Settings menu - Configuring Easy Code

Each assembler must have its corresponding ".cfg" file (Fasm.cfg, Fasm64.cfg, GoAsm.cfg, GoAsm64.cfg, etc.) in the EasyCode\Config folder. but when you download Easy Code 2 there is no ".cfg" file. Instead there is a file with extension ".ori" (ori-ginal) for each assembler configuration, as a reference for you to have an idea of what to configure. Those files contain, among other values, the paths and command line options for each assembler, linker, resource and library compilers, and for each project type. Once again, all paths are referred to the root of drive C:\ for simplicity, but as said before they should be in any other drive or path. You just have to take into account the paths where you have the corresponding tools and set the right path for each tool in the Paths and command line options, as we will see later on in this section. Once again, using the system drive C: IS NOT recommended, specially on Window 8.1 and Windows 10, because of the permissions restriction.

When Easy Code starts, it checks whether each "ori" file has its "cfg" equivalent file. If the "cfg" file already exists nothing happens, if not, it makes a copy of the "ori" file but with the "cfg" extension. Doing so makes "ori" files always remain unchanged and avoids ".cfg" files to be created more than once (overwritten). If you already ran Easy Code, you can see the ".cfg" files in the "EasyCode\Config" folder.

The Settings section is available through the Tools-->Settings menu and it displays the following window:

General Tab

• Show grid on window objects: Specifies whether a grid is shown on each window object
• Align controls to grid: Specifies whether controls have to be aligned to grid
• Show window asking for project type when starting application: Specifies whether a window asking for a new project type is shown when Easy Code is started with no project in its command line
• Show output window only when errors occur: Specifies whether the Output window is only shown when errors occur at compile/link time
• Auto save project every (minutes): Specifies the period of time (in minutes) in which the project will be automatically saved. A value of 0 (default) means that "auto save" is disabled
• Application priority: Sets the application priority to Normal (default), High or Low.
• Default configuration for new projects: Specifies the default configuration to be selected when creating a new project.
• Sound for a successful operation: Specifies which sound (or none) will be played for a successful operation
• Sound for a failed operation: Specifies which sound (or none) will be played for a failed operation
• Language: Sets the language for the application.
• Restore settings to default values: Restores all previous settings to their default values

Editor Tab

Several options allow you to customize the editor and the Easy Code panels (Project Explorer, Properties Window and Output Window).

Colors

• Editor background
• Text foreground
• Selected text background
• Selected text foreground
• Selection bar background
• Selection bar foreground
• Cursor line background
• Locked text background
• Double quoted text
• Single quoted text
• Commented text
• Numbers
• Operators / Separators
• Macros
• API functions
• API constants
• API structures
• Easy Code reserved words
• Right margin
• Easy Code panels background
• Easy Code panels foreground

Font

• Changes the name, type and size of the font

Automatic indentation

• When pressing the <Enter> key, the next line is properly indented

Autocomplete Procs, Macros and Structures

• Autocomplets the whole block for procedures, macros and structures

Context help for variables and constants

• When the mouse pointer is over a variable or a constant, displays a window showing its type or value

Context help for functions and macros

• When typing a comma character after a function (or procedure) name, displays its complete prototype. It also displays the required arguments for macros

Context help for structures (not yet implemented)

• When typing a dot character after a structure name, displays a window showing all its members. This feature is not yet implemented

Highlight API constants and structures

• Highlights the names of API constants and structures (may take some time in slow computers)

Convert tabs to spaces

• Converts tabulation characters to spaces. The number of spaces is specified by the Tabulation size option

Hide selected text

• Hides the selected text when the editor does not have the focus

Show collapse buttons

• Shows/hides the collapse/expand buttons

Show line numbers

• Shows/hides the line numbers in the selection bar

Show selection bar

• Shows/hides the selection bar

Draw line after EndP / EndM / EndS

• Draws a line after EndP / EndF / EndM / EndS

Draw vertical lines in tab positions

• Draws a vertical line in each tab position

Tabulation size (in spaces):

• Sets the number of spaces for a <Tab> character

Right Margin:

• Specifies whether the right margin will be drawn, its style (solid or dashed) and the column where it has to be drawn

REMARKS: The editor may scrolls slowly in old computers. If so, try to uncheck the Highlight API constants and structures option.

Syntax Tab

Here you can specify whether (and how) the syntax for different keywords will be converted.

