Customizing DDD

DDD is controlled by several resources--user-defined variables that take specific values in order to control and customize DDD behavior.

Most DDD resources can be set interactively while DDD is running or when invoking DDD. See Resource Index, for the full list of DDD resources.

We first discuss how customizing works in general; then we turn to customizing parts of DDD introduced so far.

• How Customizing Works:
• Customizing Help:
• Customizing Undo:
• Customizing Windows:
• Debugger Settings:

Node:How Customizing Works, Next:Customizing Help, Up:Customizing

How Customizing DDD Works

• Resources:
• Changing Resources:
• Saving Options:

Node:Resources, Next:Changing Resources, Up:How Customizing Works

Resources

Just like any X program, DDD has a number of places to get resource values from. For DDD, the most important places to specify resources are:

• The ~/.ddd/init file (~ stands for your home directory). This file is read in by DDD upon start-up; the resources specified herein override all other sources (except for resources given implicitly by command-line options).

  If the environment variable DDD_STATE is set, its value is used instead of ~/.ddd/.

• The Ddd application-defaults file. This file is typically compiled into the DDD executable. If it exists, its resource values override the values compiled into DDD. If the versions of the Ddd application-defaults file and the DDD executable do not match, DDD may not function properly; DDD will give you a warning in this case.⁸

• The command-line options. These options override all other resource settings.
• If the environment variable DDD_SESSION is set, it indicates the name of a session to start, overriding all options and resources. This is used by DDD when restarting itself.

Not every resource has a matching command-line option. Each resource (whether in ~/.ddd/init or Ddd) is specified using a line

     Ddd*

**Illegal HTML tag removed :** resource

: 

**Illegal HTML tag removed :** value

     

For instance, to set the pollChildStatus resource to off, you would specify in ~/.ddd/init:

     Ddd*pollChildStatus: off
     

For more details on the syntax of resource specifications, see the section RESOURCES in the X(1) manual page.

Node:Changing Resources, Next:Saving Options, Previous:Resources, Up:How Customizing Works

Changing Resources

You can change DDD resources by three methods:

• Use DDD to change the options, notably Edit => Preferences. This works for the most important DDD resources. Be sure to save the options (see Saving Options) such that they apply to future DDD sessions, too.
• You can also invoke DDD with an appropriate command-line option. This changes the related DDD resource for this particular DDD invocation. However, if you save the options (see Saving Options), the changed resource will also apply to future invocations.
• Finally, you can set the appropriate resource in a file named .ddd/init in your home directory. See Resource Index, for a list of DDD resources to be set.

Node:Saving Options, Previous:Changing Resources, Up:How Customizing Works

Saving Options

You can save the current option settings by setting Edit => Save Options. Options are saved in a file named .ddd/init in your home directory when DDD exits. If a session Illegal HTML tag removed : session is active, options will be saved in ~/.ddd/sessions/Illegal HTML tag removed : session/init instead.

The options are automatically saved when exiting DDD. You can turn off this feature by unsetting Edit => Save Options. This is tied to the following resource:

Node:Customizing Help, Next:Customizing Undo, Previous:How Customizing Works, Up:Customizing

Customizing DDD Help

DDD Help can be customized in various ways.

• Button tips: Turning off tips.
• Tip of the day: Turning off the tip of the day.
• Help Helpers: Helper programs invoked by Help.

Node:Button tips, Next:Tip of the day, Up:Customizing Help

Button Tips

Button tips are helpful for novices, but may be distracting for experienced users. You can turn off button tips via Edit => Preferences => General => Automatic display of Button Hints => as Popup Tips.

You can also turn off the hint that is displayed in the status line. Just toggle Edit => Preferences => General => Automatic Display of Button Hints => in the Status Line.

These are the related DDD resources (see Customizing):

Node:Tip of the day, Next:Help Helpers, Previous:Button tips, Up:Customizing Help

Tip of the day

You can turn off the tip of the day by toggling Edit => Preferences => Startup => Startup Windows => Tip of the Day.

