How to differentiate color scheme - colors

I would like to change color scheme Eiffel so that the keyword class in java files will be different color than keyword int? If I change Storage in Eiffel, both keywords change the color.

You need to find out the exact scopes of class and int. The PackageResourceViewer is a great way to open files inside .sublime-package files.
Once installed, launch *”PackageResourceViewer: Open Resource, open the Java package and look for the syntax files (e.g.Java.sublime-syntax`).
I'm not familiar enough with Java, but it looks to me like class uses the scope meta.class and int uses storage.type.primitive.array. That means, that in your theme you would at least have to change meta or storage. Needless to say that you can be more specific than that.

Using a nice little plugin called ScopeAlways, you can see in the status bar the full scope underlying your cursor (if you have multiple cursors, it just uses the first one). In Sublime Text 2, using the following code:
public class Hello {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello World!");
int integer = 13;
}
}
The word class is scoped as storage.modifier.java, whereas int is scoped as storage.type.primitive.array.java (I removed a few unimportant extraneous scopes from each for clarity). So, in your theme, you could have one color for storage.modifier, and another for storage.type, to differentiate between class and int. Be aware, however, that many other keywords will fall under both scopes, so your custom colors won't just highlight those particular words.
Good luck!

Related

Resharper run configurations

I'm trying to make a reshaprer plugin to add one (or more) configurations, besides executable, static method, project, at resharper's build/run window.
Any guidelines where to start? Or how to access build's context and configure?
Currently examining the JetBrains.IDE.RunConfig, SolutionBuilders etc but one help would be appreciated.
Should this plugin be a SolutionComponent or a SolutionInstanceComponent?
Resharper's sdk help lucks documentation on build/run component.
Thank in advance!
You can extend the available run configuration types by implementing IRunConfig and IRunConfigProvider.
The IRunConfigProvider class needs to be marked as [ShellComponent], and can derive from the RunConfigProviderBase abstract base class. You get to specify a name, e.g. "Executable", a type identifier, e.g. "exe" and an icon ID. There's also the CreateNew method, which will create a new instance of your IRunConfig class, which will be mostly unconfigured, at this point.
The IRunConfig interface doesn't need to marked as a component, and should also derive from RunConfigBase - take a look at RunConfigExe in dotPeek to see an example of how to implement. You should override Execute in order to actually run whatever it is you need to run. You can use the RunConfigContext class passed in to actually execute a process from a ProcessStartInfo, or an IProject - this will execute it either by running the process, debugging it, or something else, such as code coverage or profiling.
For an .exe, this is as simple as:
public override void Execute(RunConfigContext context)
{
context.ExecutionProvider.Execute(GetStartInfo(context), context, this);
}
But for a more complicated example, look at RunConfigMethod.Execute, which uses its own standalone launcher executable, and passes in command line parameters to load the correct assembly and execute the given static method.
Settings are implemented with ReadSpecific/SaveSpecific, and you can provide an editor view model with CreateEditor. You'll need a settings class, something like:
[SettingsKey(typeof (ConfigSettings), ".exe config")]
public class ExeSettings
{
[SettingsEntry(null, "Path to .exe")] public string Executable;
[SettingsEntry(null, "Working directory")] public string WorkingDirectory;
[SettingsEntry(null, "Command line arguments")] public string Arguments;
}
The view for the editor is provided by a WPF control that is displayed in a dialog that ReSharper controls. The view needs to be decorated with the [View] attribute and must implement IView<T> where T is the concrete class returned from CreateEditor. This is how ReSharper will locate the view for the view model returned by CreateEditor. Again, take a look at RunConfigMethodView in dotPeek for some more idea of what's going on (and if you look in the resources, you'll be able to see the XAML itself).

Unity - How to write a "Behaviour" or script for entire scene (in C#)?

