Configuration Options

There are many configuration options available for customizing the user interface. Some of these are described below. Once you make changes to any of these, your settings will be remembered in your project file and preferences.

Editor Personality -- If you are used to another editor such as Visual Studio, VI or Vim, Emacs, or Brief, you may want to put Wing into a more familiar keyboard mode using the Personality preference. Be sure to click OK or Apply so the changes take effect.

Tab Key Action -- In Python code, the tab key in Wing defaults to indenting a selected region or the current line to the "correct" computed indent level, to the extent that Wing can determine this from context. In non-Python files, the tab key increases indent one level. To change this, use the Tab Key Action preference.

Minimizing Tool Boxes -- By clicking on an already-active tool tab in one of the tool boxes, the entire area will be minimized down so that only the tabs for the area are visible. Clicking again on any tab will restore the tool box to its previous size. Or, use F1 and F2 to toggle the state of the two tool boxes. This is a convenient way to increase space available to the editor or other tool box.

Shift-F2 can also be used to maximize the editor area temporarily, hiding the tools and toolbar until Shift-F2 is pressed again.

Splitting Panels -- The editor area and tool boxes can be split into multiple sub-panels by using the editor and tool box option menus. These can be accessed either by clicking on the dropdown icon or by right-clicking on the notebook tabs. Note that when splitting the editor area, each new split will show the same files as all others; this allows for editing multiple parts of the same file.

Splitting your editor area or creating a separate Help tool window may make it much easier to get around this tutorial.

The number of splits shown by default in tool boxes will vary depending on the size of your monitor.

Moving and Adding Tools -- Tools can be moved among the tool boxes or out to separate windows by using the tool box option menu. Additional instances of any tool can be created from the tool box option menu or in a separate window from the Window menu.

Adding Document Windows -- Additional document windows can also be created from the Window menu. Each separate document window contains its own set of open files.

Other Options -- Source Code Font/Size and Display Font/Size can be altered. The toolbar's appearance can be changed using the Toolbar Size and Toolbar Style preferences. The tool boxes can be moved from right to left or bottom to top. The editor option menu allows selecting between using notebook tabs or a popup menu to navigate between open editors.

For more information on adjusting the user interface to your needs, see the Customization chapter of the manual.