BlitzMax IDE (Community Edition)

This is the Community Edition of the BlitzMax IDE. It is based on the official IDE supplied with BlitzMax by Blitz Research Limited (BRL). It is entirely supported by the BlitzMax community.

Many new features have been added to this version of the IDE over and above those documented in the standard user guide. This document describes the new functionality; a full version history can be found at the end.

If you would like to contribute to the project, please visit MaxIDE on SourceForge.net. You can also checkout the latest version from SF.net using the integrated SVN project support (requires a SVN tool to be installed).

A full version history can be found here.

Additional Features

Code Editing
Auto-CompleteWhilst coding, you can press Control-Space at any time to auto-complete the current command. If there are several possible choices, a dropdown list is shown, otherwise the word is completed for you. At present, this only works on BlitzMax keywords.
Auto-TidyThis optional feature will try to make the code you write easier to read by ensuring consistent use fo whitespace. For example, spaces are added around commas. This behaviour can be turned off in the IDE options.
Block Comment / UncommentAn additional item is now available on the context menu within the editor, allowing you to comment or uncomment a section of code.
C, C++, XML, HTML & INI file SupportBasic support is now built in for editing and compiling C, C++, M, INI, XML and HTML code files with syntax highlighting, auto-completion, auto-indent and auto-tidy.
Syntax HighlightingAll distinct code elements can be syntax highlighted, and fully configured in the IDE Options.
Code Navigation
Code TreeThe code tree has been improved signficantly to provide easy access to all of your code elements and debug points, including alphabetical sort of items by type.
To-Do ListAny comment line in your code that starts with TODO: , FIX: or BUG: will automatically be listed in the To-Do list. Double clicking on the item in the list will take you back to that line of code. This enables you to simply and easily mark areas of code that you need to come back to.

This works on both BlitzMax comments (i.e. 'TODO:) and on C & C++ comments (i.e. //TODO: or /*TODO:).
BookmarksLike the todo list, you can add bookmarks to your code using MARK:, or using the context menu. You can easily move between bookmarks using the context menu or shortcut keys. Bookmarks are also listed in the To-Do List.
Keyboard ShortcutsA number of keyboard shortcuts have been added to improve your productivity. The Home key will now take you the first character on the line; press it again to go to the beginning of the line. Also, Shift+Home now works correctly for selecting text.
The Back and Forward arrows now work within the editor screens. If you have used any of the code navigation aids (Code tree, To-Do list, bookmarks, etc), the arrows will now move you around between recently visited sections fo code.
BlitzMax Build Options
Cross-CompilingIf you have installed Bruce Henderson's BMK, the IDE supports cross-compiling on some platforms.
wxMax BuildIf you have installed Bruce Henderson's BMK and are building wxMax applications on MacOS, the IDE supports the alternative AppStub via a menu option.
Debug, Threaded & Quick BuildFull support for the standard BlitzMax compiler options.
Build ModulesAdditional options provided for complete control over re-building of modules.
Debugging
ContinueWhen debugging, the CE IDE shows a Continue button as well as a Stop button, allowing you to re-start your program after it has been stopped.
StabilityAdded stability compared to the current official IDE.
Integrated Version Control
Integration

Basic checkout, update and commit integration is provided for projects set up within the IDE. Properties and operations can be accessed via a right click menu on the project tree or Project Manager dialog. All updates and commits apply to the entire project - it is not possible to operate on individual files from within the IDE.

In order to use this functionality, you will require the appropriate client software to be configured (i.e. cvs or svn need to work at the command line).

SVNYou will need to specify the URL for the Subversion (SVN) repository, e.g. svn://myserver.com/repository/my_project. You will then need to specify a username and password in order to login and access the repository.
CVS

You will need to specify the URL, e.g. myproject.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/myproject. You must also specify the module name within the respository, e.g. maxide2.

For anonymous login (pserver), enter anonymous as the user and leave the password blank.

For user & password login (pserver), enter the user name and password as normal.

For secure login (ext), enter just the user id and leave the password blank. Note that you will need to ensure that the appropriate external SSH client will need to be configured for CVS. This is typically achieved by setting the CVS_EXT environment variable appropriately.

General IDE Functions
User-Configurable Keyboard ShortcutsAll keyboard shortcuts can now be configured by the user in the IDE Options.
LocalisationLocalisation is now supported, provided the appropriate language files are placed in the cfg directory. Available languages are currently limited to just Italian, please feel free to supply other languages!
Sync ModulesWhen synchronising modules, all known alternative modules are listed for optional synchronisation.
Improved HelpThe existing help documentation provided with BlitzMax for modules has been structured into logical groups. This enables new and experienced users alike to navigate quickly and easily through the BlitzMax commandset.

Credits and Thanks

Thanks go to Sebastian Hollington for his fantastic work on the win32 implementation of maxgui.

Thanks also to grable, d-bug, Kristian Scheibe, David Maziarka and Tim Wellman for helping out with CE IDE.

The icons used by this application are the rather nifty famfamicons, which are covered by the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license.