Here is the related DDD resource (see Customizing):

See Options, for options to set this resource upon DDD invocation.

The actual tips are controlled by these resources (see Customizing):

Node:Help Helpers, Previous:Tip of the day, Up:Customizing Help

Help Helpers

DDD relies on a number of external commands, specified via Edit => Preferences => Helpers.

To uncompress help texts, you can define a Uncompress command:

To view WWW pages, you can define a Web Browser command:

| To specify netscape-6.0 as browser, use the setting:

          Ddd*wwwCommand: \
               netscape-6.0 -remote 'openURL(@URL@)' \
            || netscape-6.0 '@URL@'
          

| | --- |

This is the default WWW Page shown by Help => DDDWWW Page:

Node:Customizing Undo, Next:Customizing Windows, Previous:Customizing Help, Up:Customizing

Customizing Undo

DDD Undo can be customized in various ways.

To set a maximum size for the undo buffer, set Edit => Preferences => General => Undo Buffer Size.

This is related to the maxUndoSize resource:

You can also limit the number of entries in the undo buffer, regardless of size (see Customizing):

To clear the undo buffer at any time, thus reducing memory usage, use Edit => Preferences => General => Clear Undo Buffer

Node:Customizing Windows, Next:Debugger Settings, Previous:Customizing Undo, Up:Customizing

Customizing the DDD Windows

You can customize the DDD Windows in various ways.

• Splash Screen: Turning off the splash screen.
• Window Layout: Re-arranging windows.
• Customizing Fonts: Using alternate fonts.
• Toggling Windows: Turning off windows.
• Text Fields: Popdown histories.
• Icons: Iconifying DDD windows.
• Adding Buttons: Create your own button set.
• More Customizations:

Node:Splash Screen, Next:Window Layout, Up:Customizing Windows

Splash Screen

You can turn off the DDD splash screen shown upon startup. Just select Edit => Preferences => Startup DDD Splash Screen.

The value applies only to the next DDD invocation.

This setting is related to the following resource:

You can also customize the appearance of the splash screen (see Customizing):

Node:Window Layout, Next:Customizing Fonts, Previous:Splash Screen, Up:Customizing Windows

Window Layout

By default, DDD stacks commands, source, and data in one single top-level window. To have separate top-level windows for source, data, and debugger console, set Edit => Preferences => Startup => Window Layout => Separate Windows.

Here are the related DDD resources:

By default, the DDD tool bars are located on top of the window. If you prefer the tool bar being located at the bottom, as in DDD 2.x and earlier, set Edit => Preferences => Startup => Tool Bar Appearance => Bottom.

This is related to the toolbarsAtBottom resource:

The bottom setting is only supported for separate tool bars--that is, you must either choose separate windows or configure the tool bar to have neither images nor captions (see Customizing the Tool Bar).

If you use stacked windows, you can choose whether there should be one tool bar or two tool bars. By default, DDD uses two tool bars if you use separate windows and disable captions and images, but you can also explicitly change the setting via this resource:

You can also change the location of the status line (see Customizing):

See Options, for options to set these resources upon DDD invocation.

Node:Customizing Fonts, Next:Toggling Windows, Previous:Window Layout, Up:Customizing Windows

Customizing Fonts

You can configure the basic DDD fonts at run-time. Each font is specified using two members:

• The

  Illegal HTML tag removed : font family

  is an X font specifications, where the initial

  Illegal HTML tag removed : foundry

  - specification may be omitted, as well as any specification after

  Illegal HTML tag removed : family

  . Thus, a pair

  Illegal HTML tag removed : family

  -

  Illegal HTML tag removed : weight

  usually suffices.

• The

  Illegal HTML tag removed : font size

  is given as (resolution-independent) 1/10 points.

To specify fonts, select Edit => Preferences => Fonts.

The Browse button opens a font selection program, where you can select fonts and attributes interactively. Clicking quit or select in the font selector causes all non-default values to be transferred to the DDD font preferences panel.

