Preferences

This dialog allows you to configure the preferences of ANTLRWorks.

The preferences are located in various places depending on the operating system:

• Mac OS X: ~/Library/Preferences/org.antlr.works.plist
• Windows: use "regedit.exe" and browse the entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JavaSoft\Prefs\org\antlr\works

General

Configure the general preferences.

• At startup: set the action to be executed when ANTLRWorks starts up.
• Restore project's windows position and size: restore the project's windows position and size when ANTLRWorks starts up again.
• Look and feel: set the look and feel of ANTLRWorks.
• Output path: set the path used to generate the code for various operations (i.e. debugging).
• DOT path: set the path to the DOT application used by ANTLRWorks to render certain diagrams. This application can be downloaded from http://www.graphviz.org/. For Mac OS X, the DOT tool can be found in the Graphviz application that can be downloaded from http://www.pixelglow.com/graphviz/download/.
  Example of path: on Mac OS X, the path would be "/Applications/Graphviz.app/Contents/MacOS/dot".
• ANTLR options: set the options to be used when invoking ANTLR. See http://www.antlr.org/wiki/display/ANTLR3/Command+line+options.

Editor

Configure the editor preferences.

• Font: set the font and size used in the editor.
• Auto-save every: set the time interval to use when auto-saving the document.
• Highlight cursor line: if checked, highlight the line where the cursor is located.
• Smooth scrolling: if checked, jump from one location of the document to another will scroll smoothly.
• Auto-indent ':' in rule: if checked, the ':' inside a rule will be auto-indented.
• Show line numbers: if checked, line numbers will be displayed in the left side of the document (in the gutter).
• Tab width: width of each tab in characters.
• Update delay: delay in ms before ANTLRWorks parses and colorize the document. This value should rarely be changed but if a really long document is opened on a slow computer, it can be raised if the typing performance is poor.

Syntax

Configure the colors of each element in the grammar document.

Compiler

Configure the compiler preferences. The compiler is used by ANTLRWorks to compile the generated grammar when debugging from within ANTLWorks.

• javac: use the default javac compiler. Optionally specify the path to the javac compiler.
• jikes: use the jikes compiler. The path to this compiler is mandatory.
• com.sun.tools.javac: use the internal sun complier. Rarely used.
• Classpath: select the classpath to use when compiling the generated file (a custom classpath can be specified).

Debugger

Configure the debugger preferences.

• Default local port: set the default local port used by the debugger. This port can be changed if it conflicts with another application.
• Remote parser launch time-out: time-out in seconds before giving up when trying to connect to the remote parser.
• ... token: set the color used to identify the tokens in the input panel of the debugger.
• Detachable panels: if checked, the debugger's detachable panels will be children of the project window.

Update

Configure the updates preferences. ANTLRWorks is able to check if a new version is available and to download it: it is possible to specify the frequency ANTLRWorks will check for a new version as well as the path where the new version will be downloaded.