qt-creator/doc/src/howto/creator-sidebar-views.qdoc

/****************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2019 The Qt Company Ltd.
** Contact: https://www.qt.io/licensing/
**
** This file is part of the Qt Creator documentation.
**
** Commercial License Usage
** Licensees holding valid commercial Qt licenses may use this file in
** accordance with the commercial license agreement provided with the
** Software or, alternatively, in accordance with the terms contained in
** a written agreement between you and The Qt Company. For licensing terms
** and conditions see https://www.qt.io/terms-conditions. For further
** information use the contact form at https://www.qt.io/contact-us.
**
** GNU Free Documentation License Usage
** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Free
** Documentation License version 1.3 as published by the Free Software
** Foundation and appearing in the file included in the packaging of
** this file. Please review the following information to ensure
** the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 requirements
** will be met: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html.
**
****************************************************************************/

/*!
    \contentspage index.html
    \page creator-sidebar-views.html
    \previouspage creator-modes.html
    \nextpage creator-output-panes.html

    \title Browsing Project Contents

    A left and right sidebar are available in most \QC \l{Selecting Modes}
    {modes}. The availability of the sidebars and their contents depend on
    the mode.

    In the \uicontrol Edit and \uicontrol Design mode, you can use the sidebars
    to browse the project contents.

    \image qtcreator-sidebar.png

    You can select the contents of the sidebars in the sidebar menu (1):

    \list
        \li \uicontrol Projects shows a list of projects open in the current
            session and the project files needed by the build system.
        \li \uicontrol{Open Documents} shows currently open files.
        \if defined(qtcreator)
        \li \uicontrol Bookmarks shows all bookmarks for the current session.
        \endif
        \li \uicontrol{File System} shows all files in the currently selected
             directory.
        \li \uicontrol {Git Branches} shows the local and remote brances for the
            project in the Git version control system. For more information, see
            \l{Working with Branches}.
        \li \uicontrol Outline shows an overview of defined types and other
            symbols, as well as their properties and hierarchy in a source file.
    \endlist

    \if defined(qtcreator)
    The following views display additional information about C++ code:

    \list
        \li \uicontrol {Class View} shows the class hierarchy of the currently
            open projects.
        \li \uicontrol Tests lists autotests and Qt Quick tests in the project.
            For more information, see \l {Running Autotests}.
        \li \uicontrol {Type Hierarchy} shows the base classes of a class.
        \li \uicontrol {Include Hierarchy} shows which files are included in
            the current file and which files include the current file.
    \endlist
    \endif

    For more information about the sidebar views that are only
    available when editing QML files in the Design mode, see
    \l{Editing QML Files in Design Mode}.

    You can change the view of the sidebars in the following ways:

    \list

        \li To toggle the left sidebar, click \inlineimage leftsidebaricon.png
            (\uicontrol {Hide Left Sidebar/Show Left Sidebar}) or press
            \key Alt+0 (\key Cmd+0 on \macos). To toggle the right
            sidebar, click \inlineimage rightsidebaricon.png
            (\uicontrol {Hide Right Sidebar/Show Right Sidebar}) or press
            \key Alt+Shift+0 (\key Cmd+Shift+0 on \macos).

        \li To split a sidebar, click \inlineimage splitbutton_horizontal.png
            (\uicontrol {Split}). Select new content to view in the split view.

        \li To close a sidebar view, click \inlineimage splitbutton_closetop.png
            (\uicontrol {Close}).

    \endlist

    The additional options in each view are described in the following
    sections.

    In some views, right-clicking opens a context menu that contains functions
    for managing the objects listed in the view.

    \section1 Viewing Project Files

    The sidebar displays projects in a project tree. The project tree contains
    a list of all projects open in the current session. For each project, the
    tree visualizes the build system structure of the project and lists all
    files that are part of the project.