I am starting to learn Unity.
As I understand, We can write scripts(behaviors) in the form of C# files and apply them to each objects on the scene.
But how to write a script for the entire scene? I know this is a obvious question - there has to be a script for the entire scene so that all my objects "behave" in a synchronized way and it's gotta be pretty basic, but preliminary Google searches has not borne much fruit.
Can someone give me a quick guide?
Taking your "boxes" example comment I would do the following:
Create an empty gameobject, let's call it BoxesController...
Attach below BoxesController.cs script to it
In the editor inspector reference all boxes
BoxesController.cs
public class BoxesController: MonoBehaviour
{
public Transform box1, box2, box3;
void Update() {
// change boxes position
}
}
Now imagine you will need to have > 30 boxes in current scene... You will have a lot of work to reference each box. So you could change your script if you add a Tag to all boxes. Let's say you create a new tag inside Unity Tag Manager called "Box" and give it to all boxes.
You now can change BoxesController.cs script to the above and you will not have to reference all boxes in the Editor Inspector because they will be searched and referenced inside Start method.
BoxesController.cs
public class BoxesController: MonoBehaviour
{
public GameObject[] boxes;
void Start()
{
boxes = GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag("Box");
}
void Update() {
// change boxes position
foreach (GameObject go in boxes)
{
//get box name
string box_name = go.Name;
// get box transform property
Transform t = go.transform;
}
}
}
Please note that GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag is a heavy operation and that's why I did it in the Start method and saved the result to reuse it in Update method calls.
what you can do is create an empty GameObject and add a script to it and use one of the techniques described in the link to get access to the 3 boxes you want to move.
http://docs.unity3d.com/412/Documentation/ScriptReference/index.Accessing_Other_Game_Objects.html
In this case you probably want to use "1. Through inspector assignable references." which just means create a public Transform variable in the script, save, then in the Inspector drag the box in the slot that appeared in the script-component
edit: for further reading i'd suggest googling the term "Game Manager" in combination with "Singelton" and "Unity" :)

Static data in Visual Studio extension

I've got a Visual Studio extension, where much of the functionality is written through MEF. So far, my individual functionality is per ITextBuffer, so I have used the Properties member to cache instances.
However, now I have some functionality that needs to be per-project and per-solution. The EnvDTE classes offer a Properties object but I couldn't figure out whether or not they could store my own arbitrary data. I really don't want to make my own data static.
How can I store per-project and per-solution data without having to resort to global variables?
Edit:
I might also mention that since you can't use MEF imports for static data, even if you hide it in something like a Singleton, then using the global variable route is physically impossible. So I really, really need something that is not a global.
Edit:
I'm talking about object references, not persistent values. I don't need to store anything in a solution or project file, only with the object.
I found a way to convince MEF to honour my static imports, so for now, I'm just using some static data.
(Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Package.GetGlobalService(typeof(SComponentModel)) as IComponentModel).DefaultCompositionService.SatisfyImportsOnce(this);
It was posted somewhere else- maybe even on SO- took me a while to find it though. Note that this has no interface required- reflection is used, so it should be valid for any this.
If I understand your question correctly, you can create a stub class that you do the exports from, instead of trying to force your static classes to export.
public class HostClass
{
public static string StaticString
{ get { return "string value"; } }
}
public class HostClassStub
{
[Export("StaticStringValue", typeof(string))]
public string StaticString
{ get { return HostClass.StaticString; } }
}
You may also consider just making your static class un-static, if that's an option for you. Remember, that by default MEF imports are singletons, so it should be just like having a global set of variables for each project that does the import.
I know this doesn't address the VS Extensions aspect of your problem, but I haven't dealt with those. Maybe this'll give you a path to your solution, though.

Are string constants overrated?

