Editing in Workbench for Eclipse

The family of Workbench Editors is language-aware, Eclipse-based editors for browsing and editing sources. The editors provide search functionality, colorization for language syntax, an outline view to assist navigation through the code, and other functionality that is customized via preference settings.

The appropriate editor launches based on the file association for a given file extension as follows:


Important

When a user selects a file with a .data extension, Workbench for Eclipse’s automatic language detection is activated. Its purpose is to determine what language the selected file contains so it can be opened in the correct editor. The possible language selections include COBOL, PL/I, JCL, REXX, C, and ASM390. The correct language is determined by a file scan that identifies tokens unique to each language.

Tip

For default Eclipse editing functionality, see Eclipse documentation.

To change the default editor

A two-step process is used to change the default editor to be used when opening z/OS datasets and members with Host Explorer or in a BMC mainframe project. The first step is to ensure that the z/OS dataset and member name patterns (such as *.cobol.*) are mapped to a file extension (such as *.cbl). The second is to associate that file extension (*.cbl) with the -supported editor with which it should be opened (such as the Workbench COBOL Editor). Refer to z/OS Dataset Extension Mappings and Associating a File Extension to an Editor for instructions on changing the default editor.

To search for text

The Workbench Editors provide context menu options for searching within a workspace, project, file, or working set. Refer to the Eclipse documentation for information on this search functionality.

Default typing mode

You can select the default typing mode for Workbench Editors. The typing mode applies to all Workbench editors. After you have opened an Editor, press the Insert key to switch between the typing modes.

Important

The option that you switch to remains active until you close the Editor. When you reopen the Editor, the option that you selected in the Preferences dialog box becomes active.

To select a default typing mode

  1. Navigate to Window > Preferences.
  2. In the Preferences dialog box, select BMC > Editors.
  3. In the Default typing mode area of the Editors section, select one of the following options:
    • (Default) Insert
    • Overwrite
  4. Click Apply.
    Alternatively, click Apply and Close to apply your selection and close the Preferences dialog box.


 

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