Annotation Generator

The Annotation Generator enables you to insert basic annotations into multiple files. The Annotation Generator always inserts the annotations either at the first line of the file or, for AppBuilder structured files, in the definitions section at the top of the file. This placement means that it is appropriate for adding annotations that apply to the entire file, rather than a particular piece of the file. For example, you might use the tool to insert annotations for who wrote the code, when it was created, or the sort of deployments in which it is used.

The Annotation Generator has two pieces, the Annotations preference page and the Add Annotations dialog. The Annotations preference page enables you to create and store annotation templates. The Add Annotations dialog enables you to insert annotations into multiple files, using either stored annotation templates or custom written annotations.

Annotation names	Lists all stored annotation templates. To browse through long lists, select a template and then drag the cursor up or down.
Annotation text	Displays the text of the selected template. A template can include more than one annotation. The templates that ship with the Annotation Generator contain two specially coded preprocessors, %FILENAME% and %MODULE%. %FILENAME% expands to the filename including the extension. %MODULE% expands to the name of the directory where the file is stored. These are the only preprocessors the tool can expand. The tool does not support customer-created preprocessors.
Add	Launches the New Annotation dialog. The New Annotation dialog does not check the syntax of the template you create.
Edit	Launches the Edit Annotation dialog for the selected annotation. The Edit Annotation dialog does not check the syntax of the template you create.
Remove	Removes the selected template from the internal template list. If you have exported your templates to a file, the template can be recovered by importing that file.
Import...	Overwrites the current annotation templates with the contents of an external .dat file.
Export...	Saves the current annotation templates to an external .dat file.

Select annotation template combo-box	Select an existing annotation template. The annotation text displays in the editor and can be customized.
Annotation text editor	Displays the text of a selected annotation template. You can customize the annotation. You can also bypass the templates and type an annotation directly into the editor. You can type more than one annotation line into the editor. This enables you to write a set of standard annotations to multiple files in a single operation. NOTE: The editor does not check the syntax of the annotation.
Available Resource filter	Enables you to filter the Available Resource treeview. Choose the Filter button to apply a filter.
Available Resource treeview	Displays all the resources in the current workspace, limited by any filter you applied. Check the toggle for all the files into which you want the annotation inserted. Checking a directory selects all its subordinate resources.
Backup all selected resources toggle	When selected causes files to backup before applying the annotation. By default, this option is turned on.
Location	The directory where the backup files are stored. NOTE: If you do not select a new backup location each time you run the tool, you might overwrite the original backup of a file.
Finish	Starts the Annotation Generator using the selected options.