The IDL Workbench > Preferences

# IDL Workbench Preferences

The IDL Workbench contains a set of user-definable preferences available from the Menubar. Click: WINDOW > Preferences to access them. Preferences allow you to control the behavior of certain elements in the Workbench.

## General

- Appearance - Settings controlling the look and feel of the Workbench.
  - Colors and Fonts - Allows you to customize the fonts used and basic color coding.
  - Label Decorations - Show extra information about an item on its label or icon.
- Compare/Patch - Settings controlling the use of text compare features.
- Content Types - Defines types of content based on file extensions.
- Editors - Options on how the Editor View works.
  - File Associations - Allows you to specify file extensions associated with the Workbench.
  - Text Editors - Allows you to select specific functionality for the Editor View, such as highlighting, line numbers, and color options.
    - Accessibility - Options on the appearance of rulers and carets.
    - Annotations - Allows you to specify the appearance of annotations such as breakpoints, bookmarks, and errors.
    - Hyperlinking - Enable/disable on-demand hyperlinking from the Editor View.
    - Quick Diff - Enable/disable Quick Diff and specify colors.
    - Spelling - If installed, spell-checking options.
- Keys - Allows you to set key bindings for the Workbench.
- Network Connections - Settings used to configure network connections.
  - SSH2 - Configuration options for SSH2.
- Perspectives - Settings to manage any Perspectives you have set up (initial setup and layout of views in the Workbench).
- Search - Specifies search options.
- Security
  - Secure Storage - Allows you to specify passwords, secure storage, and encryption algorithms.
- Startup and Shutdown - Options related to shutting down and starting up the Workbench.
  - Workspaces - Use this Preference to set up your workspace locations.
- Web Browser - Specify your default web browser here. Note: this does not allow you to switch to a different browser. If you wish to do that, change your defaul web browser within your system's configuration.
- Workspace - Options related to using your workspaces, such as refresh and save options.
  - Build Order - Specify your Project build order here.
  - Linked Resources - Enable/disable linked resources and define path variables.
  - Local History - Specify how long workspace history is stored.

## Help

Specify how Help information is displayed.

- Content - Specify how to include help content from a remote information center.

## IDL

These preferences contain options for the IDL Console and Editor.

- Command Line - Enable syntax coloring at the command line and session reset options.
- Editor - Options for the Editor View, including tabbing behavior, ending of code blocks, and automatic formatting.
- Formatter - Allows you to specify the text formatting of syntax elements.
- Graphics - Specify the graphics window size, hardware/software rendering, and graphics cache size.
- IDLdoc - User-configurable templates are provided for adding IDLdoc routine and file headers to IDL code.
- Interpreter - Options for reporting errors, exceptions, and multithreading.
- Paths - Specify the search paths used in the Editor and Console views.
- Syntax Coloring - Make adjustments to syntax coloring.
- Templates - Create, edit, or remove coding templates.

## Install/Update

Not used in the current version of the IDL Workbench.

## JSON

If you create JSON code from the IDL Workbench, this section allows you to set preferences that apply in the JSON editor.

## Run/Debug

This section contains preferences for running and debugging your code in the Editor and Console Views.

- Console - Setting for debugging in the Console view, including buffer size and text colors.
- External Tools - Settings for migrating projects.
- Launching - Set how to launch programs and projects.
  - Default Launchers - Specify the launcher to use when multiple launchers are available.
  - Launch Configurations - Set filters on launch configurations.
- Perspectives - Settings that control Perspectives used for running and debugging.
- String Substitution - Create and configure string substitution variables.
- View Management - The Debug View can automatically open and closed views. Choose in which perspectives this feature should be enabled.

## Team

These settings configure yourIDL Workbench for use in a collaborative work mode using version control.

- File Content - Specify file types to include in version control.
- Ignored Resources - Specify a list of resource names to exclude from version control.
- Models - Select the model type that should be available when synchronizing.

## See Also

Class Hierarchy, Command History, Console View, Editor View, Menubar and Toolbar, Outline View, Problems View, Profiler View, Project Explorer, Workbench Overview, Variables View