Advanced Editing Features

A brief overview of select advanced editing features is contained below:

Keyboard Macro Recording and Execution

This is a way to carry out complex sequences of IDE commands or perform complex editing operations in the Source Editor or Debugger by entering only a short key sequence from the keyboard. A macro is recorded by entering CTRL-J and S to start recording, then entering the desired keystrokes, and entering CTRL-J and E to stop recording. The macro is given a name and associated with a unique keystroke combination to cause it to execute.

From then on, entering the keystroke combination will cause all the recorded keystrokes to playback, accomplishing the action without having to repeat every keystroke. See Editing Source Files | Using Macros and Abbreviations in the NetBeans Online Help for more information.

Abbreviation Expansion

Abbreviations can save time by allowing long words or expressions to be substituted for much shorter combinations of letters. For example, enter the characters 'rr' and press the space bar in the Source Editor. The 'rr' characters, which constitute a pre-defined abbreviation, are replaced with the text 'readrecord.' See Editing Source Files | Using Macros and Abbreviations in the NetBeans Online Help for more information.

Find and Replace

NetBeans has sophisticated text find and replace capabilities, documented in Editing Source Files | Finding and Replacing Text in the NetBeans Online Help.

Bookmarks and File Navigation

Bookmarks are a type of "place marker" that can be set in various locations of a source file, allowing the user to quickly return there. Setting a bookmark is done by right clicking in the gutter of the Source Editor to open the popup menu and then selecting the bookmark item. See Editing Source Files | Other Source Editor Shortcuts | Using Bookmarks in the NetBeans Online Help for more information.

Navigating through a large file is also made quicker with the use of word matching and the jump list. To go to the next instance of a particular word in a file (searching in a forward direction), type the beginning of the word and press CTRL-L. To search backwards for the next instance, type the beginning of the word and press CTRL-K. See Editing Source Files | Other Source Editor Shortcuts | Using the Word Match Feature in the NetBeans Online Help for more information.

The jump list is automatically maintained by the Source Editor. Each entry represents a point in a file where text has been added or deleted, or a point that has been navigated to with the find function or the "goto" navigation shortcuts. Using the special jump key combinations will move you rapidly from one entry to the next in the jump list; even going between files. See Editing Source Files | Other Source Editor Shortcuts | Using the Word Match Feature and Using the Jump List in the NetBeans Online Help for more information.