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OpenEdge Development: Basic Development Tools
Procedure Editor Tasks : Using edit buffers
 
Using edit buffers
An edit buffer is a work area where you write and edit an ABL procedure. The Procedure Editor creates an edit buffer for each procedure you are working on, allowing you to open and edit multiple procedures in a single session. The number of buffers is limited by system memory.
Although you can open multiple buffers in the Procedure Editor, you can open only one buffer for each operating system file.
The buffer displayed in the Procedure Editor’s procedure area is called the current buffer. When you enter text into the procedure area of the Procedure Editor, you enter it into the current buffer. When you start the Procedure Editor, the current buffer is empty and untitled unless you specify a procedure at the command line.
The maximum buffer size you can open in the Procedure Editor is the lesser of the following:
*32,767*bytesPerLine, where bytesPerLine is the width of your terminal
*Available system resources
Listing open buffers
The Procedure Editor creates buffers when you use the New or Open option. To view a list of the open buffers for your current session, choose Buffer→ List. The open buffers are listed in the Buffer List dialog box in the order that you opened them, as shown in Figure 2. For more information on the Buffer List dialog box, see Chapter 4, “Procedure Editor Reference.”
Figure 2: Buffer List dialog box
Switching buffers
To switch to another open buffer, use one of the following techniques:
*Choose Buffer→ Next Buffer. The Procedure Editor makes the next buffer in the buffer list the current buffer.
*Choose Buffer→ Previous Buffer. The Procedure Editor makes the previous buffer in the buffer list the current buffer.
*Choose Buffer→ List, then select a buffer from the Buffer List dialog box and choose OK. The Procedure Editor displays the buffer you selected as the current buffer.
Displaying buffer information
To display information about the current buffer, choose Buffer→ Information. OpenEdge displays the Buffer Information dialog box, which contains the filename; read and write access for the file; the number of lines, columns, and bytes; and the modified status of the buffer. Choose OK to close the dialog box. See Chapter 4, “Procedure Editor Reference” for more information on the Buffer Information dialog box.