README

Lazarus IDESearchPanel

Search panel plugin for the Lazarus IDE

Advantages over the standard "Find" window of the IDE (Ctrl+F)

<ul> <li>Modern, convenient, accessible and intuitive interface. <li>No forms and message boxes popping up. <li>Function keys such as F3, which are often difficult to reach on notebook-computers, are not required. For the next occurrence of the search term, simply press "Enter" again. <li>Search as you type: See directly whether and how often the search term was found. <li>Correct your search term easily with the backspace key without having to open a search form again. <li>Incremental search: Marks all occurrences of the search term in the visible area. </ul>

Advantages over the "Incremental Find" function of the IDE (Ctrl+E)

<ul> <li>User-friendly, intuitive interface. <li>Search options. </ul>

Installation:

Like any other Package. Rebuild the IDE. https://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Install_Packages

How to use:

To toggle the Search Panel on and off, there is a menu item called "Show Search Panel" under "Search".

You can also use CTRL+P.

"Find Next" can be performed by the button or by simply pressing "Enter" again, while the focus is on the search edit.

Ctrl+F, F3 etc. are reserved for the standard search window of the IDE and are not used by the Search Panel.

If you encounter conflicts with CTRL+P, for example if "printers4lazide" is installed, you can: <ul> <li>Uninstall printers4lazide OR <li>Change the Key Mappings in "Tools -> Options -> Editor -> Key Mappings" OR <li>Add a line to the "idesearchpanelconfig.xml" to define a different shortcut: </ul> <pre> <SPConfig ShortCut="Ctrl+P"/> </pre>

Use non-localized names for shiftstates, like Ctrl, Shift, Alt.., or "Unknown" for no shortcut.

idesearchpanelconfig.xml can be usually found in places like: <ul> <li>Fpcupdeluxe: <fpcupdeluxe>/config_lazarus/ <li>Windows: C:\users&lt;your_name>\appdata\lazarus <li>Linux: ~/.lazarus </ul> If you are not sure, see: View -> IDE Internals -> About IDE -> Global IDE options -> "Primary config directory"

If you prefer blue instead of black icons, add to idesearchpanelconfig.xml: <pre> <SPConfig ShortCut="Ctrl+P" BlackIcons="False"/> </pre>

Options:

Please Note: "Regular Expressions" and "Search-as-you-type" are mutually exclusive.

Search in selected text only works if "Search-as-you-type" is deactivated.

The rest should be self-explanatory.

HAVE FUN!