Liberty BASIC Workshop Help

Display or hide Workshop Toolbar and Gui Toolbox by clicking their names in the menu. If a toolbar is visible, a checkmark appears next to the menu item.

Liberty BASIC Workshop reads a list of custom keywords, if one has been provided. This list can be created, deleted and modified in the Edit Custom Keywords dialog. Type the desired custom keywords into the textbox. Click OKAY to accept the new keywords, CANCEL to cancel the dialog and make no changes, or DELETE CUSTOM KEYWORDS to delete the keyword file and return to using the default keywords provided by Liberty BASIC Workshop. Custom keywords will be highlighted just like the default Liberty BASIC keywords. Use this feature to cause subs and functions in the program's code to be highlighted just like regular Liberty BASIC subs and functions.

The font option allows the choice of font facename, style and size with which to display text in the code editor windows. Change the display font in Options, Preferences, Editor Font. Preferences are saved upon exit.

This dialog also includes the number of characters for a tab. Choose any number between 1 and 12, and tab stops will be set at this value. Remember that Liberty BASIC doesn't support tab characters, so tabs are automatically translated into the proper number of space characters.

There is an option to auto-indent text. When this option is in force and ENTER is pressed, the text cursor moves to the next line and indents it the same amount as the previous line is indented from the left margin. If the previous line begins with "if", "while", "for" or "do", the next line will be indented one tab further for nested code that looks like this:

Use of the backspace key on indented code causes it to backspace by one tab stop, rather than by one character, making it easier to end a nested loop such as the one above.

There is an option to load the most recently used file when Liberty BASIC Workshop starts. Leaving the checkbox empty causes LB Workshop to open with no file loaded. Putting a check mark in the checkbox causes Liberty BASIC Workshop to open with the most recently used file loaded. If "Open New File at Startup" is checked, this option is unavailable.

There is an option to open an empty code window whenever Liberty BASIC Workshop starts. Leaving the checkbox empty causes Liberty BASIC Workshop to open with no file loaded. Putting a check mark in the checkbox causes Liberty BASIC Workshop to open with an empty code window loaded. If "Open Last File at Startup" is checked, this option is unavailable.

There is an option to include indentation guides. These guides draw lines between lines of code that are indented to the same level, making it easy to see if for/next, while/wend, and similar constructions nest properly and have correct terminations.

There is an option to cause Liberty BASIC Workshop to prompt you for comments each time you close a file. If this option is in force, you are presented with a dialog in which to enter a brief comment that will be prepended to the file, along with the date, when you close the file. If you cancel this dialog, only the date is prepended to the file.

Syntax coloring may be toggled on or off in Options, Preferences, Syntax Coloring. If used, by default, comments are colored green, quotes are purple, keywords are blue, handles are cyan, numbers and operators are maroon, and branch labels are colored red. Regular text color and backcolor match the current desktop color scheme. Backcolor for comments is pale gray and the current line is backcolored in tan. These colors can be changed by the user by clicking the desired label in the Options, Preferences, Syntax Coloring dialog. It is also possible to return the syntax colors to their default values.

Paths may be set or changed to indicate the location of Liberty.exe (Liberty BASIC), the Liberty BASIC Helpfile,the Liberty BASIC runtime engine (run.exe), and the preferred version of FreeForm, the gui builder included with Liberty BASIC. There is also a user-defined Helpfile that can be set or changed. Make changes in Options, Preferences, Paths.

The top toolbar contains a hot button to launch user-defined applications. To set up user-defined applications, go to Options, Preferences, Customize and choose Add/Remove User-defined Applications. This will activate a dialog to add or remove user-defined applications. There is a limit of 10 user-defined applications that may be added to the hot button.

If desired, files with extensions of BAS and LBF may be associated with LB Workshop. This means that if a file with that extension is clicked in Windows Explorer or My Computer, it will cause LB Workshop to run with the file loaded. This is accomplished in the OPTIONS, Preferences, Customize dialog. BAS files are source code files that will open in an LB Workshop edit window. LBF files are LB Workshop GUI Form files that will open in the LB Workshop Gui Builder.

To change file associations manually, use My Computer or Windows Explorer. Go to the VIEW menu and choose FOLDER OPTIONS. Click on the FILE TYPES tab. Scroll to the file type 'BAS' in the list and choose to edit it.

LB Workshop will ask if an unsaved file should be saved before closing. If this option is not desirable, turn it off in the OPTIONS, Preferences, Customize dialog.

Linenumbers appear in the left margin if that option is in force. If linenumbers are turned off, the left margin shrinks to a narrow gray border that is large enough to contain the bookmark graphic. Turn this option on or off in OPTIONS, Preferences, Editor Dialog.

The line containing the caret may be highlighted. Turn this option on or off in OPTIONS, Preferences, Editor Dialog. The highlight color may be changed in the Syntax Color Dialog.

In the "Customize" tab of the Options Dialog, there is an option to "Automatically add programmer's comments to all new code windows." If this is selected, all new code windows will include the programmer's comments at the top. There is a textbox to enter any comments or code to be included with this feature. The comments are saved to disk and can be modified at any time. Comments may include any text or code desired.