Features

IDEal is FAST

Besides all the advanced features, IDEal is a very fast editor.
- Loading time of the IDE - 1-1.5 seconds, depends on the current layout, number of userlibs etc.
- IDEal will load, parse and highlight a file with 15000 lines of code in just 1 second.( on P4 2.4Ghz, 1GB RAM, Win XP )
- Files with 2000-3000 lines of code are opened instantly.

REAL-TIME STRICT emulation

IDEal can highlight ( default in RED color ) all undeclared / misspelled variables immediately as you type ! No more bugs caused by incorrectly typed variables. Additionally, most of the syntax and typing errors will be immediately visible !

Totally customizable

In IDEal, you can fully customize and arrange the menus, toolbars and other layout elements, but most importantly, you can customize context menu and all the shortcuts in the editor. You can even customize basic commands like 'line down', 'line up', 'new line' etc.There are also plenty of options to customize editor's behavior.

Powerful highlighting and parsing engine

Additionally to standard Blitz Basic constructs, IDEal will recognize and differently highlight inbuilt functions, types, variables, constants and labels. All of them can have separate font,style and color ! So , no need to create decls files anymore (except for DLL's) . Just include your library in the project and IDEal will recognize all functions, global variables, constants, labels... They will also be included in autolists and intellisense.

Advanced, intelligent, project-wide intellisense for types / fields

Intellisense lists will popup automatically, and they will offer ONLY fields that are valid for that keyword, variable or function !
example: If you type 'Goto' list will popup with only labels , or after keywords like 'New' , 'Each' , 'Object' ... list will popup with only types defined in your project... after variables of custom type, it will offer only fields that belong to that type etc.

Advanced, powerful, customizable autocomplete system

In IDEal , you can really control how autocomplete works, when to popup, what to popup etc. so it can be your best friend which will drastically reduce typing time and chances for typing errors !
Autocomplete lists in IDEal can also include functions, labels, variables and constants defined in your project !
It is also intelligent, so inside function, it will include Local variables only from that function ! It also won't show up if there is no need for that.
- You can set the minimum number of characters needed for autocomplete to popup.. so it won't popup on short words like If, For, End etc.
- You can set the autocomplete to show only when there is less than X matches in the list, so it won't popup and offer 50 matches that begins with 'a' when you type just 'a'
- You can limit words that will appear in the autolist by their length, so short keywords like If, Then, End, For, Next ( which are easier to type then to choose from the list ) won't be unnecessary included in the list
Example : If you have several variables like LongVariableNameX , you can limit the minimum length of words to be 10 and choose autocomplete to not include blitz keywords, then after typing just 'L' you can manually invoke autocomplete list which will offer only your variables that have names longer than 10 characters and begins with 'L' .
As in this example, you can set your autocomplete to be invoked manually or automatically as you type. You can also choose FillUp characters ( those that will complete the word automatically ) and Stop chars ( those that will immediately hide the autolist ).

Instant ( real-time ) function help with parameter highlighting

Removes the need to press additional commands or to invoke help just to see the syntax and parameters of a particular function. Help tips appears in the status bar automatically when the cursor is over a function / parameter in your code.
Function / parameter help tips additionally can also be opened as calltips in a small window below the current line.

Advanced AutoIndent system can fully autoindent code as you type !

Advanced autoindent will reduce the number of TAB presses several times :)
Example:
For i=1 to 10
For k=1 to 5
a=a+1
Next
Next
For the above code, you don't need to press tab even once ! Just type the lines and IDEal will increase/decrease indent automatically.
Additionally, files can be autoindented automatically on load, you can autoindent blocks of code, and of course, you can switch to standard simple autoindenting seen in other editors.

Powerful auto correct of variable/function casing

Project-wide realtime correction of all occurrences of the changed variable / function.
Example: If you have 'Global Myvariablename=1" and change that to "Global MyVariableName=1" , ALL occurrences of Myvariablename in your project will be immediately changed to MyVariableName .

Advanced brace highlighting

Braces highlighting of matched braces, surrounding braces, and ability to highlight ( default in red color ) missed / unmatched braces across the whole file.

Code Browser

Multiple levels Code browser will allow you to go to the Previous / Next positions in your project and works globally across all opened files. Code Browser will speed up moving and editing across your project and decrease the need for bookmarks. You can also customize it's behavior ( default is to remember the position whenever you edit something )
Example: Type something... Scroll to some other line... type something... Jump to some definition... type something there and jump to a definition again. Now, you can go back to the previous position, then again back, then again back to the first position ! From here you can similarly choose Next, Next, Next and you will be back to the last position again.

