ECB - the Emacs Code Browser: Tips and tricks

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# 8. Tips and tricks

This chapter contains some tips and tricks how to deal best with some situations.

> 8.1 Changing faces in the ECB tree-buffers |  |
> 8.2 Working with small screens |  |
> 8.3 Simulating speedbar without an extra frame |  |
> 8.4 Integrating speedbar in the ECB-frame |  |
> 8.5 Optimize scrolling in the edit-window |  |
> 8.6 Working with large directories |  |
> 8.7 Optimal using of eshell in ECB |  |

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## 8.1 Changing faces in the ECB tree-buffers

There are two basic faces:

- `ecb-default-general-face`:

  Basic face for displaying an ECB-tree-buffer.

- `ecb-default-highlight-face`: Basic face for highlighting the current node in an ECB-tree-buffer.

With this faces you can change the basic attributes easily and fast for ALL ECB-tree-buffers. But you are also able to display each ECB-tree-buffer with different faces. For further details see the doc-strings of the faces `ecb-default-general-face` and `ecb-default-highlight-face` (just call `customize-face` to see the doc-strings). The options of the group 'ecb-face-options' are also interesting.

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## 8.2 Working with small screens

If your screen is very small so you need every sqare-centimeter for displaying the buffer which you want to edit, ECB offers you a special layouts, where only the ECB-methods buffer is displayed on top or on left-side. Here comes what you should/can do to work best with ECB in such a situation:

- First customize your ECB:

  1. Customize `ecb-layout-nr` to layout nr. 10 (on top) or nr. 11 (on left-side)

  2. Ensure that `ecb-compile-window-height` is nil.

  3. Optional: Ajust the `ecb-windows-height` resp. `ecb-windows-width`.

  4. Save your changes.

- To edit your buffers: Call `ecb-toggle-ecb-windows` (also available via the menu "ECB" and by `C-c . w`) or `ecb-hide-ecb-windows` to hide the ECB-method buffer so you get all the place of your screen for editing.

- To browse and select functions: Call `ecb-toggle-ecb-windows` or `ecb-show-ecb-windows` to make the ECB-method buffer visible if not already. If you want select a method/variable with the keyboard instead with the mouse you should read the section 4.2 Working with the keyboard in the ECB-windows in this online help!

The possibility of hiding temporally the ECB windows like described above is also useful for all the other layouts.

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## 8.3 Simulating speedbar without an extra frame

You can simulate a speedbar-like layout within ONE frame by doing the following:

1. Customize `ecb-layout-nr` to layout nr. 11, 14, 15 or 16 dependend to what you like.

2. Optional: Ensure that `ecb-compile-window-height` is nil.

3. Optional: Ajust the `ecb-windows-width`.

4. Optional: Customize `ecb-toggle-layout-sequence` and toggle very fast between several layouts by `ecb-toggle-layout`. See the doc-strings!

5. Optional: Customize `ecb-show-sources-in-directories-buffer` to not nil if the choosen layout (see 1. and 4.) contains a directories-tree-buffer.

6. Save your changes.

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## 8.4 Integrating speedbar in the ECB-frame

This feature will be first available in future versions of ECB.

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## 8.5 Optimize scrolling in the edit-window

Emacs 20.X seems to slow down scrolling if there is a horizontal split in the frame and/or a lot of overlays in the buffer which is scrolled. This is independend of ECB! But because almost all layouts of ECB uses horizontal splits of the frame and because ECB is based on semantic which uses overlays intensively there can be poor scrolling performance in large buffers, especially with java-buffers in `jde-mode`.

This scrolling performance can be increased a lot if the options `scroll-conservatively` and `scroll-step` are set appropriatelly: The former one should have a value of 0 during ECB is active and the latter one a value of either 0 or > 1 (the exact value depends on the power of your machine).

As far as we know this is not a problem of Emacs 21.X or XEmacs. With these versions of Emacs there should be no scrolling problem even with `scroll-step` has value 1.

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## 8.6 Working with large directories

If `ecb-source-path` contains directories with many files and subdirs, especially if these directories are mounted net-drives ("many" means here something > 1000, dependend on the speed of the net-connection and the machine), actualizing the sources- and/or directories- buffer of ECB (if displayed in current layout!) can slow down dramatically. If this is a problem the contents of certain directories can be cached which increases the speed a lot. See `ecb-cache-directory-contents`.

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## 8.7 Optimal using of eshell in ECB

Documentation currently not available.

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