    \if defined(qtcreator)
    Some build systems support adding and removing files to a project in \QC
    (currently qmake and Qbs). The faithful display of the project structure
    allows to specify exactly where a new file should be placed in the build
    system.
    \endif

    \if defined(qtcreator)
    If the project is under version control, information from the version
    control system might be displayed in brackets after the project name.
    This is currently implemented for Git (the branch name or a tag is
    displayed) and ClearCase (the view name is displayed).
    \else
    If the project is under Git version control, the currently checked out
    branch or tag is displayed in brackets after the project name.
    \endif

    You can use the project tree in the following ways:

    \list

        \li To open files that belong to a project, double-click them in the
            project tree. Files open in the appropriate editor, according to the
            file type. For example, code source files open in the code editor.

        \li To bring up a context menu containing the actions most commonly
            needed, right-click an item in the project tree. For example,
            through the menu of the project root directory you can, among
            other actions, run and close the project.

        \li To hide the categories and sort project files alphabetically, click
            \inlineimage filtericon.png
            (\uicontrol {Filter Tree}) and select \uicontrol{Simplify Tree}.

        \li To hide source files which are automatically generated by the build
            system, select \uicontrol {Filter Tree > Hide Generated Files}.

        \li To hide directories that do not contain any files, select
            \uicontrol {Filter Tree} > \uicontrol {Hide Empty Directories}.

        \li To stop synchronizing the position in the project tree with the file
            currently opened in the editor, deselect \inlineimage linkicon.png
            (\uicontrol {Synchronize with Editor}). You can specify a keyboard
            shortcut to use when synchronization is needed. Select
            \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol Environment >
            \uicontrol Keyboard, and then search for
            \uicontrol {Show in Explorer}.

        \li To see the absolute path of a file, move the mouse pointer over the
            file name.

        \li To move files from one project to another, drag-and-drop them
            in the project tree. \QC makes the necessary changes to project
            configuration files.

    \endlist

    \if defined(qtcreator)
    Files that are not sources or data can be still included into a project's
    distribution tarball by adding their paths to the \c DISTFILES variable in
    the .pro file. This way they also become known to \QC, so that they are
    visible in the \uicontrol Projects view and are known to the locator and
    search.
    \endif

    The \uicontrol Projects view contains context menus for managing projects,
    subprojects, folders, and files. The following functions are available for
    managing projects and subprojects:

    \list
        \li Set a project as the active project.
        \li Execute the \uicontrol Build menu commands.
        \li Create new files. For more information, see
            \l{Adding Files to Projects}.
        \li Rename or remove existing files. If you change the base name of a
            file, \QC displays a list of other files with the same base name
            and offers to rename them as well.
        \if defined(qtcreator)
        \li Remove existing directories from \l{Setting Up a Generic Project}
            {generic projects}.
        \li Add existing files and directories.
        \li Add libraries. For more information, see
            \l{Adding Libraries to Projects}.
        \li Add and remove subprojects.
        \endif
        \li Search from the selected directory.
        \li Expand or collapse the tree view to show or hide all files and
            folders.
        \li Close all files in a project.
        \li Close projects. By default, all files in the project are also
            closed. To keep them open, deselect the \uicontrol Tools >
            \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol {Build & Run} > \uicontrol General
            > \uicontrol {Close source files along with project} check box.
    \endlist

    For managing files and directories, the same functions are available as in
    the \uicontrol {File System} view.

    \section1 Viewing the File System

    If you cannot see a file in the \uicontrol Projects view, switch to the
    \uicontrol {File System} view, which shows all the files in the file system.

    \image qtcreator-filesystem-view.png

    By default, the contents of the directory that contains the file currently
    active in the editor are displayed. To stop the synchronization, delesect
    the \uicontrol {Synchronize Root Directory with Editor} button.

    The path to the active file is displayed
    as bread crumbs. You can move to any directory along the path by clicking
    it. To hide the bread crumbs, select \inlineimage filtericon.png
    (\uicontrol Options) and then deselect the \uicontrol {Show Bread Crumbs}
    check box.

    To move to the root directory of the
    file system, select \uicontrol Computer in the menu (1). Select
    \uicontrol Home to move to the user's home directory. Further, you can
    select a project to move to an open project or \uicontrol Projects to open
    the \uicontrol Projects view.

