WinEdt's Menu: Overview

WinEdt is loaded with features (years of development and feedback went into it) and this illustrated manual describes only the essentials. You'll learn more as you get along. Looking at the default menu is a good idea. Let us take a quick glance and alert you about certain functionality which may not be obvious.

File Menu

WinEdt's default File menu is pretty much what you would expect in a Windows Application. At the bottom you'll find a submenu containing a list of recently opened files. Up to 999 files is preserved as a part of each project and they can be accessed through the "Complete File List" command.

The Send Mail command uses MAPI interface. If you are using the mailer that does not support MAPI functionality this function in WinEdt won't work.

Edit Menu

WinEdt has a powerful undoing feature: you can undo long sequences of actions. If you undo too much you can immediately Redo the last undone sequence(s). If you accidentally delete a block of text or perform an unwanted replace Undoing is a life saver!

Move command are very useful when it comes to moving (indenting) a selected block. Through the commands in this menu you can also insert or append a string of your choice.

Note that the actions in Edit Menu affect the ASCII Source and not necessary the compiled document. Thus it is not very likely that you want to use the Line Spacing commands unless you want to manipulate the actual lines in your source. This will (likely) corrupt your TeX document since TeX uses empty lines as paragraph separators. If you want to change the specking in the resulting compiled document you have to use LaTeX commands (consult the TeX manual):

         \newlength{\defbaselineskip} \setlength{\defbaselineskip}{\baselineskip}
         \newcommand{\setlinespacing}[1]%
                 {\setlength{\baselineskip}{#1 \defbaselineskip}}
         \setlinespacing{1.66}

Search Menu

WinEdt Search and Replace functionality does not act quite the same way as you may accustomed from some other Windows accessories. After you initiate the search or replace in the Find or Replace Dialog you should use the the Next (F3) command to find subsequent instances of a string or a Regular Expression.

Note that the Find and Replace Dialogs have their Context Popup Menu which can be used to determine more options (including the use of custom font in this dialogs).

WinEdt has a Compare Documents functionality. You should first restore and the minimize all documents except for those that are to be compared. Those should be Tiled Vertically or Horizontally: this can be done through the MDI commands in the Window Menu. Then use the Next and Previous Difference commands to locate the differences. The Compare Documents Dialog allows you to set a few rules for comparison:

WinEdt has a set of commands that can be used to help you deal with delimiters (missing or extra braces, etc...). Delimiter matching functionality can be customized in the Settings Dialog:

Auto-matching of delimiters is enabled in the default settings...

Insert Menu

The Insert Menu is loaded with LaTeX Environments, HTML Items, and more... You should browse through it when you need to refresh your memory...

Document Menu

The Document Menu ends with a couple of Samples of TeX Documents, Bibliography data bases, etc... You can add more documents that you are frequently accessing for your work...

The New Document command allows you to open a new document in specific mode and the default template. You should use this command when you want to open a document with a default contents or a mode different that the one you have specified as a default Mode in the Preferences Dialog. If a template contains Bullets you can use the Next Bullet command in the Tools (Ctrl+Space) menu to move through the bullets and fill in the required information (the bullets should be replaced by the actual data before you attempt to compile your document or else TeX will likely protest about the bullet character).

A list of documents from which you can choose a new document can be determined in the Preferences Dialog (the Help in that Dialog explains the details):

The Document Properties Dialog allows you to change certain properties of a document (eg. file format).

The Get Folder obtains document's mode by parsing its preamble for emacs-style specification of modes or submodes (if such specification is present as a comment). For example:

        % -*- TeX -*- -*- FR -*-

A series of items are defined to set the Current Working folder to the location of the Current or the Main File. You can add more such items to have direct access to the folders you are frequently accessing...

The LOG File is usually produced by a compiler such as TeX. You can consult this file if you want to see what exactly was going on during the compilation (especially if something is wrong with your document). STD Output File represents the output file captured during the execution by any accessory in the Detached or Background mode. If you are not using such execution modes then this item will remain disabled (WinEdt macros take care of capturing the Output).

Project Menu

The Project Menu contains menu items pertaining to WinEdt's Dictionary Manager. It end with the submenu containing a list of your recent projects (if you decide to organize your work in such a way). Even if you are quite content with working on a single default) projet you should use and properly set the Main File and build the project Tree using the items in this menu.

Tools Menu

The Tools Menu contains a series of items associated with more advanced features. You are likely going to use only a few of them frequently.

After an extensive compilation the folder in which your documents reside may get "polluted" with output files (such as log files and intermediate output formats). A special interface has been designed to allow an easy cleanup. The interface is user-customizable and the Help in the Dialog will guide you should you want to remove or change the filetypes that are to be deleted. However, use it with care since the deleted files cannot be recovered. Of course, that is not a problem for files generated by the compilers (they can always be recompiled as long as you have the sources). Just make sure that you don't customize the interface so as to delete your sources!

I am personally addicted to the Check Word (Ctrl+Enter) and Complete Word (Shift+Enter) commands. As soon as I made a typo I fixed it with Ctrl+Enter: try it!

The commands to Sort Lines or Insert Line Numbers modify your document. They should be used with care. You can insert "virtual" line numbers from the Context Popup Menu if you right-click on the left margin.

Macros Menu

The Macro Menu is intended to make Macro writing easier: beginners should not bother with it unless they are directed to execute certain item. If you want your macro scripts properly spell-checked and highlighted you should open create such documents in ASCII:EDT mode (eg. New Document... command in the Document Menu).

Accessories Menu

The default Accessories Menu depend on your configurations and, of course, it can be modified. In the Menu Setup Dialog you can add or remove accessories or assign a different shortcut to the existing ones. The default is configured as a front-end for MiKTeX system.

Options Menu

The Options Menu contains items that allow you configure or customize your instance of WinEdt. This is done through a series of dialogs. The Configurations submenu also allows you to re-configure WinEdt and create and restore a backup copy of your configuration. The contents of this menu is extensively discussed in this manual. Note that all Dialogs provide their own help which will guide you if you need to consult extended documentation.

For example you can change the Appearance and functionality of Bookmarks through the Appearance Dialog:

If you press the Help button you'll get extended information about all the Options available in this Dialog.

Window Menu

Window Menu contains commands common to all Windows MDI (Multiple Document Interface) applications. By default WinEdt's Documents are maximized. However, occasionally you may want to Cascade of tile a few documents (eg. when you are comparing two documents through the commands in the Search Menu). If you accidentally execute any of the commands in your Windows Menu do not panic: the documents were not truncated or gobbled up by WinEdt. The Windows in which the documents are displayed were resized and re-aligned. You can always use the Maximize All command to restore full-size Windows.

The Window Menu ends with a submenu that contains a list of all currently opened documents.

Help Menu

• How to use WinEdt's Help?