HotCodes

HotCodes are abbreviations for any longer code , variables or function names. They will speed up typing and reduce typing errors. They are especially useful if you are using long variable / functions names.
You can define as many HotCodes as you like and you can expand a HotCode to the 'real' code with a shortcut.
Example : type SBBB ,press CTRL+ENTER ( default shortcut ) and SBBB will instantly be replaced with 'SetBuffer BackBuffer()'. Or type MLV, press shortcut and you will get 'MyLongVariableName' ( or whatever you defined for 'MLV')
HotCodes can be as short as one char and the replacement ( real ) code can be as long as you like, including whole functions. Of course, you can edit HotCodes, Assign HotCode for a selection etc.

Layouts ( aka perspectives )

Save and restore different editor layouts with just a key press. For example - you can switch between all docking windows open ( visible ) and full screen editor layout with just a keypress.

Restoration of bookmarks and folding states

IDEal can remember all bookmarks and folding states of the files when you close them, so the next time files will be opened in the exact same state, i.e. with bookmarks, lines that were folded will remain folded etc. This feature removes the need for everytime to FOLD / UNFOLD certain functions or to add bookmarks. Additionally, compiler and last used command line is also remembered. IDEal hides those info in the file itself, so it won't create any additional files! File that is saved on one PC, can be opened on another PC in the exact same state.

Scope tips

IDEal will show the first line of the scope / loop in the status bar when the cursor is over the keyword that ends that scope / loop ! Especially helpful when working with many large loops.

Workspaces

Workspace is a sum of all your opened files/projects. You can save the workspace and restore it later, you can load the last active workspace ( aka 'load last opened files' ) etc.
Example: If you have your project opened and close the editor, workspace will be automatically saved . Next time when you open IDEal, you can open the last automatically saved workspace, some other previously saved workspace ( maybe some other project ) or simply open a new file and you can load the workspace anytime later. The workspace will remember which files/projects were opened and their exact order on the ' Tabs line' , any splited windows, grouped files etc.

External tools

Define and run external tools that use blitz source files or created executables ( as UPX, Cod2Doc, preprocessors etc...)

File explorer with Favorites

Integrated file explorer with windows explorer context menu and favorites folders and files , to speed up access to your files.

Private clipboard ring

Additionaly to standard, there is also a private clipboard ring with separate copy / paste commands. Private clipboard gives you more control over it and let you choose what and when to copy / paste from the ring.

Powerful Find and Replace

Can search in file, all opened files, selection and project wide search. Find Next, Find Previous, Wrap search, Start searching from the cursor or from Top of the file, supports regular expressions etc.

Integrated Help / Web Browser with separate MDI interface

The Help Browser in IDEal can have multiple web or help pages opened in a separate MDI interface, so they won't mess with other files on the main tabs line. Another handy function in the Help Browser is "Back to Code" which will take you back to the place where you invoked the browser help.

Global bookmark system

Bookmark system that can work globally across all opened files - i.e. pressing next bookmark will bring you to the next bookmark in other file.

Unlimited number of compilers

You can define different compilers ( Blitz languages ) and many different versions of a same compiler. You can also switch between compilers in almost no time.
Example : You can install ten different versions of Blitz3D ( lets say 1.77, 1.83, 1.89... 1.98 ) and compile your code with anyone of them in a matter of seconds - no need to reinstall different versions of Blitz 3D just to see if your code will work with some other version or not... Of course, same applies for Blitz+ and old Blitz Basic 2D.

Various Drag & Drop support

Starting from dragging and dropping between opened files up to dragging and dropping between IDEal and other programs, between File Explorer and the editor window etc. Files and Folders in the Snippet explorer and in the Project explorer can be arranged with dragging and dropping... IDEal will open file(s) dropped from windows explorer etc.

Very low CPU / Memory usage

Massive Project with 80.000 lines of code needs only 30MB of RAM . IDEal will use 0% of your CPU most of the time.

Other features worth mentioning :

- Code Folding - Functions, Types and custom foldable blocks of code
- Second type of comment with different color/style, used, for example to mark more important comments in the code.
- Line wrapping mode.
- User controllable scope completion.
- Snippets manager with categories for your code snippets / templates.
- Indentation guides with highlighting on scope keywords.
- Split views of multiple files.
- Cutting/Deleting/Moving Up -Down of whole lines
- Code Explorer with separate list for functions, types, arrays, variables, constants and includes.
- Supports different versions of both Blitz3D and Blitz+ at the same time.
- 6 different user interface styles and XP themes support.
- Customizable, dockable user interface.
- 100% customizable syntax highlighting with various color schemes .
- Allow / disallow multiple instances of IDEal.
- Project Manager.
- Color Picker

And various other coding and debugging tools !