WebStorm 2020.3 Help

Viewing Definition

Quick Definition Lookup shows you where and how your project symbols (classes, methods/functions, fields, tags, etc) are defined. For TypeScript objects, WebStorm also displays their inferred types. For markup languages, WebStorm retrieves definitions of symbols from the specified DTD or schema. See HTML and XML for details.

WebStorm can show symbol definitions in a popup or in a tooltip. A popup shows a full definition of a symbol with the possibility to view its usages. A tooltip shows a brief definition of a symbol with the possibility to jump to its declaration.

View the definition in a popup

  1. Place the cursor at the symbol and press Ctrl+Shift+I or choose View | Quick Definition.

    Quick definition popup

  2. To jump to the definition of the symbol, click Icons actions edit source on the toolbar or press F4. Alternatively, to open the definition without closing the popup, click Icons actions preview or press Ctrl+Enter.

  3. If there are several definitions of a symbol, select the relevant one from the drop-down list. Use the arrows on the toolbar to move to the next/previous definition.

    Viewing usages of a symbol in the quick definition popup

    Alternatively, click Pin and browse the usages in the Find tool window. See Finding usages of a symbol in a project for details.

View the definition in a tooltip

  • With the Ctrl key pressed, hover your mouse pointer or the cursor over the symbol. WebStorm displays the symbol as a link and shows its definition in a tooltip.

    ws_quick_definition_lookup_tooltip.png

  • To jump to the definition of the symbol, click the link.

View quick type definition

With WebStorm, you can quickly view the type that defines a variable, a field, a methods, or any other symbols in a popup without switching from the code you are editing. For an instance of a class, this will reveal the class itself instead of where this instance is defined.

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

    Quick type definition
Last modified: 08 March 2021