Guide for using UltraEdit with Blitz
Recent updates
20 Jan 2011:
I highly recommend IDEal: Professional Blitz IDE (free!) to work with Blitz2D, Blitz3D and BlitzPlus.
28 Apr 2004:
The best GUI specifically created for Blitz is Protean.
UltraEdit is specifically designed for flexible ASCII-style editing with any
compiler.
Introduction
This is a copy as well as a revision of the original
UltraBlitz site
(created by Shane Monroe)
which unfortunately seems to disappear sometimes and also seems to no longer being updated.
The sole purpose of this page is to preserve the
related useful information on combining BlitzBasic with UltraEdit.
I'm not sure if you should be reading this if you've never heard of UltraEdit though :P
Make sure to visit another good Blitz tips page here: Blitz for the masses
Which includes compiling instructions, macros (folding code, quick help),
wordfiles (syntax highlighting) and shortcuts.
And also a BlitzCoder thread
on how to integrate your Blitz help (online or offline) right into UltraEdit.
Here's a list of BlitzCC's (Compiler) parameters;
Syntax: blitzcc
Where options can be:
-h : Show help.
-q : Operate quietly.
+q : Operate very quietly.
-d : Compile and run in debug mode.
-k : Print a list of all keywords to stdout.
+k : Print a list of all keywords plus 'quickhelp' to stdout.
-o exefile : Create an executable called 'exefile'.
Example: blitzcc -d myprogram.bb
This will compile and run 'myprogram.bb' in debug mode.
Undocumented switch: -c : Syntax check.
Setting Up Ultra-Blitz
(1) Add BlitzBasic to your environmental variables.
- Right click MY COMPUTER and select PROPERTIES. Or press Win + Pause.
- Select ADVANCED tab.
- Click ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES.
- Find the variable called PATH on the bottom system variables and add:
Take care of the specific path names on your system.
- Add a new system variable called blitzpath and point it to:
Note: You may have to put a blitzpath variable
in both USER and SYSTEM, and
you'll probably need to make one for each user that logs in and
uses BlitzBasic.
- Hit OK. You're done here.
Note: You will probably have to log off, then back on (maybe even reboot
depending on the OS) to get the enviromental variables to work.
And make sure you modify all of the paths above to suit those on your system.
(2) Get Syntax Highlighting Working
- Get the BlitzBasic WordList 1.78+ (10/5/2002)
file here. Put it somewhere you know where it is (I keep mine
in the BlitzBasic folder. You may need to right click to download this
file.
- Launch UltraEdit. Get a .BB file loaded.
- Go to ADVANCED ->
CONFIGURATION. Choose SYNTAX
HIGHLIGHTING tab.
- On the bottom, hit the BROWSE button and find
the blitzbasic.txt file you downloaded earlier.
- Hit OK.
- Select VIEW->VIEW AS->
BLITZBASIC.
- Select VIEW -> VIEW/LIST
-> FUNCTIONS LIST. This turns on your
functions/types/labels list.
- Your code should now highlight!
(3) Getting the Compiler working (no debugger)
(4) Getting the Compiler working (WITH debugger)
(5) Getting the Compiler to Create an Executable
(6) Adding Blitz icons to Compile tools
- Download the icons;
And put them somewhere safe.
- Select ADVANCED -> TOOL CONFIGURATION.
- Double click Compile with Blitz, then hit ADVANCED.
- Browse to the Blitz Icon you got above.
- Hit OK.
- Make sure you hit REPLACE to update your configuration.
(7) Adding Icons to a New Toolbar
- Right click anywhere on a toolbar and select CUSTOMIZE.
- Select TOOLBARS on the left.
- Select NEW TOOLBAR. Enter Blitz Tools for
the name - just click off the rename process when done.
- Now click COMMANDS on the left.
- In the tree, expand ADVANCED.
- You should see Tool 1 at the top of the list.
Left DRAG that entry to your new Blitz Tools toolbar (its
probably floating on the upper left), wherever you want the icon to
appear.
- Hit OK.
You can now dock, move, or whatever you want to do to this toolbar!
Note: If you have a TOOL 2 for compiling with
the debugger on, add this the same way you added Tool 1 and so on.
(8) Add Folding Functions to UltraEdit
Also check the Fold Code macro on Blitz Tips for the masses.
- Download and load the Folding Functions and Help File Macro or follow the instructions below;
- Make sure you do a MACRO -> SAVE ALL to save your macros.
- Then set your macros to load each time by MACRO -> SET AUTO LOAD and
select your macro file. Then it will be available each session.
- Now go into your Blitz code, put your cursor on a line that defines a function, hit your hotkey, and
POOF! Instant collapsed code! Just click the line to uncollapse.
Note: Works with any parts of the code.
(9) Add TagList Code Snippets to UltraEdit
- Download the Blitz Tag List.
- Select VIEW/LIST -> TAG LIST.
- In the taglist window, right click and select MODIFY TAGS.
- Hit BROWSE and select the Blitz Tag List file.
- Hit Ok.
POOF!
- Double click a tag to insert the code at the cursor!
(10) Add Blitz Help to UltraEdit
First check the Quick Help macro on Blitz Tips for the masses.
Secondly, check this BlitzCoder thread on how to integrate your Blitz help (online or offline) right into UltraEdit.
And lastly you'll find a more primitive approach below;
- Download the Blitz Help Text (10/5/2002) and
extract it.
- Download and load the Folding Functions and Help File Macro (if you haven't done this already) or follow the instructions below;
- Place your cursor over a keyword and hit your macro key.
Note that this Help System uses a condensed version of all the command docs - no detailed description
or code samples are provided. This help document only covers up to Blitz2D 1.6x.
The macro depends on a period preceeding each keyword in the text document as well as the dashes
at the end of the command text. You will get an error message if you search for a command that isn't in
the text.
This page was modified by Chance