Task List Window

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Helps you customize, categorize, and manage work associated with your project by displaying your tasks, specially marked comments, named shortcuts, warnings, errors detected while you type in the Text Editor window, and errors detected while you are compiling your project. Some errors, for example SmartEditor and Comment errors, are automatically generated as you type or when you compile.

The Task List window is visible when you:

  • Open an editor in the development environment the first time after installation.

  • Build a project if it has errors.

  • Choose Task List from the Other Windows command on the View menu.

In the Task List window you can:

  • Manually, add your own tasks into the "Click here to add a new task" line at the top of the Task List.

  • Track and manage errors in your code that are generated as you type in the editor or compile.

  • Track a comment, error, or named shortcut and jump to its location in the editor.

  • Sort Task List items by Priority, Category, Checked, Description, File, or Line.

  • Check or delete some Task List items.

The tasks and ways they are added to the Task List vary with the specific development environment you are in.

Use F12 to cycle through the tasks currently displayed, one task at a time. To cycle through the tasks in the reverse order, press SHIFT+F12.

Elements

Priority

Specifies the priority of the task. Priority is indicated by the following graphics:

Priority Indicated by
High
Normal Nothing
Low

Category

Specifies the categories a Task List item can be assigned. The application you are using may have custom icons that differ from the default development environment icons and appear next to the categories.

SmartEditor Errors

Continually updated as you introduce syntax errors. You only get SmartEditor errors for files that are open. The task is deleted from Task List when you fix the error. You cannot delete SmartEditor errors or edit any field. These items are all high priority because the source code will not compile successfully until they are resolved. SmartEditor errors appear in your code with a red squiggly underline. Double-click a SmartEditor error task and the file appears in an editor window with the cursor at the site of the error.

Compiler Errors

Build errors and warnings, and deployment tasks that are automatically added as you compile your project. Errors and deployment tasks have a high priority, and warnings are listed with a normal priority. You can check but not delete compiler error tasks. Double-click a Compiler Error task and the file appears in an editor window with the cursor at the site of the error.

Comments

Indicates where you have TODO, UNDONE, or HACK in the comments of your code. You can add new comment tokens, edit their names, and change their priority. Any new comment tokens must contain only characters that are legal in a comment token. They are alphanumeric characters, $, _, and (and) where the commas and parentheses are part of the sentence, not part of the code. You cannot delete or edit the name of the TODO token, but you do not have to use it. Comment tasks are initially normal priority but you can change the priority for any tokens. When you delete a comment in your code, the task is deleted from the Task List. However, you cannot edit or delete a comment in your code by changing it in the Task List. Double-click a Comments task and the file appears in an editor window with the cursor at the site of the comment.

Named Shortcuts

Lists named shortcuts that you created in your text editor. The name of the shortcut in the Task List is the line of text containing the insertion point when you created the shortcut. The description is the name of the shortcut. You can edit the shortcut name without changing the text in your code. You can change the priority and checked state. You can remove a named shortcut from the task list by putting the cursor in the appropriate line of code in the Text Editor and choosing the Toggle Shortcut command from the Text Editor shortcut menu.

User-defined Tasks

Tasks that you enter into the Description field at the top of the Task List window. You can set the priority and checked state of User-defined tasks. Stored on a per-user and per-solution basis.

Checked

Specifies whether or not you believe the Task List item has been completed. For example, some tasks such as compiler and build tasks can be checked automatically when completed. Some tasks such as Comments and SmartEditor errors cannot be checked.

Description

Describes the item. The description can be generated automatically or entered and edited manually.

Click here to add a new task

Allows you to add User-defined tasks and set their priority. Type the name of the task in the description column, set the priority if you want, and press ENTER. The new task appears at the top of the Task List.

File

If applicable, specifies the name of the file to which the item is attached.

Line

If applicable, specifies the line number in the file where the item is located.