It's easy to lose track of odd numbers like 0, 1, or 5. I used to be very strict about this when I wrote low-level C code. As I work more with all the string literals involved with XML and SQL, I find myself often breaking the rule of embedding constants in code, at least when it comes to string literals. (I'm still good about numeric constants.)
Strings aren't the same as numbers. It feels tedious and a little silly to create a compile-time constant that has the same name as its value (E.g. const string NameField = "Name";), and although the repetition of the same string literal in many locations seems risky, there's little chance of a typo thanks to copying and pasting, and when I refactor I'm usually doing a global search that involves changing more than just the name of the thing, like how it's treated functionally in relation to the things around it.
So, let's say you don't have a good XML serializer (or aren't in the mood to set one up). Which of these would you personally use (if you weren't trying to bow to peer pressure in some code review):
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// ...other code...
XmlNode node = ...;
Console.WriteLine(node["Name"].InnerText);
Console.WriteLine(node["Color"].InnerText);
Console.WriteLine(node["Taste"].InnerText);
// ...other code...
}
or:
class Fruit
{
private readonly XmlNode xml_node;
public Fruit(XmlNode xml_node)
{
this.xml_node = xml_node;
}
public string Name
{ get { return xml_node["Name"].InnerText; } }
public string Color
{ get { return xml_node["Color"].InnerText; } }
public string Taste
{ get { return xml_node["Taste"].InnerText; } }
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// ...other code...
XmlNode node = ...;
Fruit fruit_node = new Fruit(node);
Console.WriteLine(fruit_node.Name);
Console.WriteLine(fruit_node.Color);
Console.WriteLine(fruit_node.Taste);
// ...other code...
}
A defined constant is easier to refactor. If "Name" ends up being used three times and you change it to "FullName", changing the constant is one change instead of three.
For something like that it depends on how often the constant is used. If it's just in one place as per your example, then hard-coding is fine. If it's used in many different places, definitely use a constant. One typo could lead to hours of debugging if you're not careful, because your compiler isn't going to notice that you typed "Tsate" instead of "Taste", while it WILL notice that you typed fruit_node.Tsate instead of fruit_node.Taste.
Edit:
I see now that you mentioned copying and pasting, but if you're doing that you may also be losing the time you save by not creating a constant in the first place. With intellisense and auto-completion, you could have the constant out there in a few keystrokes, instead of going through the trouble of copy/paste.
As you probably guessed. The answer is: it depends on the context.
It depends on what the example code is part of. If it's just part of a small throw away system then hard coding the constants may be acceptable.
If it's part of a large, complex system and the constants will be used in mulitple files, I'd be more drawn to the second option.
As in many matters of programming, this is a matter of taste. The "laws" of proper programming were created from experience -- many people have been burned by global variables causing namespace or clarity problems, so Global Variables Are Evil. Many have used magic numbers, only to later discover that the number was wrong or needed changing. Text search is ill-suited to changing these values, so Constants In Code Are Evil.
But both are permitted, because sometimes they aren't evil. You need to make the decision yourself -- which leads to clearer code? Which is going to be better for maintainers? Does the reasoning behind the original rule apply to my situation? If I had to read or maintain this code later, how would I rather that it were written?
There is no absolute law of good coding style, because no two programmers' minds works exactly alike. The rule is to write the clearest, cleanest code that you can.
Personally, I'd load the fruit from the XML file in advance - something like:
public class Fruit
{
public Fruit(string name, Color color, string taste)
{
this.Name = name; this.Color = color; this.Taste = taste;
}
public string Name { get; private set; }
public Color Color { get; private set; }
public string Taste { get; private set; }
}
// ... In your data access handling class...
public static FruitFromXml(XmlNode node)
{
// create fruit from xml node with validation here
}
}
That way, the "fruit" isn't really tied to the storage.
