Using Live Templates to type less

OPENRNDR Tutorials
1

Hi :slight_smile:

Live Templates is an IntelliJ Idea feature that expands short acronyms into full blocks of code.

This repository includes a collection of them fine tuned for OPENRNDR. Install instructions here.

Example: type ora[TAB] and it gets expanded into

fun main() = application { 
    configure { }
    program {
        extend {
            
        }
    }
}

So convenient! Just create a new Kotlin file, type ora, press the TAB key and you’re rolling :slight_smile:

You can combine them with your own live templates. My settings look like this:

image
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I added things I frequently use, for example kb expands into:

keyboard.keyDown.listen { 
    when(it.key) {
        KEY_ENTER -> 1+1
        KEY_ESCAPE -> application.exit()
    }
}

Do you have any templates that make your life easier?

2

A simple approach to install the live templates is to copy its XML code and paste them into the IDE:

  1. Right click on OPENRNDR.xml → Open In New Window
  2. On the new window, select all the <template> ... </template> blocks (in other words, copy everything except the first and the last lines).
  3. Right click on the selected text → Copy
  4. In IntelliJ Idea, go to File → Settings → Editor → Live Templates
  5. Click on + on the right side of the window to create a Template Group called OPENRNDR.
  6. Click on OPENRNDR to select it.
  7. Press CTRL+V or Command+V to paste the copied XML templates into the OPENRNDR group.

Now you can use the live templates.

The cool thing about this copy-paste approach is that it makes it easy to share templates on a chat or post them here in the forum. For example here goes one I often use: dbc for drawer.bounds.center:

<template name="dbc" value="drawer.bounds.center" description="drawer.bounds.center" toReformat="false" toShortenFQNames="true">
  <context>
    <option name="KOTLIN" value="true" />
  </context>
</template>
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