Using the Options Window
See Also
The Options window enables you to change any of the IDE's configurable settings.
The Options window offers two views for editing IDE settings.
- Basic Options view (default). In the Basic Options view, you select a category in the left pane to display its settings in the right pane.
Depending on the category, click on the nodes or tabs in the right pane to access additional settings.
When you change settings in Basic Options, the changes are not applied until you click OK.
- Advanced Options view. In the Advanced Options view, select a node in the tree view in the left pane to display the property sheet in the right pane.
The property sheet contains the names and values of the settings for the item selected in the left pane.
When you change settings in the property sheet, the changes are applied immediately.
The Advanced Options view enables you to access some settings not available in Basic Options.
In the Advanced Options view you can apply specific settings globally or at the user level.
When you open the Options window, the default view is Basic Options. To switch between views, click the Advanced Options or Basic Options buttons in the Options window.
To edit IDE settings in the Options window:
- Open the Options window by choosing Tools > Options from the main menu.
- If you want to edit settings in Advanced Options, click Advanced Options in the Options window.
- Depending on which view you are in, select the category or node in the left pane for the settings you want to configure.
- Modify the settings in the right pane.
- Close the Options window.
Editing Settings in Advanced Options
Editing property sheets
When you are editing settings in Advanced Options, you can edit the property sheet in the following ways:
- If the setting is a string, you edit the value inline and press
Enter to save the change.
- If a drop-down list appears when you select the option's node, click
the arrow to select the value.
- If an ellipsis (...) button appears when you select the option node,
click the button to open the property's editor.
In Advanced Options, changes are applied immediately.
Levels of settings
When you are in Advanced Options, you can store settings at two levels:
- Default. Initial settings provided with the IDE installation.
The IDE's default settings cannot be altered, however, they can be overriden
by defining them at the User level.
- User. Settings defined at the User level
that override settings at the Default level.
The following table defines the icons used in Advanced Options to indicate the levels at which
settings are applied.
Icon |
Description |
 |
The settings for the corresponding options are defined at the level indicated
in the column's title. Any changes made to those settings apply at that
level. |
 |
The settings for the corresponding options are inherited from a higher
level. |
 |
The settings for the corresponding options are ignored at the indicated
level. |
To define an option's value at the User level:
- Select the node for the option you want to configure.
- Click the cell in the User column for the options node you selected.
- Choose Define Here.
The
icon appears in
the User column.
- In the property sheet, configure the desired settings.
The new values for the selected options override the default values.
To revert to the default settings for an option:
- Select the node for the option you want to configure.
- Click the cell in the Default column for the options node you selected and Choose Revert Definition.
- In the the dialog box, click Yes if you are sure you want to remove the selected option's User-level configuration.
The default values for the selected options are restored. The
icon
appears in the Default column and the
icon
appears in the User column.
- When reverting to default settings, the IDE removes
any values stored at the User level for the selected option.
-
See Also
- About Configuring the IDE
- IDE Startup Parameters
- Configuring General Java Settings
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