Workspaces

A workspace is a collection of top-level windows that aid you in performing a set of related tasks, such as debugging or editing. The workspaces available on the main window, and the default windows that open for each workspace, are described in the following table.

Workspace Name Description
Editing Includes the Explorer and Properties windows. When you open a file, the Source Editor automatically opens. You use the Source Editor to edit Java, HTML, and plain text files. Source code is syntactically colored. Default keywords, for example, are in blue. The Source Editor supports dynamic code completion. You can type the first few characters of an expression and then view a list of classes, methods, and variables that can be used to complete the expression.
GUI editing Includes the Explorer, Form Editor, and the Source Editor. You use the GUI editing workspace to design and develop graphical user interfaces. The Form Editor consists of the Form Designer, the Component Inspector, and the Component Palette panes. The Form Designer is the primary area for creating and modifying a graphical interface. Code generated by the Form Designer appears with a shaded background in the Source Editor and cannot be edited manually. The Component Inspector enables you to view the components in your application and set their properties.
Running Includes the Execution View window and the Output window. When you run your program, the IDE automatically switches to the running workspace. If there are no execution errors, your application is launched so that you can test it. If there are execution errors, the errors are displayed in the Output window.
Debugging Includes the Debugger window and the Output window. The Debugger window has views for setting breakpoints, monitoring threads, and watching the value of variables. The Output window displays messages from the debugger. If you have a file open, the Debugging workspace also includes the Source Editor, which highlights breakpoints in magenta.

You can open any number or type of window regardless of your current workspace. Use the View menu on the main window to open any window at any time. When you exit the IDE, the program saves the state of each workspace. The next time you launch the program, the windows in your workspaces appear exactly as you left them. You can add or delete workspaces, remove or rename existing workspaces, and change which windows are contained in a workspace.

See also
Managing IDE Windows
Editing Source Files
Debugging Programs
The Explorer

Legal Notices