16 KiB

Basics of working with the Editor

[Source code] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-sdk/tree/master/code_samples/editor_basics)

TODO - Check links


This tutorial will lead you through the series of steps showing how to work with the Editor in IntelliJ IDEA, how access and modify text it contains, and how to handle events sent to the Editor.

#Editor. Working with text The following set of steps will show how to access a text selection and change it.

##Prerequirements TODO - extract to "add action" part ###Creating a new action In this example access to the Editor is made through an action as a plug-in point. To create an action we need derive [AnAction.java] () class.

public class EditorIllustration extends AnAction {
}

###Registering an action To register the action we should add a corresponding attribute to the section of the plugin configuration file [plugin.xml] ()

<actions>
    <action id="EditorBasics.EditorIllustration" class="org.jetbrains.plugins.editor.basics.EditorIllustration" text="Editor Basics"
        description="Illustrates how to plug an action in">
    <add-to-group group-id="EditorPopupMenu" anchor="last"/>
</action>

If an action is registered in the group EditorPopupMenu, like the sample above shows, it will be available from the context menu when the focus is located in the editor.

###Defining action's visibility To determine conditions by which the action will be visible and available for being executed we need to override it's public void update(final AnActionEvent e) method.

public class EditorIllustration extends AnAction {
    @Override
    public void update(final AnActionEvent e) {
    }
}

If we want to work with a selected part of the text, it's reasonable to make the action available only when the following requirements are met:

  • There is a project open
  • There is an instance of the Editor available
  • There is a text selection in the Editor

Further steps will show how to check these conditions through obtaining instances of Project and Editor and how to set up a desired level of action's visibility.

##Getting an instance of the Active Editor A reference to an instance of the Editor can be obtained by calling CommonDataKeys.EDITOR, obtaining a project reference is performed the same way CommonDataKeys.PROJECT.

public class EditorIllustration extends AnAction {
    @Override
    public void update(final AnActionEvent e) {
        //Get required data keys
        final Project project = e.getData(CommonDataKeys.PROJECT);
        final Editor editor = e.getData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
        //Set visibility only in case of existing project and editor
        e.getPresentation().setVisible((project != null && editor != null));
    }
}

Note

To access an Editor instance also can be used other ways:


##Obtaining a caret model and selection After making sure we have a project open and an instance of the Editor we need to check if any selection is available and set action's visibility accordingly to these conditions. [SelectionModel] () got from the Editor allows to do it by calling it's hasSelection() method. Here's how our update(final AnActionEvent e) method should look like at the end:

public class EditorIllustration extends AnAction {
    @Override
    public void update(final AnActionEvent e) {
        //Get required data keys
        final Project project = e.getData(CommonDataKeys.PROJECT);
        final Editor editor = e.getData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
        //Set visibility only in case of existing project and editor and if some text in the editor is selected
        e.getPresentation().setVisible((project != null && editor != null
        && editor.getSelectionModel().hasSelection()));
    }
}

Note Editor allows to access different models of text representation. Model classes are located in [editor] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/tree/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor) subpackage of the [editor-ui-api] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/tree/master/platform/editor-ui-api) package and include: [CaretModel.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/CaretModel.java), [FoldingModel.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/FoldingModel.java), [IndentsModel.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/IndentsModel.java), [ScrollingModel.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/ScrollingModel.java), [ScrollingModel.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/ScrollingModel.java), [SoftWrapModel.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/SoftWrapModel.java)


##Obtainitg a Document The action is visible and available now. In order to make it do something we need to override it's public void actionPerformed(final AnActionEvent anActionEvent) method.

public class EditorIllustration extends AnAction {
    @Override
    public void update(final AnActionEvent e) {
    //code here
    }
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(final AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
    }
}

To modify the text an instance of the [Document] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/core-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/Document.java) needs to be accessed. Document represents the contents of a text file loaded into memory, and possibly opened in an IDEA text editor. The instance of a Document will be use later when a text replacement is performed. We also need to figure out where the selected part of the text is located.

@Override
public void actionPerformed(final AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
    //Get all the required data from data keys
    final Editor editor = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
    final Project project = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.PROJECT);
    //Access document, caret, and selection
    final Document document = editor.getDocument();
    final SelectionModel selectionModel = editor.getSelectionModel();
    final int start = selectionModel.getSelectionStart();
    final int end = selectionModel.getSelectionEnd();
}

##Modifying text Generally replacement can be done by calling void replaceString(int startOffset, int endOffset, @NotNull CharSequence s); of the Document, however, the operation of replacement must be executed safely, this mean the Document must be locked and any changes should be performed under the [write action] (). See Threading Issues section to know more about synchronization issues and changes safety in IntelliJ.

