Preferences

There are several preferences that you can use to alter default behavior. The preferences are grouped into these areas: General, Navigator, Printing, Coding, Layout, Localization, Building, Debugging, Proxy and Updates.

On Windows and Linux, the Preferences window is called Options and is in the Edit menu. On macOS, the Preference window is located in the App menu.

General

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The General area contains the most common preferences.

Show Library and Inspector

Specifies how you want to see the Library and Inspector. By default they appear on the right side of the Workspace, both sharing the same area. You can instead choose to display them as floating palettes so that they are both visible on the screen at the same time and do not take up space in the Workspace.

Default project format

When you save your projects, Xojo uses the standard single-file binary format by default (xojo_binary_project). Use this setting to change the default project format. Refer to the Project Types topic to learn more about the project formats.

When seeking help

Xojo looks up commands using the Documentation Window. By default, it displays the documentation from the xojo website so that it's always up to date. However, there is a complete set of documentation built-in to Xojo that it will use if you have no Internet connection.

You can also browse the documentation online.

When closing last window

This setting is only available on Windows.

When “Keep Xojo running” is selected, a new icon appears in the Taskbar Notifications area (also known as the System Tray) and Xojo remains running when you close the last Workspace window (instead of quitting). You can right-click on the Notification icon to display a menu with “New Project”, “About Xojo” and “Exit”. “New Project” opens the Project Chooser window, “About Xojo” displays the About window and “Exit” quits Xojo completely.

Number of recent items

This is the number of recent items that are remembered in the File > Open Recent menu and the Project Chooser.

Find

Here you can choose to have find results appear immediately when you pause typing or only when you press return in the find field of the Find panel or the Filter field.

Use large font in Navigator, Library & Inspector

The "Use large font" setting uses a larger font size to display the text in in the Navigator, Library, and Inspector. This setting is also used by the Constant, Enumeration, and Structure editors.

Install Local Documentation

By default, all Xojo documentation is online. Clicking this button will install a local version for offline use. You can click this button again to update your local documentation.

Printing

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The Printing preferences control how your code looks when it is printed.

Font

Choose the font to use for the printed text.

Size

Choose the font size to use for the printed text.

Features

Check "Print in color" if you want the source code printed using the syntax colors specified in the Coding preferences.

Check "Include images of layouts" if you want printouts to include images of your user interface layouts (windows and web pages).

Coding

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The Coding preferences control how the code is displayed in the Code Editor.

Font

Select the font to use in the Code Editor from the list of available fonts installed on your system. For best results, use a monospaced font.

Size

Specifies the font size to use in the Code Editor.

Syntax colors

You can customize the colors of various parts of your source code. Select a particular syntax and then click the color box to choose a color for it. You can save these changes as an XML "Theme" to share with others using the Import Theme and Export Theme buttons. Use the Reset button to return the default syntax colors.

Default comment style

This setting determines the comment style that is used by the Comment button and function on the contextual menu.

Autocomplete

These two options allow you to control how Autocomplete works. Apply standard case will use the correct case when autocompleting (MessageBox instead of messagebox, for example).

Show icons will show icons next to the values in the autocomplete list.

“Home” and “End” keys

Determine how you want the Home and End keys to work in the Code Editor.

Standardize format

When "Apply "standardize format after ending line" is checked Code Editor will automatically apply "standardized format" (which automatically case-corrects keywords for you) when you press return on the line or move to a new line.

Layout

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The Layout preferences adjust how the Layout Editors work.

Default control font

By default, System is used as the Font for all controls. This allows the platform to substitute its own default font at runtime. If you would rather use a specific font as the default, you can choose it here.

Size

By default, 0 is used as the Font Size for all controls. This allows the platform to substitute is own default font size at runtime. If you would rather use a specific font size as the default, you can set it here.

When selecting a control

When you have nested controls (one control on top of another control or control parenting), the Layout Editor highlights the parent control with a red outline. If you would rather not see this, you can turn it off here.

Layout editor background

Used to change the background color of the layout editor. Click the Reset button to restore the default layout background.

Localization

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The Localization preferences controls the order of languages in localization menus (such as Shared Build Settings and Constant Editors).

In the list of languages, you can drag to re-order the languages or use the Move Up/Move Down buttons. By default, the more common languages are listed at the top, followed by less common languages at the bottom.

Building

The Building preferences control what Xojo does when building or running projects.

Reveal apps

After Building your app, the built app can be displayed using the built-in OS file viewer.

When not using build folders and a file already exists

When Building your app (with Use Build Folders set to OFF in Shared Build Settings), existing built apps (and related files) are normally replaced automatically. If you would rather be prompted when a file will be overwritten, you can change this here.

Build unsaved apps in

If you try to build an unsaved project, this location is used to store the built app.

Clear caches

Click the Clear button to clear Xojo build caches for plugin precompliation and conditional compilation.

Debugging

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The debugging preferences are used to control debugging and remote debugging.

Network interface

Specify the networking interface to use to connect to the Remote Debugger.

Remote debug hosts

Here you can add, edit or remove remote debugging locations.

Show Object IDs in variable lists

Displays object IDs in the debugger Variable area.

Hide bottom pane on run

This setting controls whether the bottom panel (Find/Errors/Messages) is automatically hidden when you run the project.

Proxy

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The Proxy preferences are used to specify proxy information so that Xojo can connect to the server to validate your licenses and check for new versions. These settings are also used when you “Sign In” to Xojo.

Select the “Connect using a proxy server” checkbox to enable use of the specified proxy server. Fill in the appropriate fields to specify the location of the proxy server and any information needed for authentication.

Updates

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The Updates preferences allow you to choose how often Xojo checks for new versions. You can also specify whether you will allow your system information to be sent to Xojo servers to improve system support.