Projects
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Projects
When working with multiple files, it can be very helpful to have them grouped in a project. In e you can open any directory as a project from the menu entry 'File/Open Dir as Project...'. This will open the dir in the project pane, where you will be able to see and interact with the tree-structure.
The project pane works similarly to the file explorer, so you have full ability to copy, move and rename files directly. You can also right-click files and dirs to get the systems standard context menu.
Keyboard navigation
The project pane can be entirely navigated by keyboard shortcuts. If you press any alphanumeric key while the pane has focus, it will move to the first file that starts with this letter (also looking in open sub-dirs). On top of this you have a whole range of shortcuts for quick navigation and file manipulation:
| Ctrl-P | Open/Close project pane |
| Ctrl-Shift-P | Toggle focus between editor and project pane |
| Arrow Up/Down | Move up down in files |
| Arrow Right | Expand Dir |
| Arrow Left | Collapse Dir |
| Enter | Open file |
| Delete | Move file/dir to trash |
| Shift-Delete | Delete file/dir |
| F2 | Edit label |
| Shift-F10 | Show context menu |
| F5 | Refresh |
Go to File
For quick navigation to any file in the project, you can use the menu entry 'Navigation/Go to File' (Ctrl-Shift-T). This allows you to enter just a few letters of the filename to find the file. If you use it a lot it will learn your search patterns to make it faster and faster to find the files.
Filtering
The directory you have choosen for your project may contain files and dirs that you don't want to see as part of your project. In that case you have the option of filtering. If you click the 'Settings' button, you will get a dialog with a 'Filters' tab.
Here you have the option of saying which files and dirs should be included or excluded. The format is standard dos wildcards:
\* = matches up with any combination of allowable characters
? = matches up with any single allowable character
So for example to include all ruby files only, you would write '*.rb' in the 'Include Files' field. Each field can contain multible lines of patterns.
By default sub-dirs inherit the filters of their parents. But by selecting the target dir before clicking 'Settings', you can make them have their own filters.
Project Specific Environment Variables
If you click the 'Settings' button, while the top dir in the project is selected, you get the option to set project specific environment variables. These variables will be available to all bundle commands that are run while the project is open.
Projects over FTP
Recently, e has gained the ability to manage projects over FTP. Just navigate to "File/Open Remote Folder" and the rest should be self explanatory. You can also do this from the command line.
e.exe ftp://ftp.mydomain.com/dir/file.txt
e.exe ftp://ftp.mydomain.com/dir/ (remember trailing slash for projects)
e.exe ftp://username:password@ftp.mydomain.com/dir/ (with login)
Integration with Revision Control Systems
Many popular Revision Control Systems also have explorer interfaces. The most well known are TortoiseCVS and TortoiseSVN. These kinds of interfaces work fine with projects in e, and you will both have overlays on the icons showing file state and be able to control the rcs via the context menu.
One limitation is that the icon overlays are not always updated after an rcs action. If this happens you can refresh manually (F5).