I'd go with the constants. It is a little more work, but there is no performance impact. And even if you usually copy/paste the values, I've certainly had instances where I changed code when I typed and didn't realize that Visual Studio had focus. I'd much prefer these resulted in compile errors.
For the example given, where the Strings are used as keys to a map or dictionary, I would lean toward use of an enum (or other object) instead. You can often do much more with an enum than with a constant string. In addition, if some code is commented out, IDE's will often miss that when doing a refactor. Also, references to a String constant that are in comments may or may not be included in a refactor.
I will make a constant for a string when the string will be used in many locations, the string is long or complicated (such as a regex), or when a properly-named constant will make the code more obvious.
I prefer my typos, incomplete refactorings, and other bugs of this sort to fail to compile rather than to just fail to operate properly.
Like many other refactorings, it's an arguably optional additional step that leaves you with code that's less risky to maintain and is more easily grokked by the "next guy". If you're in a situation that rewards that kind of thing (most that I'm in do), go for it.
Yeah, pretty much.
I think developers in statically typed languages have an unhealthy fear of anything at all dynamic. Pretty much every line of code in a dynamically typed language is effectively a string literal, and they've been fine for years. For instance, in JavaScript technically this:
var x = myObject.prop1.prop2;
Is equivalent to this:
var x = window["myObject"]["prop1"]["prop2"]; // assuming global scope
But it is definitely not a standard practice in JavaScript to do this:
var OBJ_NAME = "myObject";
var PROP1_NAME = "prop1";
var PROP2_NAME = "prop2";
var x = window[OBJ_NAME][PROP1_NAME][PROP2_NAME];
That would just be ridiculous.
It still depends though, like if a string is used in numerous places and it's rather cumbersome/ugly to type ("name" vs. "my-custom-property-name-x"), then it's probably worth making a constant, even within a single class (at which point it's probably good to be internally consistent within the class and make all the other strings constants too).
Also, if you actually intend for other external users to interact with your library using these constants, then it's also a good idea to define publicly accessible constants and document that users should use those to interact with your library. However, a library which interacts via magic string constants is usually a bad practice and you should consider designing your library in such a way that you don't need to use magic constants to interact with it in the first place.
I think in the specific example you gave, where the strings are relatively simple to type and there are presumably no external users of your API who would expect to work with it using those string values (i.e. they're just for internal data manipulation), readable code is far more valuable than refactorable code, so I would just put the literals directly inline. Again, this is assuming I understand your exact use case specifically.
One thing nobody seemed to notice is that as soon as you define a constant, its scope becomes something to maintain and think about. This actually does have a cost, it's not free like everyone seems to think. Consider this:
Should it be private or public in my class? What if some other namespace/package has a need for the same value, should I now extract the constant to some global static class of constants? What if I now need it in other assemblies/modules, do I extract it further? All these things make the code less and less readable, harder to maintain, less pleasant to work with, and more complicated. All in the name of refactorability?
Usually, these "great refactorings" never occur, and when they do they require a complete rewrite anyway, with all new strings. And if you had been using some shared module before this great refactoring (as in the above paragraph) which didn't have these new strings which you now need, what then? Do you add them to the same shared module of constants (what if you don't have access to the code for this shared module)? Or do you keep them local to you, in which case there are now multiple scattered repositories of string constants, all at different levels, running the risk of duplicated constants all over the code? Once you get to this point (and believe me I've seen it), refactoring becomes moot, because while you'll get all your usages of your constants, you'll miss other people's usages of their constants, even though these constants have the same logical value as your constants and you're actually trying to change all of them.