@Override
public void actionPerformed(final AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
    //Get all the required data from data keys
    final Editor editor = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
    final Project project = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.PROJECT);
    //Access document, caret, and selection
    final Document document = editor.getDocument();
    final SelectionModel selectionModel = editor.getSelectionModel();

    final int start = selectionModel.getSelectionStart();
    final int end = selectionModel.getSelectionEnd();
    //New instance of Runnable to make a replacement
    Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
        @Override
        public void run() {
            document.replaceString(start, end, "Replacement");
        }
    };
    //Making the replacement
    WriteCommandAction.runWriteCommandAction(project, runnable);
    selectionModel.removeSelection();
}

TODO - screen shot


The source code is located in [EditorIllustration.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-sdk/blob/master/code_samples/editor_basics/src/org/jetbrains/plugins/editor/basics/EditorIllustration.java). To see how text replacement works, check out [Editor Basics] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-sdk/blob/master/code_samples/editor_basics/src/org/jetbrains/plugins/editor/basics/) plugin, make the project, and run it, then invoke the EditorIllustration action which is available in the context menu of the editor.

#Editor coordinates system. Positions and offsets. Every caret in the editor has a set of properties describing it's coordinates. These properties can be accessed by obtaining a [caret model instance] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/CaretModel.java). Working with caret positions and it's logical and visual properties will be explained in the sample below.

##Prerequirements Access to the Editor is performed through an action. TODO - extract to "add action" part

##Accessing caret positions To get an access to caret positions an instance of CaretModel should be obtained.

public class EditorAreaIllustration extends AnAction {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
        final Editor editor = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
        CaretModel caretModel = editor.getCaretModel();
    }

    @Override
    public void update(AnActionEvent e) {
       //...
    }
}

##Logical position [LogicalPosition.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/LogicalPosition.java) represents a line and a column of the current logical position of the caret. Logical positions ignore folding - for example, if the top 10 lines of the document are folded, the 10th line in the document will have the line number 10 in its logical position.

public class EditorAreaIllustration extends AnAction {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
            final Editor editor = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
            CaretModel caretModel = editor.getCaretModel();
            LogicalPosition logicalPosition = caretModel.getLogicalPosition();
        }

        @Override
        public void update(AnActionEvent e) {
           //...
        }
    }

Logical position may store additional parameters that define its mapping to [VisualPosition.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/VisualPosition.java). Rationale is that single logical pair matches soft wrap-introduced virtual space, i.e. different visual positions correspond to the same logical position. It's convenient to store exact visual location details within the logical position in order to relief further 'logical position' -> 'visual position' mapping.

##Visual position [VisualPosition.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/VisualPosition.java) represent a visual position and may very from the corresponding logical position. Visual positions take folding into account - for example, if the top 10 lines of the document are folded, the 10th line in the document will have the line number 1 in its visual position.

public class EditorAreaIllustration extends AnAction {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
            final Editor editor = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
            CaretModel caretModel = editor.getCaretModel();
            LogicalPosition logicalPosition = caretModel.getLogicalPosition();
            VisualPosition visualPosition = caretModel.getVisualPosition();
        }

        @Override
        public void update(AnActionEvent e) {
           //...
        }
    }

##Offset An absolute offset for a given caret position is accessible through CaretModel as well

public class EditorAreaIllustration extends AnAction {
    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
        final Editor editor = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
        CaretModel caretModel = editor.getCaretModel();
        LogicalPosition logicalPosition = caretModel.getLogicalPosition();
        VisualPosition visualPosition = caretModel.getVisualPosition();
        int offset = caretModel.getOffset();
    }

    @Override
    public void update(AnActionEvent e) {
       //...
    }
}

##Displaying position values To display the actual values of logical anf visual positions we add an Messages.showInfoMessage() call that will show them in form of notification after the action is performed.

public class EditorAreaIllustration extends AnAction {
        @Override
        public void actionPerformed(AnActionEvent anActionEvent) {
            final Editor editor = anActionEvent.getRequiredData(CommonDataKeys.EDITOR);
            CaretModel caretModel = editor.getCaretModel();
            LogicalPosition logicalPosition = caretModel.getLogicalPosition();
            VisualPosition visualPosition = caretModel.getVisualPosition();
            int offset = caretModel.getOffset();
            Messages.showInfoMessage(logicalPosition.toString() + "\n" +
                    visualPosition.toString() + "\n" +
                    "Offset: " + offset, "Caret Parameters Inside The Editor");
        }

        @Override
        public void update(AnActionEvent e) {
           //...
        }
    }

Check out, compile, and run the [Editor Basics Plugin] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-sdk/tree/master/code_samples/editor_basics), then move carets, invoke [EditorAreaIllustration] (TODO) action, and see how logical and visual positions are related dependently on folding. TODO - screenshots


[Source code] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-sdk/tree/master/code_samples/editor_basics)


Note, that this part of the API allows to operate only with text. If you need to access PSI please see [PSI Cookbook] (https://confluence.jetbrains.com/display/IDEADEV/PSI+Cookbook) section.

See also [editor-ui-api package] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/tree/master/platform/editor-ui-api), [Editor.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/Editor.java), [EditorImpl.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/EditorImpl.java). [CommonDataKeys.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/actionSystem/CommonDataKeys.java), [DataKey.java] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/actionSystem/DataKey.java), [AnActionEvent] (ff16ce78a1/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/actionSystem/AnActionEvent.java), [DataContext] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/blob/master/platform/editor-ui-api/src/com/intellij/openapi/actionSystem/DataContext.java)

Related topics [Action System] (https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-sdk/blob/master/tutorials/action_system.md)