# The KWrite Handbook

Cristian
Tibirna

    tibirna@kde.org

Version 0.1, 25 Jan 1999

This Handbook describes KWrite Version 0.98

The Kwrite handbook

text
editor

## Introduction

KWrite is a text editor for the KDE Desktop. It could be a programmer's editor best used in conjunction with kfm for source file browsing for different languages. KWrite may also serve well for composition of small plain text documents. It is meant to be a programmers editor, and it could be considered as a partial alternative to more powerful editors such as XEmacs or Emacs. KWrite's main functionality feature is the colorized syntax assured for many programming languages: C/C++, Java, Python, Perl, Bash, Modula 2, HTML, Ada.

### New

- Python and Perl support

- many, many others

I hope you will enjoy this editor,

`Jochen Wilhelmy`

digisnap@cs.tu-berlin.de

## Installation

### How to obtain KWrite

KWrite is a core application of the KDE project http://www.kde.org. KWrite can be found on ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/, the main ftp site of the KDE project.

### Requirements

In order to successfully compile KWrite, you need the latest versions of `libkdecore` and `libkfm`. All required libraries as well as KWrite itself can be found on ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/.

### Compilation and installation

In order to compile and install KWrite on your system, type the following in the base directory of the KWrite distribution:

    % ./configure
    % make
    % make install

Since KWrite uses `autoconf` you should have not trouble compiling it. Should you run into problems please report them to the KDE mailing lists.

## Onscreen Fundamentals

KWrite is very simply to use. I am sure that if you have ever used a text edit you will have no problems with KWrite.

### Drag and Drop

KWrite makes use of the KDE Drag and Drop protocol. This means that you can darg and drop files form the Desktop or kfm or some remote ftp site that you have open in one of kfm's windows on to KWrite.

### Editing files on the internet

You can open and save files transparently on the internet. Try the the following at the command-line prompt to see an example of this.

    % kwrite ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/Welcome.msg

### Printing

KWrite doesn't support printing yet.

### Key Bindings

KWrite honors the following key bindings.

- `Insert` Toggle between Insert and Overwrite mode

- `Left Arrow` Move the cursor one character leftwards

- `Right Arrow` Move the cursor one character rightwards

- `Up Arrow` Move the cursor one line upwards

- `Down Arrow` Move the cursor one line downwards

- `Page Up` Move the cursor one page upwards

- `Page Down` Move the cursor one page downwards

- `Backspace` Delete the character to the left of the cursor

- `Home` Move the cursor to the beginning of the line

- `End` Move the cursor to the end of the line

- `Delete` Delete the character to the right of the cursor

- `Shift - Left Arrow` Mark text one character leftwards

- `Shift - Right Arrow` Mark text one character rightwards

- `Alternate-S` Set bookmark

- `Alternate-C` Clear bookmark

- `F1` Help

- `F3` Find again

- `F5` Vertical selection

- `Control-F` Find

- `Control-C` Copy the marked text to the clipboard.

- `Control-F` Find

- `Control-G` Go to a given line

- `Control-I` Indent

- `Control-K` Delete a line

- `Control-N` New document (the one already in editing will be saved)

- `Control-R` Replace

- `Control-U` Unindent

- `Control-V` Paste the clipboard text into line edit.

- `Control-X` Cut the marked text, copy to clipboard.

## The Menu Entries

### File

#### New

Opens a new Document in the editor

#### Open

Allows the user to open a document

#### Insert

Allows the user to insert a new document in the edited document

#### Open Recent

A fast list of previously opened documents

#### Save

Saves the current Document

#### Save As

Allows the user to save the document in a new file.

#### Close

Closes the editor window. If the closed editor window was the last instance open, KWrite will exit.

#### New Window

Creates a new window

#### New View

Creates a new view of the same document

### Edit

#### Copy

Copies the current selection to the clip board.

#### Cut

Deletes the current selection and places it into the clip board

#### Paste

Inserts the content of the clip board at the current cursor position

#### Find

Opens the find dialog.

#### Replace

Opens the replace dialog

#### Find Again

Repeats the last find operation , if a find operation has already taken place.

#### Goto Line

Opens the goto line dialog

#### Undo

Annulated the last operation

#### Redo

Redoes the last annulated operation

#### Indent

Increases the paragraph's indentation

#### Unindent

Reduces the paragraph's indentation

#### Select All

Selects all the buffer

#### Unselect All

Annulates the selections

#### Invert the selection

Selects the unselected text and annulates the previous selection

### Bookmarks

### Options

#### Set Highlight

Allows the user to choose the type of color highlighting which the editor uses to display the text. The font/color information is not stored with the document.

#### Defaults

Allows the user to set and save a group of default settings: font, fg/bg color, for each type of highlight definition

#### Highlight

Allows the user to customize in detail the way highlight rules work for him (together with mime type association for each highlight definition).

#### Colors

Allows the user to select fore and background color of KWrite's text display area.

#### Vertical Selection

Turns on/off the vertical selection feature

#### Show toolbar

#### Show statusbar

#### Save Config

Saves the modified configurations

### Help

#### Contents

Invokes the KDE help system with the KWrite help pages displayed.

#### About kwrite

Displays essential information about KWrite.

#### About KDE

Displays essential information about KDE

## Questions and answers