Tools Menu

The Tools Menu displays commands that control various tools in the system, or displays dialogs that control or report on tools. The commands on the menu are:

• Compile Project -- Compiles any files of the current project that are out of date. (I.e. those which have no compiled version or those whose compiled version is earlier than the source version.)

• Full Compile -- Compiles all files associated with the current project.

• Incremental Compile -- Compiles and evaluates the selected form or forms. A form is selected if it is highlighted or if the cursor is within it or just after the final parenthesis. See the description of the Editor Workbook for more information on this command and the IDE editor.

• Incremental Evaluation -- Evaluates the selected form or forms. A form is selected if it is highlighted or if the cursor is within it or just after the final parenthesis. See the description of the Editor Workbook for more information on this command and the IDE editor.

• Evaluate Clipboard -- Evaluates the top item on the clipboard. In releases prior to 7.0, the standard shortcut for this command was control-Q. In 7.0, it is control-shift-Q, since control-Q is used on the Edit menu for inserting a special character.

• Browse Class -- Displays the Class Browser dialog. If the current selection is a symbol naming a class, that class is browsed but the dialog displays whether or not it can determine the class of interest.

• Graph Subclasses -- Displays a graph of subclasses of the class named by the currently-selected symbol. Displays nothing if the current selection does not name a class.

• Graph Superclasses -- Displays a graph of superclasses of the class named by the currently-selected symbol. Displays nothing if the current selection does not name a class.

• Inspect Selected Object -- Inspects the currently-selected object.

• Inspect Returned Object -- Inspects the value of *.

• Inspect System Data -- Displays a submenu of things to inspect:
  • CG Configuration options: details of the CG environment.
  • IDE Configuration options: details of the IDE environment.
  • Current Package
  • All Packages
  • Character Names
  • Key Names
  • Font Faces
  • Top-Level Development Windows
  • All Top-Level Windows
  • Allegro Menu Bar
  • Online File Systems
  • OS Version Info
  • Memory Status

• Return Selected Object -- Returns (to the Debug window) and sets the value of * to the currently-selected object, usually text or a control on a form. The variable *selected-object* will also hold the value that was returned by the most recent use of this command. The value of *selected-object* will be effected by other uses of this command but will not be affected (as * will be) by evaluations in the Debug window.

• Get Component -- Changes the cursor to a cross. Returns to the Debug window and sets the value of * to the next object clicked over.

• Options -- Displays the Options dialog.

• Save Options Now -- This command, if chosen, saves the current options (the current values on the Options dialog and the current window positions and sizes and which windows are visible) to the file prefs.cl (in the Allegro directory). This command is useful if you wish to arrange things as you want them to come up, and then want to be free to make changes for the current session only (such as moving, resizing, or hiding windows). If you use this command, you may want to toggle the Save Options on Exit switch on the Tools menu to off (unchecked) so options are not again saved on exit, perhaps overwriting what you saved now.

• Save Options On Exit -- This command displays whether options (the current values on the Options dialog and the current window positions and sizes and which windows are visible) will be saved to the file prefs.cl when Allegro CL exits. If this item in the menu is checked, options will be saved on exit; if it is unchecked, options will not be saved on exit.

  If options are saved, the IDE will come up with all standard windows sized and positioned as they were on the last exit. Some users like this feature. Others prefer to have the IDE come up in a specific fashion, and to then be free to move and resize windows as desired during the current invocation without having such changes affect the next invocation.

  To ensure that Save Options on Exit is toggled off when the IDE starts, toggle it off and choose Tools | Save Options Now.

Copyright (c) 1998-2006, Franz Inc. Oakland, CA., USA. All rights reserved.
Documentation for Allegro CL version 7.0. The object described on this page has been modified in the 7.0 release; see the Release Notes.
Created 2005.9.20.