Write and edit source code
When you work with code, MPS ensures that your work is stress-free. It offers various shortcuts and features to help you add, select, copy, move, edit, fold, find occurrences, and save code.
Find action
If you do not remember a shortcut for the action you want to use, press Ctrl+Shift+A to find any action by name.
Configure tabs and indents
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
Select a language for which you want to configure the indentation.
From the options on the right, on the Tabs and Indents, select the Use tab character for the editor to use tabs when you press Tab, indent, or reformat code. You can also configure the tab size if you need. If you don't select this option, MPS will use spaces.
Copy and paste code
You can use the standard shortcuts to copy Ctrl+C and paste Ctrl+V any selected code fragment. If nothing is selected, MPS automatically copies as is the whole line where the caret is located.
By default, when you paste anything in the editor, MPS performs "smart" paste, for example, pasting multiple lines in comments will automatically add the appropriate markers to the lines you are pasting. If you need to paste just plain text, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+V.
Place the caret at a line or a symbol, right-click to open the context menu, select . When you select the Copy Reference (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C) option, MPS creates a reference string that includes the line number of the selected line or symbol. You can press Ctrl+V to paste the copied reference anywhere.
MPS keeps track of everything you copy to the clipboard. To paste from history, in the editor, from the context menu, select (Ctrl+Shift+V). In the dialog that opens, select your entry and click Paste.
When you copy and paste code to the editor, MPS displays the hidden (special) characters represented by their Unicode name abbreviation.
Lines of code
MPS offers several useful shortcuts for manipulating code lines.
To add a line after the current one, press Shift+Enter. MPS moves the caret to the next line.
To add a line before the current one, press Ctrl+Alt+Enter. MPS moves the caret to the previous line.
To duplicate a line, press Ctrl+D.
To sort lines alphabetically in the whole file or in a code selection, from the main menu, select or . These actions might be helpful when you work with property files, data sets, text files, log files, and so on. If you need to assign shortcuts to those actions, refer to Configure keyboard shortcuts for more information.
To delete a line, place the caret at the line you need and press Ctrl+Y.
To split string literals into two parts, press Enter.
MPS splits the string and provides the correct syntax. You can also use the Break string on '\n' intention to split string literals. Press Alt+Enter or click
to select this intention.To comment a line of code, place the caret at the appropriate line and press Ctrl+/. Press Ctrl+/ again on the same line to uncomment it.
Code statements
Move statements
In the editor, place the caret at the needed statement and press Ctrl+Shift+Up to move a statement up or Ctrl+Shift+Down to move a statement down. MPS moves the selected statement performing a syntax check.
Complete current statement
In the editor, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter or from the main menu select . MPS inserts the required trailing comma automatically in structs, slices, and other composite literals. The caret is moved to the position where you can start typing the next statement.
Code fragments
Move and copy code fragments by dragging them in the editor.
To move a code fragment, select it and drag the selection to the target location.
To copy a code selection, keeping Ctrl pressed, drag it to the target location.
To toggle between the upper and lower case for the selected code fragment, press Ctrl+Shift+U.
Note that when you apply the toggle case action to the CamelCase name format, MPS converts the name to the lower case.
Code folding
Folded code fragments are shown as shaded ellipses (
). If a folded code fragment contains errors, MPS highlights the fragment in red.
Expand or collapse code elements
To fold or unfold a code fragment, press Ctrl+NumPad -/Ctrl+NumPad +. MPS folds or unfolds the current code fragment, for example, a single method.
To collapse or expand all code fragments, press Ctrl+Shift+NumPad -/Ctrl+Shift+NumPad +.
MPS collapses or expands all fragments within the selection, or, if nothing is selected, all fragments in the current file, for example, all methods in a file.
To fold blocks of code, press Ctrl+Shift+.. This action collapses the code fragment between the matched pair of curly braces
{}, creates a custom folding region for that fragment, and makes it "foldable".To collapse or expand a custom code fragment, select it and press Ctrl+..
You can fold or unfold any manually selected regions in code.
Fold or unfold nested fragments
To expand the current fragment and all the nested fragments, press Ctrl+NumPad *, 1. You can expand the current fragment up to the specified nesting level (from 1 to 5).
To expand all the collapsed fragments in the file, press Ctrl+Shift+NumPad *, 1. You can expand the collapsed fragments up to the specified nesting level (from 1 to 5).
Use the Surround With action
You can collapse or expand code using the action.
In the editor, select a code fragment and press Ctrl+Alt+T.
From the popup menu, select <editor-fold...> Comments or region...endregion Comments.
Optionally, specify a description under which the collapsed fragment will be hidden.
To collapse or expand the created region, press Ctrl+..
To navigate to the created custom region, press Ctrl+Alt+..
Disable code folding outline
You can disable the code folding outline that appears on the gutter.
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
Clear the checkbox.