linecomment), then press Enter to view the current value. You can edit this value, then press Enter to accept the change.

See Programmable Macros for more information on loading macros and setting variables.

Table of Configuration Variables

The table below provides a list of the most commonly used configuration variables.

Configuration Variable

Description

def_auto_linecomment

Change to 0 to turn off automatic line comment insertion.

def_binary_ext

This variable is used by the editflst.e macro for the Brief emulation. When the editflst.e macro is loaded, the space-delimited extensions listed by this variable are filtered out by the edit command's completion. The default is .ex .obj .exe .lib.

def_ctags_flags

This variable is a safeguard against parsing past the end of a proc when the braces mismatch. To have SlickEdit® Core recognize the second dd, set the value of this variable to 10.

def_debug_logging

If you change this value to 1, then run the integrated debugger and let it time out, a vs.log file will be created in your config directory under the logs subdirectory.

def_deselect_copy

Set to 1 in Brief emulation to deselect after a copy.

def_do_block_mode_key

Set this variable's value equal to 0 to stop SlickEdit Core from inserting characters on every line of a block selection.

def_error_re2

Edit this variable to change from the SlickEdit Core regular expression used for compile/build errors.

def_fast_auto_readonly

When set to 1, this option speeds up the Auto read only feature by only checking the attribute on disk (not opening every file). See Load File Options for more information.

def_from_cursor

Default is 0. If non-zero, the commands upcase_word, lowcase_word, and cap_word will start case change from the cursor position instead of the beginning of the current word.

def_linewrap

Default is set to 1. If you are at the end of a line that has whitespace only on the line below it (spaces or tabs) and you press Delete, this will bring the whitespace below it up to the end of the line that you are on. When the value is set to 0, if you press Delete while at the end of a line that has whitespace only on the line below it (spaces or tabs), the whitespace is removed entirely®acting as a line delete.

def_linux1_shell

To use an alternate shell, set this variable to the shell that you want to run (for example, /bin/bash -i). This will cause the editor to use your process shell.

def_max_mffind_output

This variable is set for performance reasons. You can increase the amount of information displayed in the Output view during a multi-file search by changing this to your desired setting.

def_modal_paste

Default is 0. If non-zero, commands that insert a BLOCK-type clipboard will overwrite the destination text if the cursor is in Replace mode.

def_plusminus_blocks

When the value is set to 1, the plusminus command will try to find code blocks to expand or collapse if the cursor is on a line that does not have a Plus or Minus bitmap on it. The default is 1.

def_preplace

Default is 1. If the value is set to 0, the save command will NOT prompt you if you are inadvertently overwriting a file. For example, if you invoke the command savexyz, and an xyz file already exists, and xyz is not the name of the current buffer, you are prompted by default whether you wish to overwrite the file.

def_rwprompt

Default is 1. Change this to 0 to suppress the pop-up that asks: Do you want to update the read-only attribute of the file on disk?

def_save_macro

Default is 1. Set this variable to 0 if you do not want to be prompted with the Save Macro dialog box after ending macro recording.

def_shift_updown_line_select

Set this value to 1 for Shift+Up or Shift+Down to select the current line.

def_switchbuf_cd

Set this variable equal to 1 to change the current working directory to the file that currently has focus in the editor. This variable is on by default in the GNU Emacs emulation, and off in all other emulations.

def_top_bottom_push_bookmark

Set this variable to 1 to push a bookmark whenever you jump to the top or bottom of the buffer. Note that even when this variable is set, no bookmarks are pushed when using the current buffer as a build window (.process buffer). The default value is 0.

def_undo_with_cursor

Set this value to 1 to enable the undo of each cursor movement.

def_update_context_max_file_size

This variable increases the array size in bytes of a file that is too large. The default size of files that can be processed by Context Tagging® is 4 MB. The size can be lowered by changing this variable and setting it to equal the size that you want (in bytes).

def_vc_advanced_options

Set to this variable to 0 to remove advanced options that decrease performance when using ClearCase version control.

def_vtg_tornado

Set this variable value to 0 to prevent Context Tagging of Tornado files.

def_xml_no_schema_list

To prevent SlickEdit Core from accessing the Internet to validate and get color coding information from DTDs, add your XML extension to this variable. Set the value to a list of space-delimited extensions that you want excluded for actual schema validation. For example: .xml .xsl .xsd. This will prevent SlickEdit Core from attempting to connect to the Internet for these extensions.