Some bugs and feature request :-)

[Marco Polo]

Hello,

first of all thanks for your GOOD work.

I have installed code::blocks on my WinNT 4 SP6 with MinGW alredy
installed.
I find the editor Scintilla like :-) very fine, but i need more settings,
TAB size (i use 3 space, not 4 in my souces), for instance.
I like "TABBED" editor too, but actually this feature is not supported.

Bugs:

I have try to set my MinGW bin path (note, it doesn't have spaces):

       C:\WINNT\Help\mp\Programmazione\MinGW\bin

using the compiler plugin global options/programs tab. But my
path are not stored. If i close and reopen this tab, appears the
default  C:\MinGW\bin path, and so was impossible to compile.
Taking a look at your sorce code (beta 2, not the last beta 3)
i have seen the possibility to set in my SYSTEM PATH variable
my MinGW path, but this was already done by myself.
A comment in your code tell my that "probably" the "API"  that
search for in PATH the MinGW path doesn't work if there is a
space inside PATH. And in my case that was true, one of my
first path in PATH was C:\Programmi\Windows NT\Accessori.
So i have move it at the end of PATH (no other path have spaces)
and after this changes CODE::BLOCKS started to compile :-).

Concusion:

1) Actually is's impossible to set a MinGW bin path other than the
    default one, using the "settings options".

2) The search in PATH fails if it include a path with white spaces
    BEFORE the MinGW bin path and probably ALSO fail if the MinGW bin
    path include spaces by it own.

I have also try to find in which file are stored the compilers settings
with no success ... only while i'm writing this message i have
discover that the compiler path, and others settings are stored in
the win registry keys (master_path key, etc :-)
So probably i should have solve my problem quickly by editing registry...
In any case i have't found here the TAB size = 4 :-)

Other questions:

- What is DDE server and why should i use it
- To see where i can "watch" the variable values during debug
  it's very "hard". Normally others IDE show them at the BOTTON, not
  on the left under other tabs :-)
   Furthermore it may be useful to be able to set the variable's value
   display mode (hex, dec, etc)
-  It may be useful to display only the necessary BOTTOM tabs not all.
   A user may ned only a set of them, and when the main dialog is not
   maximized, not used tabs "grab" useful are.
-  I think a little help file :-) may be very useful, becouse the online help
    and plugins help doesn't help me to answer to any of my questions.

Best regards

[mandrav]

1) Actually is's impossible to set a MinGW bin path other than the
 default one, using the "settings options".
2) The search in PATH fails if it include a path with white spaces
 BEFORE the MinGW bin path and probably ALSO fail if the MinGW bin
 path include spaces by it own.
 

I will check these problems as soon as I boot into windows. Right now I 'm polishing the Linux version

- What is DDE server and why should i use it

DDE (windows only), if enabled, allows you to, say, double-click a .cpp file in explorer and open it in an already running Code::Blocks session. If it's not enabled, every double-click will start a new Code::Blocks session...

- To see where i can "watch" the variable values during debug
 it's very "hard"

Yes, I see what you mean. Maybe a message dialog when these features are first-used might be appropriate...

Normally others IDE show them at the BOTTON, not
 on the left under other tabs

We don't wanna be like other IDEs, now, do we? :wink:

Furthermore it may be useful to be able to set the variable's value
 display mode (hex, dec, etc)

The debugger is really in its early development stages. It only starts a basic debugging session and allows you to watch some vars. More features will be added though, like disassembly, call stack etc. Just be patient because I 'm working on it alone...

It may be useful to display only the necessary BOTTOM tabs not all.
 A user may ned only a set of them, and when the main dialog is not
 maximized, not used tabs "grab" useful are.

That's a very nice idea! I will implement it soon

- I think a little help file  may be very useful, becouse the online help and plugins help doesn't help me to answer to any of my questions.

I agree with you: documentation is badly needed. But someone has to write it (any volunteers :roll: ?)...

Thank you very much for your comments,
Yiannis

[Marco Polo]

First of all, thanks for your answer.

Always on WinNT, i have notice thins things:

- Modifying registry (the "bin" dir path and the single executable path)
   just change the path displayed on option tab settings,
   but the startup message doesn't change "Can't find compiler executable
   in your search path...". But if you compile (and the SYSTEM PATH contain
   the MinGW bin dir) it work fine.

- Code::bolck crash when there are many compliation error: i'm a good
  beta tester to discover this kind of bugs :-)

- The project name doesn't appears in "workspace area" so, if i create
  more than one "console application" projects i can't distinguish them
  because all them are called "console application".

- If the main function is in a file not named "main.c" the debugger fails
   to run.

Best Regards