Basic Functions

This section covers the basic functions that are included as part of Launchpad.

Basics

The essential elements of the IDE is the editor itself. It allows for all the standard functions.

• Code Writing Create, open and edit text files. You can open and edit multiple files at one time.
• Manual Saving: This involves actively choosing to save your current progress. It can be done by clicking a "Save Changes".
• Undo: The Undo feature allows you to reverse the last action (or a series of actions) you took. This can include typing, formatting changes, deleting content, or more complex operations.
• Redo: The Redo feature complements Undo by allowing you to reapply actions that you've undone. For example, if you use Undo to revert a change but then decide that the change was desirable after all, you can use Redo to reapply it.
• Copy: This action creates a duplicate of the selected data and stores it temporarily in the system's clipboard. This allows you to place a copy of the data in another location without removing it from its original location.
• Cut: Similar to copy, but this action removes the selected data from its original location and stores it temporarily in the clipboard. You can then paste this data in a new location. Cutting effectively moves the data from one place to another.
• Paste: This action places the data currently stored in the clipboard into the location where the paste command is executed. The data could be something you've previously copied or cut. Pasting does not remove the data from the clipboard; it remains there until you cut or copy something else.
• Delete: This action permanently removes the selected data from its current location. Unlike cutting, deleted data is not stored in the clipboard and is typically not recoverable (unless a recycle bin or similar feature is used and not yet emptied).
• Line Numbering: This feature displays a column of numbers along the side of the code editor, with each number corresponding to a line in the text or code file. Line numbering helps developers quickly navigate to specific lines of code, making it easier to locate sections of code, reference specific parts during collaboration, or debug by pointing out the exact line where an error occurs.
• Code Folding: Code folding allows selective hiding and displaying sections of the currently edited file, making it easier to manage and navigate complex code files. It lets you collapse (fold) blocks of code, such as functions, loops, or conditional statements, into a single line.

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Many actions also have keyboard shortcuts allowing for a faster more convenient programming experience. You can have the list in the Shortcuts section.

Find & Replace

• Find: Search for specific text within the documents or code files. Search for words, phrases, or patterns (using Regex). Once initiated, it highlights all instances of the searched term, enabling quick navigation between occurrences. This feature is essential for quickly locating references to variables, functions, or specific terms within large codebases.
• Find and Replace: Allows for both searching and replacing of a specific text. This can be done on a case-by-case basis, where you review each instance before deciding to replace it, or en masse, where all instances of the searched term are replaced throughout the document or a selected portion of it. "Find and Replace" is particularly useful for renaming variables, updating function names, or making widespread changes to code or text while ensuring consistency across the entire document or project.

Additional Find and Replace Features

Two additional features are available when using find and replace. They can be enabled by clicking on the respective icons next to the find search input box.

Regular Expressions (Regex): This is a very powerful tool used for searching and matching text based on specific patterns. Instead of searching for exact words, regex allows you to define a pattern that describes a set of strings.

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For example if Regex is turn on then searching variable(name|function)? will match variable, variablename and variablefunction.

Case Sensitivity: When the case sensitivity option is enabled in a search, the search distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase letters.

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For example if case sensitivity is turn on then searching "VariableName" will only match variableName and not variablename.

Build & Deploy

Launchpad supports building and deploying code but either right-clicking the program and selecting respectively from the dropdown or directly from the respective icons in the text editor.

• Build: Building a program will compiling the source code into executable code that a computer can run. This process may include converting source code written in a high-level programming language into machine code (binary code), linking together different code modules and libraries, and packaging these into a single executable application.
• Building & Deploy: This involves first building the program then pushing it to the device. This required the device to have internet access.

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The build and deploy process can be monitored and cancelled in the Deployments Window

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Once the program is deployed to the device it will run automatically.

Error Detection and Debugging

Build and deploy compiler errors will be output to the Deployments Window build output section. It will output the section of code where the error is.