The QtikZ Handbook

This starts a new document in a new and independent editor window.

Displays a standard Qt Open File dialog. Use the file view to select the file you want to open, and click on Open to open it. You can find more information about the Qt Open File dialog in the Qt User Guide.

This is a shortcut to open recently saved documents. Clicking on this item opens a list to the side of the menu with several of the most recently saved files. Clicking on a specific file will open it in QtikZ - if the file still resides at the same location.

This saves the current document. If there has already been a save of the document then this will overwrite the previously saved file without asking for the user's consent. If it is the first save of a new document the save as dialog (described below) will be invoked.

This allows a document to be saved with a new file name. This is done by means of the file dialog box described above in the Open section of this help file.

Exports the current document to different formats, so that the document can be viewed as an image. Currently the document can be exported as Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Portable Document Format (PDF), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Joint Photographic Experts Group Format (JPEG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) and Windows Bitmap (BMP).

Reload the current document from disk. If you have made unsaved changes, you will be prompted to save the file before QtikZ reloads it.

Opens a simple print dialog allowing the user to specify what, where, and how to print.

Close the active file with this command. If you have made unsaved changes, you will be prompted to save the file before QtikZ closes it.

This will close the editor window, if you have more than one instance of QtikZ running, through the New or Open menu items, those instances will not be closed.

This is used to eliminate or reverse the most recent user action or operation.

This will reverse the most recent change (if any) made using Undo.

This command deletes the current selection and places it on the clipboard. The clipboard is a feature of Qt that works invisibly to provide a way to transfer data between applications.

This copies the currently selected text to the clipboard so that it may be pasted elsewhere. The clipboard is a feature of Qt that works invisibly to provide a way to transfer data between applications.

This will insert the contents of the clipboard at the cursor position. The clipboard is feature of Qt that works invisibly to provide a way to transfer data between applications.

This will select the entire document. This could be very useful for copying the entire file to another application.

This increases the paragraph's indentation by one step. The size of the step can be selected in the dialog that appears when triggering this action.

This adds the LaTeX comment character “%” and one space to the beginning of the line where the text cursor is located or to the beginning of any selected lines.

This removes the LaTeX comment character “%” and one space (if any exist) from the beginning of the line where the text cursor is located or from the beginning of any selected lines.

This opens the search bar at the bottom of the editor window. On the left side of the bar is an icon to close the bar, followed by a small text box for entering the search pattern.

You have to enter the characters of your search pattern and press the Find button. If there is a match in the text, this is highlighted. Continue to press the Find button to find the next matches. If the search pattern does not match any string in the subsequent text anymore, a dialog asking to start searching from the beginning is shown.

Use the Search Backwards or Search Forward button to direct the search to proceed in an upwardly or downwardly direction.

You can modify the search behavior by selecting different Options: Checking Whole Words Only prevents the search from stopping on words that contain the searched for pattern. Selecting Case Sensitive will limit finds to entries that match the case (upper or lower) of each of the characters in the search pattern.

This repeats the last find operation, if any, otherwise starts a new find operation.

This repeats the last find operation, if any, searching backwards instead of forwards through the document.

This opens the search and replace bar at the bottom of the editor window. On the left side of the bar is an icon to close the bar, followed by a small text box for entering the search pattern.

Use the Search Backwards or Search Forward button to direct the search to proceed in an upwardly or downwardly direction.

You can modify the search behavior by selecting different Options: Checking Whole Words Only prevents the search from stopping on words that contain the searched for pattern. Selecting Case Sensitive will limit finds to entries that match the case (upper or lower) of each of the characters in the search pattern.

Enter the text to be replaced in the text box labeled Find and the text to replace with in the text box labeled Replace, then click the Replace button. The replace bar is replaced by a set of buttons. If there is a match in the text, this is highlighted. Press Replace to replace the currently highlighted text. Continue to press the Replace button to find and replace the next matches. If the search pattern does not match any string in the subsequent text anymore, a dialog asking to start searching from the beginning is shown. Press the Replace All button to replace the search text in the whole document. Press the Don't Replace button to skip the currently highlighted text and find the next match. Press the Cancel button to cancel the replacing.

Increase the magnification of the document view.

Decrease the magnification of the document view.

Show the preview of the previous TikZ picture in the code. This item is only shown when there are multiple TikZ pictures in the code (delimited by “\begin{tikzpicture}” and “\end{tikzpicture}”).

Show the preview of the next TikZ picture in the code. This item is only shown when there are multiple TikZ pictures in the code (delimited by “\begin{tikzpicture}” and “\end{tikzpicture}”).

This opens the goto line bar at the bottom of the window which is used to have the cursor jump to a particular line (specified by number) in the document. The line number may be entered directly into the text box or graphically by clicking on the up or down arrow spin controls at the side of the text box. The little up arrow will increase the line number and the down arrow decrease it. Close the bar with a click on the icon on the left side of the bar.

Abort the execution of the currently running process.

Show the LaTeX log file in the Messages panel.

Enable LaTeX to run shell commands, this is needed when you want to plot functions using gnuplot within TikZ.

Set or unset a bookmark for the current line in the text editor.

Go to the line in the text editor which has the previous bookmark.

Go to the line in the text editor which has the next bookmark.

This submenu lists the available toolbars, each item toggles the display of the associated toolbar. When checked, each item displays a movable toolbar containing buttons used to initiate frequently used commands. When unchecked the toolbar is hidden.

This submenu lists the available sidebars, each item toggles the display of the associated sidebar.

This menu item opens a dialog whereby several different settings may be adjusted.

Opens the TikZ Manual. This is the full TikZ Manual bundled with the LaTeX PGF package, it contains a tutorial on how to use TikZ and a reference guide of all PGF and TikZ commands.

Invokes the Qt Help system starting at the QtikZ help pages. (this document).

Changes the mouse cursor to a combination arrow and question mark. Clicking on items within QtikZ will open a help window (if one exists for the particular item) explaining the item's function.

This will display version and author information.

This displays the Qt version and other basic information.