Are there any reasons not to use "this" ("Self", "Me", ...)?

I read this answer and its comments and I'm curious: Are there any reasons for not using this / Self / Me ?
BTW: I'm sorry if this has been asked before, it seems that it is impossible to search for the word this on SO.
Warning: Purely subjective answer below.
I think the best "reason" for not using this/self/me is brevity. If it's already a member variable/function then why redundantly add the prefix?
Personally I avoid the use of this/self/me unless it's necessary to disambiguate a particular expression for the compiler. Many people disagree with this but I haven't ever had it be a real sticking point in any group I've worked for.
I think most of the common scenarios have been covered in the two posts already cited; mainly brevity and redundancy vs clarity - a minor addition: in C#, it is required to use "this" in order to access an "extension method" for the current type - i.e.
this.Foo();
where Foo() is declared externally as:
public static void Foo(this SomeType obj) {...}
It clarifies in some instances, like this example in c#:
public class SomeClass
{
private string stringvar = "";
public SomeClass(string stringvar)
{
this.stringvar = stringvar;
}
}
If you use StyleCop with all the rules on, it makes you put the this. in. Since I started using it I find my code is more readable, but that's personal preference.
I think this is a non-issue, because it only adds more readability to the code which is a good thing.
For some languages, like PHP, it is even mandatory to prefix with $this-> if you need to use class fields or methods.
I don't like the fact that it makes some lines unnecessarily longer than they could be, if PHP had some way to reference class members without it.
I personally find that this.whatever is less readable. You may not notice the difference in a 2-line method, but wait until you get this.variable and this.othervariable everywhere in a class.
Furthermore, I think that use of this. was found as a replacement for a part of the much hated Hungarian notation. Some people out there found out that it's still clearer for the reader to see that a variable is a class member, and this. did the trick. But why fool ourselves and not use the plain old "m_" or simply "_" for that, if we need the extra clarity? It's 5 characters vs. 2 (or even 1). Less typing, same result.
Having said that, the choice of style is still a matter of personal preference. It's hard to convince somebody used to read code in a certain way that is useful to change it.
well, eclipse does color fields, arguments and local variables in different colors, so at least working in eclipse environment there is no need to syntactically distinguish fields in order to specially mark them as "fields" for yourself and generations to come.
It was asked before indeed, in the "variable in java" context:
Do you prefix your instance variable with ‘this’ in java ?
The main recurrent reason seems to be:
"it increases the visual noise you need to sift through to find the meaning of the code."
Readability, in other word... which I do not buy, I find this. very useful.
That sounds like nonsense to me. Using 'this' can make the code nicer, and I can see no problems with it. Policies like that is stupid (at least when you don't even tell people why they are in place).
as for me i use this to call methods of an instantiated object whereas self is for a static method
In VB.NET one of the common practice I use is the following code :
Class Test
Private IntVar AS Integer
Public Function New(intVar As Integer)
Me.Intvar = intvar
End Function
End Class
Not all the time but mostly Me / this / self is quite useful. Clarifies the scope that you are talking.
In a typical setter method (taken from lagerdalek's answer):
string name;
public void SetName(string name)
{
this.name = name;
}
If you didn't use it, the compiler wouldn't know you were referring to the member variable.
The use of this. is to tell the compiler that you need to access a member variable - which is out of the immediate scope of the method. Creating a variable within a method which is the same name as a member variable is perfectly legal, just like overriding a method in a class which has extended another class is perfectly legal.
However, if you still need to use the super class's method, you use super. In my opinion using this. is no worse than using super. and allows the programmer more flexibility in their code.
As far as I'm concerned readability doesn't even come into it, it's all about accessibility of your variables.
In the end it's always a matter of personal choice. Personally, I use this coding convention:
public class Foo
{
public string Bar
{
get
{
return this.bar;
}
/*set
{
this.bar = value;
}*/
}
private readonly string bar;
public Foo(string bar)
{
this.bar = bar;
}
}
So for me "this" is actually necessary to keep the constructor readable.
Edit: the exact same example has been posted by "sinje" while I was writing the code above.
Not only do I frequently use "this". I sometimes use "that".
class Foo
{
private string bar;
public int Compare(Foo that)
{
if(this.bar == that.bar)
{
...
And so on. "That" in my code usually means another instance of the same class.
'this.' in code always suggests to me that the coder has used intellisense (or other IDE equivalents) to do their heavy lifting.
I am certainly guilty of this, however I do, for purely vanity reasons, remove them afterwards.
The only other reasons I use them are to qualify an ambiguous variable (bad practice) or build an extension method
Qualifying a variable
string name; //should use something like _name or m_name
public void SetName(string name)
{
this.name = name;
}

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