    By default, folders are separated from files and listed first in the view.
    To list all items in alphabetic order, select \uicontrol Options and then
    deselect the \uicontrol {Show Folders on Top} check box.

    To also show hidden files, select \uicontrol Options >
    \uicontrol {Show Hidden Files}.

    To stop the synchronization with the file currently opened in the editor,
    deselect \uicontrol {Synchronize with Editor}.

    Use the context menu functions to:

    \list

        \li Open files with the default editor or some other editor.

        \li Open a project located in the selected directory.

        \li Show the file or directory in the file explorer.

        \li Open a terminal window in the selected directory or in the directory
            that contains the file. To specify the terminal to use on Linux and
            \macos, select \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options >
            \uicontrol Environment > \uicontrol System.

        \li Search from the selected directory.

        \li View file properties, such as MIME type, default editor, and size.

        \li Create new files. For more information, see
            \l{Adding Files to Projects}.

        \li Rename or remove existing files.

        \li Create new folders.

        \li Compare the selected file with the currently open file in the diff
            editor. For more information, see \l{Comparing Files}.

        \li Display the contents of a particular directory in the view.

        \li Collapse all open folders.

    \endlist

    \section1 Viewing Open Documents

    To see a list of open documents, switch to the \uicontrol {Open Documents}
    view. You can use the context-menu to perform some of the functions also
    available in the \uicontrol File menu and in the context menu in the
    \uicontrol {File System} view.

    In addition, you can:

    \list
        \li Copy the full path of the file or just the filename to the
            clipboard.
        \li Pin files to ensure they stay at the top of the list and are not
            closed when \uicontrol {Close All} is used.
    \endlist

    To specify settings for opening files and handling open files, select
    \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol Environment >
    \uicontrol System:

    \image qtcreator-options-environment-system.png "Environment options System tab"

    \list
        \li In the \uicontrol {When files are externally modified} field,
            select whether you want to be prompted to reload open files
            that were modified externally. For example, when you pull
            changes from a version control system.
        \li Select the \uicontrol {Auto-save modified files} check box to
            automatically save changed files at the intervals specified in
            the \uicontrol Interval field.
        \li Select the \uicontrol {Auto-suspend unmodified files} check
            box to automatically free the resources of open files after
            prolonged inactivity. The files are still listed in the
            \uicontrol {Open Documents} view. Set the minimum number of files
            that should be kept in memory in the \uicontrol {Files to keep open}
            field.
        \li Select the \uicontrol {Warn before opening text files greater than}
            check box to receive warnings about opening big text files.
        \li In the \uicontrol {Maximum number of entries in "Recent Files"}
            field, set the number of recently opened files listed in
            \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {Recent Files}.
    \endlist

    \section1 Viewing Defined Types and Symbols

    The \uicontrol Outline view shows an overview of defined types and other
    symbols, as well as their properties and hierarchy in a source file.

    \list
        \li To see a complete list of all bindings, select
            \uicontrol {Filter Tree} > \uicontrol {Show All Bindings}.
        \li To stop the synchronization with the type or symbol selected in the
            editor, deselect \uicontrol {Synchronize with Editor}.
    \endlist

    \section1 Viewing the Class Hierarchy

    The \uicontrol {Class View} shows the class hierarchy of the currently
    open projects. To organize the view by subprojects, click
    \inlineimage qtcreator-show-subprojects.png
    (\uicontrol {Show Subprojects}).

    To visit all parts of a namespace, double-click on the namespace item
    multiple times.

    \section1 Viewing Type Hierarchy

    To view the base classes of a class, right-click the class and select
    \uicontrol {Open Type Hierarchy} or press \key {Ctrl+Shift+T}.

    \section1 Viewing Include Hierarchy

    To view which files are included in the current file and which files include
    the current file, right-click in the editor and select
    \uicontrol {Open Include Hierarchy} or press \key {Ctrl+Shift+I}.

    To keep the view synchronized with the file currently opened in the editor,
    select \uicontrol {Synchronize with Editor}.
*/