In this chapter:
In this chapter, I conclude discussion of the Visual Basic Editor by moving from its basic organization to a discussion of how you use the Editor when programming. Again, you may want to read quickly through this chapter and refer to it later as needed.
If you prefer the keyboard to the mouse (as I do), then you might want to use keyboard navigating shortcuts. Here are some tips.
The following keyboard shortcuts are used for navigating the IDE:
- F7
Go to the Code window
- F4
Go to the Properties window
- Ctrl-R
Go to the Project window
- Ctrl-G
Go to the Immediate window
- Alt-F11
Toggle between Word and VB IDE
Within the code window, the following keystrokes are very useful:
F1 Help on the item under the cursor.
- Shift-F2
Go to the definition of the item under the cursor. (If the cursor is over a call to a function or subroutine, pressing Shift-F2 sends you to the definition of that procedure.)
- Ctrl-Shift-F2
Return to the last position where editing took place.
The following keystrokes are useful when tracing through code (discussed later):
F8 Step Into
- Shift-F8
Step Over
- Ctrl-Shift-F8
Step Out
- Ctrl-F8
Run To Cursor
F5 Run
- Ctrl-Break
Break
- Shift-F9
Quick Watch
F9 Toggle Breakpoint
- Ctrl-Shift-F9
Clear All Breakpoints
It is also possible to insert bookmarks within code. A bookmark marks a location to which you can return easily. To insert a bookmark, or to move to the next or previous bookmark, use the Bookmarks submenu on the Edit menu. The presence of a bookmark is indicated by a small blue square in the left margin of the code.
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