The following fonts can be set using the preferences panel:

• Default Font
• The default DDD font to use for labels, menus, and buttons. Default is helvetica-bold.
• Variable Width
• The variable width DDD font to use for help texts and messages. Default is helvetica-medium.
• Fixed Width
• The fixed width DDD font to use for source code, the debugger console, text fields, and the execution window. Default is lucidatypewriter-medium.
• Data
• The DDD font to use for data displays. Default is lucidatypewriter-medium.

Changes in this panel will take effect only in the next DDD session. To make it effective right now, restart DDD (using File => Restart DDD).

After having made changes in the panel, DDD will automatically offer you to restart itself, such that you can see the changes taking effect.

The Reset button restores the most recently saved preferences.

Here are the resources related to font specifications:

As all font size resources have the same class (and by default the same value), you can easily change the default DDD font size to, say, 9.0 points by inserting a line

     Ddd*FontSize: 90
     

in your ~/.ddd/init file.

Here's how to specify the command to select fonts:

| A command to select from a list of fonts. The string @FONT@ is replaced by the current DDD default font; the string @TYPE@ is replaced by a symbolic name of the DDD font to edit. The program must either place the name of the selected font in the PRIMARY selection or print the selected font on standard output. A typical value is:

          Ddd*fontSelectCommand: xfontsel -print
          

| | --- |

See Options, for options to set these resources upon DDD invocation.

Node:Toggling Windows, Next:Text Fields, Previous:Customizing Fonts, Up:Customizing Windows

Toggling Windows

In the default stacked window setting, you can turn the individual DDD windows on and off by toggling the respective items in the View menu (see View Menu). When using separate windows (see Window Layout), you can close the individual windows via File => Close or by closing them via your window manager.

Whether windows are opened or closed when starting DDD is controlled by the following resources, immediately tied to the View menu items:

See Options, for options to set these resources upon DDD invocation.

Node:Text Fields, Next:Icons, Previous:Toggling Windows, Up:Customizing Windows

Text Fields

The DDD text fields can be customized using the following resources:

Node:Icons, Next:Adding Buttons, Previous:Text Fields, Up:Customizing Windows

Icons

If you frequently switch between DDD and other multi-window applications, you may like to set Edit => Preferences => General => Iconify all windows at once. This way, all DDD windows are iconified and deiconified as a group.

This is tied to the following resource:

If you want to keep DDD off your desktop during a longer computation, you may like to set Edit => Preferences => General => Uniconify when ready. This way, you can iconify DDD while it is busy on a command (e.g. running a program); DDD will automatically pop up again after becoming ready (e.g. after the debugged program has stopped at a breakpoint). See Program Stop, for a discussion.

Here is the related resource:

Node:Adding Buttons, Next:More Customizations, Previous:Icons, Up:Customizing Windows

Adding Buttons

You can extend DDD with new buttons. See Defining Buttons, for details.

Node:More Customizations, Previous:Adding Buttons, Up:Customizing Windows

More Customizations

You can change just about any label, color, keyboard mapping, etc. by changing resources from the Ddd application defaults file which comes with the DDD source distribution. Here's how it works:

• Identify the appropriate resource in the Ddd file.
• Copy the resource line to your ~/.ddd/init file and change it at will.

See Application Defaults, for details on the application-defaults file.

Node:Debugger Settings, Previous:Customizing Windows, Up:Customizing

Debugger Settings

For most inferior debuggers, you can change their internal settings using Edit => Settings. Using the settings editor, you can determine whether C++ names are to be demangled, how many array elements are to print, and so on.

The capabilities of the settings editor depend on the capabilities of your inferior debugger. Clicking on ? gives an an explanation on the specific item; the GDB documentation gives more details.

Use Edit => Undo to undo changes. Clicking on Reset restores the most recently saved settings.

Some debugger settings are insensitive and cannot be changed, because doing so would endanger DDD operation. See the gdbInitCommands and dbxInitCommands resources for details.

All debugger settings (except source and object paths) are saved with DDD options.

Node:Navigating, Next:Stopping, Previous:Windows, Up:Top