Opening the Source Editor

Before starting to work in the Source Editor, you will typically want to have an IDE project set up. You can then open an existing file or create a new file from a template. See Chapter 3 for basic information on creating projects and files and for a description of the various file templates.

If you would simply like to create a file without setting up a project, you can use the Favorites window. The Favorites window enables you to make arbitrary folders and files on your system accessible through the IDE. The Favorites window is not designed for full-scale project development, but it can be useful if you just want to open and edit a few files quickly.

To use the Source Editor without creating a project:

1. Choose Window | Favorites to open the Favorites window.

2. Add the folder where you want the file to live (or where it already lives) by right-clicking in the Favorites window, choosing Add to Favorites, and choosing the folder from the file chooser.

3. In the Favorites window, navigate to the file that you want to edit and doubleclick it to open it in the Source Editor.

   If you want to create a new file, right-click a folder node, choose New | Empty File, and enter a filename (including extension).