Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
dented with tabs, select that option with the Indent Using menu. You also can set the number of spaces for
each indent.
Source Control
is used for collaborative development, or development that uses a code repository. For
information about repositories, see Chapter 14.
Using Quick Help
The second icon at the top of the sub-pane displays a Quick Help window. In Xcode 3, you could link directly
to documentation by highlighting an item, right-clicking it, and selecting a link to the documentation. Quick
Help, shown in Figure 4.18, is the Xcode 4 equivalent. Highlighting an OS X object or method displays a list of
relevant help information: You can also option-click an item to view help information when the Utilities pane is
hidden.
Name
is the item name.
If the symbol is a method,
Declaration
shows the method signature.
Availability
lists the OS X or iOS versions that first supported the symbol.
Abstract
describes the symbol's purpose.
Declared
links directly to the header file in which the symbol appears.
Reference
links directly to reference documentation; for more details, see Chapter 6.
Related API
shows related methods and objects, where relevant.
Related Documents
shows the related programming guides, where available.
Sample Code
lists a selection of sample projects that use the symbol or illustrate how it works.
Quick Help can be sluggish on a slow Mac, so even though it's supposed to display useful information as you
type, it doesn't always keep up. Because it runs continuously when this pane is open, it can slow down other
“live” Xcode features, such as the error checking.
But it also provides quick access to key help documentation. If your Mac is fast enough, it's worth leaving it en-
abled.
NOTE
Custom objects—objects you have created yourself—display only a link to the class in which they're declared. You
can use this feature to move straight to the relevant declaration. Full Quick Help definitions aren't available, and
the Quick Help system isn't set up to allow custom additions.
FIGURE 4.18
There's a surprisingly large amount of useful information in the small Quick Help window.
