Introducing the IDEA editor - IntelliJ IDEA in Action - page 30

2.1.4 Exploring the status bar

Below the editor, the status bar displays various feedback items (see figure 2.4). It
shows the function of the currently selected menu item or action, displays error
messages, and provides other status information. It also tracks the current row
and column your cursor is on, your editing mode, and the amount of memory
being used by IDEA .

Figure 2.4 The IDEA status bar, including message area, editor cursor position,
read-only icon, insert/overwrite indicator, pop-up status indicator, memory usage,
and garbage collection control.

Message area
The leftmost portion of the status bar is reserved for system messages, status
information, and menu descriptions. It provides several types of information,
depending on where you are in the application, including hints about the func-
tion of menu items, descriptions of error messages, and the cause of warnings.
Editor cursor position
The row and column number of the current cursor position are shown next to the
message area. The first number is the row number, and the second is the column
(the first column is column 1).
Read-only indicator
The lock icon in the status bar tells you that the current file is read-only. The file
may be marked read-only by the local file system or by your version-control sys-
tem, or the file may be located inside a JAR file. You can also lock any file tempo-
rarily by double-clicking the spot where the lock icon would normally appear.
When a file is writable, no icon appears—the space is left blank. Unless a file is
locked because it lives in a JAR file, you can unlock it at any time by double-clicking
the lock icon to toggle its status.
When locked, a file of course isn't editable. You can't make changes directly
through the editor or indirectly through refactoring or other operations. If you're
using a version-control system ( VCS ; see chapter 8) that locks files you're not edit-
ing, you'll automatically be asked if you want to unlock them and notify the VCS
that you're editing them.
Pop-up hints indicator
Pop-up hints are used in the editor to alert you to errors, provide API documen-
tation, import necessary classes, and so forth. You'll learn about the various types