Chapter 1 Introduction to Objective Edit

Welcome to Objective Edit

Many modern applications provide users with the ability to view and edit source code, scripts, and mark-up languages as varied as C++, C#, Java, VBA, VBScript or JScript, XML, HTML/RTF, and proprietary languages.

Most integrated development environments (IDEs), like Visual Studio, use a color textual key to distinguish among source code elements. For example, many IDEs assign a color to a specific type of element, such as a comment, a keyword, or a preprocessor symbol. Color-coding enables the user to identify the various elements of the source code quickly and correctly.

Objective Edit provides a complete source code syntax highlighting class library that you can integrate into applications in a matter of hours.

Objective Edit is written in and is completely compatible with the Microsoft® Foundation Class (MFC) Library.

The following figure shows a simple Objective Edit MDI application with markers illustrating the syntax highlighting and gutter symbol features of a C++ source code file.

Objective Edit in an MDI application

Product Features

Objective Edit provides a complete, full-featured source code editor, similar in functionality to the editor in Visual Studio. The primary features of Objective Edit include:

  • Text selection, insertion, and deletion

  • Customizable syntax color highlighting

  • Full support for Find/Replace

  • Support for multiple Undo/Redo

  • Support for OLE drag-and-drop

  • Support for drawing line index, bookmarks, breakpoints, and customized data flags in the gutter (the space to the left of the source code)

  • IntelliMouse Mouse Wheel support

  • Full syntax color highlighting based on language type (C++, C#, HTML, XML, VB, VBScript, and JavaScript are standard supported options. Other languages require customization.)

  • Line highlighting

  • Exporting edit control contents marked up as HTML

  • Language definitions stored in .ini file, custom embedded resource, or registry.

  • Unicode and MBCS support for foreign languages (including Far Eastern languages).

  • Model-view-controller architecture

  • Full integration with the MFC document/view architecture

  • SECEditView (CView-derived) and SECEditCtrl (CWnd-derived) classes

  • Support for MFC printing (black and white) and print preview in the CView-derived class

  • CWnd version supports printing only

  • Full source code

  • Source Code IntelliSense and MSDN Integration with Microsoft Visual Studio

  • Compatibility with the latest 32-bit and 64-bit releases of Microsoft Visual Studio

  • Compatibility with other Stingray Studio products (Objective Toolkit and Objective Views)