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2022.2
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  1. Write and edit source code
  2. Live templates

Live templates

Last modified: 12 May 2022

Expand a live template: Tab

Configure: Ctrl+Alt+S Settings/Preferences | Editor | Live Templates

Use live templates to insert common constructs into your code, such as loops, conditions, various declarations, or print statements.

To expand a code snippet, type the corresponding template abbreviation and press Tab. Keep pressing Tab to jump from one variable in the template to the next one. Press Shift+Tab to move to the previous variable.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2022.2/ws_react_live_template.png
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Types of live templates

The following types of live templates are distinguished:

  • Simple templates contain only fixed plain text. When you expand a simple template, the text is automatically inserted into your source code, replacing the abbreviation. For example, flow inserts a @flow annotation, vbase expands into a stub for a Vue single file component, and so on.

    https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2022.2/webstorm_live_templates_expand_simple_template.png
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  • Parameterized templates contain variables that enable user input. When you expand a parameterized template, variables are either replaced by input fields for the user to specify manually, or calculated by WebStorm automatically. For example, importitems expands into an import statement where you can first specify the path and then the imported members as parameters.

    https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2022.2/ws_live_templates_param_template_expand.png
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  • Surround templates wrap a block of the selected code with the text specified by the user. For example, T expands into a pair of tags, for which you can specify a name. You can also select a block of code, then press Ctrl+Alt+J to open the Select Template popup and select the T template to wrap the selection with a pair of tags.

JavaScript postfix templates are live templates, but create constructs for existing code. For example, you can type .if after an expression to invoke the corresponding postfix completion and wrap the expression with an if statement.

Configure live templates

To configure live templates, open the Editor | Live Templates page of the IDE settings Ctrl+Alt+S. On the Live Templates page, you can see all the available live templates, edit them and create new templates.

To make finding and editing templates easier, they are split into groups. To move a template to another group, right-click the template, select Move, and then select the necessary group name.

note

If you set a dialect for a live template, this live template will work only in this dialect.

Each live template is defined by an abbreviation containing alphanumeric characters, dots, and hyphens. The abbreviation must be unique within a group, but the same abbreviation may be used in different groups and expand to different constructs according to the context of the corresponding group. Abbreviations of modified default templates are shown in the list with blue font.