AppCode 2020.3 Help

Code reference information

Definitions

In AppCode, you can see where and how symbols, such as classes, fields, methods, or functions are defined in your project. For this purpose, the IDE features the Quick Definition popup.

  • To view definition of a symbol, select it in the editor and press ⌃⇧I (or click View | Quick Definition ).

Quick Definition popup

Alternatively, with the Ctrl key pressed, hover the cursor over any symbol. AppCode displays the symbol as a link and shows its definition in a tooltip. Click this link to jump to the definition of the symbol.

View definition in a tooltip

Click the Open in Find tool window icon in the top-right corner to open the definition in the Find tool window. To open the source code of the definition for editing and close the popup, click the Edit Source icon F4. To open the definition without closing the popup, click the Show Source ⌃⏎.

Type definitions

The Quick Type Definition feature allows you to view the type definition of variables, fields, methods, or any other symbols in a popup without switching from the code you're editing.

  • Place the caret at the symbol for which you want to view the type definition and select View | Quick Type Definition.

    Viewing type definition in a popup

AppCode doesn’t have a default keyboard shortcut for this action, but you can manually configure it in the settings. For more information on how to configure custom shortcuts, refer to Configure keyboard shortcuts.

Parameter info

The Parameter Info popup shows the names of parameters in method and function calls. AppCode automatically shows a popup with all available method signatures within 1 second (1000 milliseconds) after you type an opening bracket in the editor, or select a method from the suggestions list.

You can explicitly invoke the popup if it has closed or if your IDE is configured not to show the popup automatically. To do so, press ⌃P (or click View | Parameter Info ).

Parameter info popup

Show full method or function signatures

By default, the parameter info popup shows simple signatures. You can configure the IDE to show full signatures that include method names and returned types.

  • In the Preferences dialog ⌃⌥S, go to Editor | General | Code Completion, and select the Show full method signatures checkbox.

    Full signatures enabled

Configure the parameter info popup

  1. In the Preferences dialog ⌃⌥S, go to Editor | General | Code Completion.

  2. In the Show the parameter info popup in ... milliseconds field, specify the time in milliseconds after which the popup should appear.

If you don't want the popup to appear automatically, clear the Show the parameter info popup in ... milliseconds checkbox.

Quick documentation

You can get quick information for any symbol or method signature by means of the Quick Documentation popup. Note that the symbol must be supplied with documentation comments created in accordance with supported markup, or with the SDK documentation.

  • Hover the mouse over the necessary symbol to view its documentation, or place the caret at the symbol, and press ⌃Q (View | Quick Documentation ).

    Press ⌃Q again to switch between the popup and the toolbar.

    Quick Documentation popup

Click the Show Options Menu icon in the popup to change the font size, display the quick documentation toolbar, or go to the source code.

Disable quick documentation on mouseover

  • In the Preferences dialog ⌃⌥S, go to Editor | Code Editing | Quick Documentation and clear the Show quick documentation on mouse move checkbox.

    You can also click the Show Options Menu icon in the popup and disable the Show on Mouse Move option.

In this case, to view documentation for a symbol at caret, press ⌃Q or select View | Quick Documentation from the main menu.

External documentation

The External Documentation action opens Apple Developer Documentation for a selected symbol in a web or offline browser of your choice.

View external documentation

To open documentation for a symbol at the caret in an external browser, do one of the following:

  • Press ⇧F1.

  • Select View | External Documentation from the main menu.

  • Click the link in the Quick Documentation ⌃Q popup:

    The link to external documentation

Select an external documentation browser

To choose where external documentation will be opened:

  1. In the Preferences dialog ⌃⌥S, go to Editor | External Documentation.

  2. Choose one of the following options:
    • Default Web Browser (default): your default web browser.

    • Dash: the Dash browser for offline API documentation (if it is installed on your computer).

    • Xcode Documentation: the offline Xcode documentation viewer.

Context info

If the current method or class declaration is not visible, you can view it in the tooltip that appears in the top-left corner of the editor. To do this, press ⌥Q or select View | Context Info from the main menu.

View context info
Last modified: 09 March 2021