Compiler

Checking the Default conversion option (recommended) means that compiler keywords will be converted to the same syntax as they have in their corresponding configuration file.

API functions, constants and structures

Checking the Convert to API case option (recommended) will convert all API names to their right syntax.

Convert procedures, macros, structs and variable names

Checking this option (recommended) will convert all mentioned names to their right syntax.

Enable syntax hightlighting

Specifies whether keywords will be highlighted or not.

Beautify syntax

Specifies whether Easy Code adds or removes blanks to beautify the syntax.

Configurations Tab

The Configurations tab is the most important part of the whole settings, as it is where all assembler configurations are properly set in order to work fine and without errors.

The Configuration combo box selects the configuration to be inspected or modified. Once a configuration is selected, you can choose the text encoding in the Text encoding combo box. ANSI text is the default value (recommended) and does not affect to the code editor, which always works in Unicode mode, but you can choose any other encoding method if you like, ONLY IF it is supported by the corresponding compiler. Otherwise, errors will be fired when compiling the source code and the project will not be built.

On the other hand, there are ten groups of different colours where you can add or remove keywords (keywords coming by default are the ones supported by the compiler being configured) taking into account that keywords will be highlighted with the colour of the group they are included in ( of course you can change the colour of each group at your own).

IMPORTANT: When new keywords have to be added to one or more configuration files (.cfg), Easy Code will include those new keywords in the corresponding .ori files. The .ori files are distributed with Easy Code and ALWAYS must be in the Config subfolder. If there are new keywords for the selected Group of the selected Configuration, the Update button will be enabled so that you can update the corresponding Configuration file (.cfg), otherwise the Update button will be disabled. When you click the Update button the new keyword(s) will be added to the corresponding Group and they will appear at the end of the keywords list box, which will enable the OK and Apply buttons. Finally, by clicking any of those two buttons, the new keywords will be added to the corresponding Group of the corresponding Configuration file (.cfg) without modifying anything else.

Now you have to specify the right paths for the assembler you are configuring. If there is any project loaded please close it, then click on the Paths and command line options button and the following window will be shown:

It is highly recommended to have no project loaded while setting the paths and command line options shown in the window above for any of the assemblers you are configuring.

As you can see in the window above, all wrong paths are painted in red colour (in the window above all paths are red-coloured because I have all those tools in drive G:). Now please enter the right paths for the required files and remember that all non-existing (wrong) paths will be painted in red colour. It is important that you have the tools specified for each assembler, you just have to set the path where you have installed them and, if possible, in any other drive not being the system drive C:.

REMARKS: To set the right paths is an essential step in order to be able to build projects easily and without errors.

The essential paths (not optional) you have to set in order to build all project types, are those labeled as:

• Compiler


• Linker


• Linker for drivers (only needed for JWasm and JWasm64 configurations, it should be set to the Microsoft's "link.exe" path. No matter whether it is set or not for other configurations


• Resource compiler


• Library compiler (only needed for building ".lib" projects. Fasm and GoAsm cannot build library files, so Fasm, Fasm64, GoAsm and GoAsm64 configurations do not need that path

You can have a look if you like at the commmand line options for the compiler, linker and resource and library compilers, both Debug and Release modes, but it is highly recommended NOT TO MODIFY any command line option at this time.

Please save this configuration by clicking on the OK button. Now you may want to repeat the same steps for all other configurations, but it would be better trying to build the examples for the assembler you just have configured (recommended).

Tools Tab

Here you can specify the path for:

• An image editor in order to edit bitmaps, icons or cursors
• The Win32 help. It will be started when pressing Ctrl+W
• A debugger program. This debugger can be different for each configuration, so it cannot be set if there is no project loaded. The debugger will be started when pressing the F5 key (only for executable file projects)
• A calculator program (Windows calc.exe by default)
• A text editor program (Windows notepad.exe by default)

Help Tab - Configuring other help files

In the Help tab you can define up to six other help files (for opcodes, FPU, MMX, etc.). By double-clicking on a label (Help #1, Help #2, etc.) you will be able to change its caption according to the related file to be launched. The text for each label will be shown in the corresponding item of the Help menu.

REMARKS: Each entry can specify the path to a help file, or a web address (URL). Both, file or URL will be printed in red colour if they are wrong. To determine whether a path conforms to a valid URL format or not, the PathIsURL API function is called.