Using the Toolbox

Displaying the Toolbox

The Toolbox is displayed on a "tab" in the Right Pane of the Komodo workspace. It is displayed or hidden via any of the following methods:

• View|Tabs|Toolbox: Use the View drop-down menu to modify Komodo's display characteristics.
• Key Binding: The default key binding (in the default key binding scheme) for opening and closing the Toolbox tab is 'Ctrl'+'Shift'+'T'. See Configuring Key Bindings to alter or view the current key assignment.
• Workspace Toolbar: If the Workspace Toolbar is displayed, click the "Show/Hide Right Pane" button. (Select View|Toolbars|Workspace to display the toolbar.) Alternatively, click the "Show Specific Tab" button and select Toolbox.

Adding Components to the Toolbox

The Toolbox is an organizational container for frequently used "components". Components are items like files, folders, snippets, macros, etc. For information about individual components, refer to the relevant section of the documentation.

Filesystem-based components consists of items that exist as entities on the disk: files, dialog projects and templates. Komodo-specific components exist only in Komodo, and are not stored as external disk entities. Komodo-specific components include open shortcuts, folders, snippets, run commands, URL shortcuts, macros and custom menus and toolbars.

Within the toolbox, filesytem-based components are merely references; they cannot be moved or deleted from within Komodo; moving them between projects and the Toolbox, or deleting them from projects or the Toolbox, has no effect on their actual disk-based location or their contents. On the other hand, Komodo-specific components do not exist outside of Komodo; therefore, they can be moved and copied (for example, from the Toolbox to the Project Manager) and deleted independently of the filesystem.

For example, when a snippet (a Komodo-specific component) is copied from the Project Manager to the Toolbox, a new copy of the snippet is created; the original version still exists in the original location. Subsequent modifications of the snippet in the Toolbox do not change the version of the snippet stored in the Project Manager. On the other hand, when the contents of a file (a filesystem-based component) are changed, the changes apply regardless of the location from which the file is invoked.

To add a component to the Toolbox:

• Toolbox|Add: Use the Toolbox drop-down menu.
• Toolbox|Add|folder_name: When a folder name is selected in the Toolbox, the selected folder's name is also displayed on the Toolbox drop-down menu. Components can be added directly to that folder.
• Add Button: Use the Add button on the Toolbox tab.
• Drag and Drop: Drag and drop components from:
  • Drag-and-Drop-Aware Applications: Filenames can be dragged from drag-and-drop applications (such as Windows Explorer).
  • Project Manager or Toolbox: Components can be dragged between projects, the Toolbox and container components (such as folders).
  • Editor Filename Tabs: When a file is open in the Editor Pane, drag and drop from the tab that displays the filename to the Toolbox.
• Import from Filesystem: Right-click a folder and select Import from File System.
• Cut/Copy/Paste: All components have a right-click menu that includes the options Cut, Copy and Paste. Use these options to move components between projects, the Toolbox and container components (such as folders).

Some components have special component-specific mechanisms for being added to projects. For example, snippets can be created and added to the Toolbox in one step by selecting a block of text in the Editor Pane and dragging it into the Toolbox. URL shortcuts are created by dragging and dropping a URL from a browser address bar or from the Editor Pane into the Toolbox. Refer to the specific component sections for more information about these options.

To remove a component from the Toolbox, right-click the desired item and select Delete. Alternatively, click the desired component and press 'Delete', or right-click the component and select Delete.

Komodo-specific components (run commands, macros, etc) are permanently deleted. Filesystem-based components (files, dialog boxes) are not; only the reference to the component within the project is removed.

Exporting and Importing Toolbox Contents

The Toolbox has commands for exporting and importing the contents of the Toolbox as a package. Packages, which are stored with a ".kpz" extension, are compressed archive files, and can be opened by any archiving utility that supports libz (for example WinZip). The Export Package option differs from the Export as Project File option in that copies of filesystem-based components (such as files and dialog projects) are included in the archive. Conversely, Export as Project File creates a project with a reference to the component's original location and does not create copies of the components.

Both Komodo-specific components (such as run commands and snippets) and filesystem-based components (such as files and dialog projects) can be included. The exported file can subsequently be loaded as a project or imported into the Toolbox. This provides a mechanism for sharing a Toolbox among multiple Komodo users; another mechanism is described in the "Shared Toolbox" section below.

To export the contents of the Toolbox to a project file:

1. From the Toolbox menu, select Export.
2. In the Export Package dialog box, choose the destination directory and enter a filename.
3. Click Save.

To import a previously exported Toolbox:

1. From the Toolbox menu, select Import.
2. In the Import Package dialog box, select the project file containing the item(s) that you want to import.
3. Click Open.

Sharing Toolboxes

A Shared Toolbox is a single Toolbox shared by multiple Komodo users. When a Shared Toolbox is enabled, a second tab called Shared Toolbox is displayed beside the Toolbox tab in the Right Pane. This tab displays the contents of the toolbox.kpf file, located in the Common Data Directory specified in Komodo's Shared Toolbox preference.

The functionality of the Shared Toolbox is determined by the user's access rights to the toolbox.kpf file. All users with "read" rights to the file are able to use items from the Toolbox. To prevent users from altering the shared toolbox, ensure that they only have "read" (and not "write") access to the file.

The Shared Toolbox is populated by the same methods described in Adding Components to the Toolbox.