Tips > About > StudioTips Libraries
StudioTips Libraries
StudioTips is a multi-library Omnis Studio application that is used by Omnis developers to aid them with code development. When StudioTips is installed and opened on your computer a menu is added to the Omnis Studio application menus. Using the menu you can open the window. The window is an off-line interface to all of the tips, sample code, and demos which are included with the StudioTips libraries. The window has a button which allows you to jump to the on-line version of the tip which you are currently viewing.
When you become a StudioTips member you can download and install the StudioTips libraries. You are licensed to use the StudioTips libraries as long as you are a StudioTips member in good standing. (Paying your annual membership dues.)Installing StudioTips
- Download the latest version of StudioTips.
- Unzip the downloaded file.
- Drag the studiotips folder and contents into your Omnis folder located either in the Program Files (Win) or Applications (Mac) folder.
- Download the open_studiotips file.
- Unzip the downloaded file.
- Drag the open_studiotips.lbs file into your Omnis/startup folder. The open_studiotips.lbs library will automatically open the StudioTips when you start up Omnis Studio.
StudioTips Browser
The window is your interface to StudioTips. There are several ways to open the window.
- menu > select .
- Use the shortcut key combination, Ctrl/Cmnd+B.
If the window is already open, pressing Ctrl/Cmnd+B will minimize the window.
If the window is minimized, pressing Ctrl/Cmnd+B will maximize the window.
When you close StudioTips the last state of the window is stored in a preferences file so that when you reopen StudioTips the window will be restored to the previous state.
There is a field at the top left corner of the window. The selector lists the different libraries which contain documentation. Think of each line in the group selector as representing a different book that you can pull off the shelf to read.
When you select a group, the builds a list of the topics available for that group. If there are numerous topics within a group, subgroups are listed in a tab pane across the top of the window.
The topic titles for the selected tab are displayed in a treelist on the left side of the window. Some topics may include several subtopics. The subtopics will be available as child nodes of the main topic.
You navigate the information contained in StudioTips by selecting a group, clicking a tab if displayed, and then selecting a topic node in the treelist.Show/Hide StudioTips Libraries
You can hide the StudioTips libraries so that they are not listed in the .
Select the menu line in the menu.
To show the StudioTips libraries select the menu line in the menu.Reading StudioTips
In the StudioTips tips and instructions you see something like this:
> Contacts > wWindowName > > tab
The above instruction would read as: "Press the F2 function key to open the window, select the Contacts library, select the wWindowName window class, press the F6 function key to open the , then click on the tab of the window."
If you see "Ctrl/Cmd+B", for Wintel users that means press the shortcut key combination "Control+B", for Mac users that means press the shortcut key combination "Command+B".
Any time you see a shortcut key combination, the part preceeding the "/" is for Wintel users, the part after the "/" is for Mac users. The parts on either side of the "/" group is for both users. For example Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+B, Wintel users press Shift+Ctrl+B, Mac users press Shift+Cmnd+B.Searching StudioTips
You can search for any topic contained in StudioTips as follows:
- Enter a keyword in the search entry field above the treelist and click the button to the left of the search entry field.
- StudioTips will search all of the topic titles and present you with a list of the .
- Clicking on a topic in the list will display information about the topic.
- After selecting a topic, you can click the tab of the list to switch to the treelist view for the selected topic. Related topics will be visible on other nodes of the treelist.
Advanced searches can be done as follows:
- Full Text Search - Shift-click the button. StudioTips will search both topic titles and tips text for matches.
- & Operator - You can include '&' in your search criteria.
If you enter $ctarget & Grid and shift-click the button, StudioTips will search for topics and text that includes $ctarget and Grid. You can include as many '&' conditions as you like. Each & operator must have an empty character before and after it.
Go to URL, Run Demo, Sample Code
When you click on a node in the treelist, the topic text is displayed in the area to the right of the treelist. At the bottom of the window several push buttons may appear.
- . This button opens your default web browser to the on-line version web page for the topic.
- . This button appears if there is a demo for the selected topic. Clicking the button runs the demo. The demo might be an OK message, a window, or it may take you to a Breakpoint in a method where code comments might ask you to step through the code to see how it works.
- . This button appears if the topic includes sample code. Clicking the button opens the method editor to the method which contains the sample code.
StudioTips members are free to copy and paste any sample code or demo code from the StudioTips libaries to their own application.
Most push buttons in StudioTips are coded so that if you shift-click on the button it will take you to Breakpoint in the $event method of the push button. This is useful if you want to step through the code in a demo.
Shortcut Keys
There are a few shortcut key combinations that you should learn and use to enhance your StudioTips experience.
- Use the Ctrl/Cmd+B shortcut key combination to open/maximize or minimize the window.
- The menu has a menu line named . Selecting this menu line takes you directly to the top window's class methods in the method editor. The shortcut key combination is Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+T. When you get used to this shortcut it become indispensible. Try it on the window right now. Think of the shortcut key combination as a modified version OMST's Ctrl/Cmd+T shortcut key combination.
Click on the Omnis Studio menu. You will see most of the IDE function keys listed in the View menu. For your information, here is a list of the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) function keys.
- F1 = Omnis Studio Help
- F2 = Browser
- F3 = Component Store (Except when "behind" a window or report, then F3 jumps you to the design/layout view)
- F4 = Notation Inspector
- F5 = Inheritance Tree
- F6 = Property Manager
- F7 = Browser Options (If the browser window is selected.)
- F8 = Opens the method(s) for the selected class, or the superclass method if Do inherited is selected.
- F9 = Catalog
Preferences
- You can resize and reposition the StudioTips Browser window. It will reopen to the size and location you last closed it.
- You can resize the treelist width by dragging its right edge. The treelist width is saved when you close the StudioTips Browser window.
- StudioTips will reopen to the treelist you were working with when you last closed the StudioTips Browser window.
- You can change the font size in the . ( menu > select )
To save screen space, StudioTips makes heavy use of context menus. Be sure to right-click on the various windows and fields to discover the context menu options.
Printing Tips
If you wish to print any of the tips, click the button, and print the on-line version of the tip.
At the top of the on-line version page you will see a series of links to web pages which are higher up the directory tree. Clicking one of these links takes you to a page. Some of the table of contents titles include the description . The pages include all of the contents of the pages within that section (directory).Technical Stuff
All of the documentation in StudioTips is stored in the $desc property of object class methods.
The window is similar to the in that it lets you navigate the libraries, classes, and methods, of the libraries which are currently open in Omnis Studio.
The window filters what you view to just the object classes and methods that begin with the @ character.
If you right-click the topic text and select , you can edit the StudioTips text. A toolbar appears in the window. The toolbar buttons are used add pseudo HTML tags to the tips text. The pseudo HTML is processed by StudioTips into XHTML, saved to a local file, and then uploaded to the studiotips.net website.
The window is designed so that any developer can use the window to write their own documentation and upload it to their own website where their users can read and print the documentation. Being able to write and update documentation without leaving Omnis Studio is a very fast and convenient way to write and publish documentation. Having the documentation stored inside Omnis Studio libraries makes it easy for multiple developers working with the VCS to share and maintain the documenation.