Eric 6 User's Guide

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About This Guide

The goal of the Eric 6 User's Guide is to help users of Eric 6, a rich and sophisticated integrated development environment (IDE) for Python and other programming languages, notably Ruby.

The Eric 6 User’s Guide is under development. The intention is that it will contain detailed information about Eric’s main features, tools and benefits and demonstrate them through some typical use-cases.

The guide will probably be most useful to those with some Python experience who are new, occasional or basic users of Eric. Although it may turn into it, the guide is not currently intended to be comprehensive documentation of Eric’s every feature; rather, it focuses on the most popular, useful and powerful ones. It supplements the information available in the Technical Report prepared by Pietro Moras.

The Eric developer is not involved in the creation of this Wikibook. Any errors, omissions or misstatements here should not be blamed on him.

You Can Help!

The guide is being built by a group of grateful Eric users. You can help by joining in - if you have something to add, don't hesitate. You are strongly encouraged to do so. There are many things you can do:

• edit existing text to correct errors, improve the writing, or make additions.
• add new material: use-cases, tutorials or reference material. It doesn't have to be a magnum opus. Pick a favourite Setting or Extra - maybe only a few sentences or paragraphs.
• upload new images (screen shots or sample renders) - read the details below before you do though.
• join Wikibooks as a writer/editor by creating an account.

Click here for details.

You can join Wikibooks as a writer/editor and contribute your own content or improve the existing text. If you're planning to join Wikibooks, you should probably first review the Wikibooks policies and guidelines.

You don't actually need to join Wikibooks to edit a page - joining brings added benefits but doesn't prevent others from editing. If you edit that way, you will be listed as anonymous; your IP address will be recorded and displayed.

There's a very useful summary of how to edit here.

If you're not ready to edit directly, you could make suggestions on a page's Discussion tab or on the Eric Mailing List.

How to Edit a Page

To edit any wiki page (including this one):

1. Click on the Edit tab at the top of the page.
2. Make your change in the large text box.
3. Type an explanation of your change in the Edit summary text box below.
4. Click on the Show preview button below the edit summary to preview your change.
5. If you're satisfied with the result, click on the Save page button.

Note that you don't need a Wikibooks user ID to edit - you will be listed as anonymous. Instead of a user name, your IP address will be recorded and displayed.

Your contribution will be reviewed before it is officially published.

Things you shouldn't add to pages:

• external links that are not directly related to the module
• comments or questions regarding the text

To ask questions and make comments about exiting material:

1. Click on the Discussion tab at the top of the page. This will take you to the corresponding talk page. Note that the talk page name begins with the "Talk:" prefix.
2. If the topic of your question or comment is under discussion, edit the relevant section.
3. If it's a new topic, click on the Add topic tab at the top of the talk page to start a new discussion.
4. Sign your message by typing ~~~~ at the end. (This will expand to your username and the date.)
5. Remember to save your edit when you're done!
6. To return to the WikiBook, click on the Book tab at the top of the talk page.

TODO: adapt to E6UG

How to Add a Page

To add a new page (a section, use-case, subsection) to this book:

1. Edit the Table of Contents section (below) and add a list item with a descriptive wikilink. When you save your edit, the link to the new page will display in red (as a red link); links that connect to an existing pate display as a blue link.
2. After saving your edit, follow the red link to create the module and begin adding content to it.
3. To make it easy to read the book in sequence, each module should have navigation links to the previous module and the next module. Provide these links by transcluding the NAV template at the top and bottom of the page, as shown on the demo page. (If you expect the module to be moved elsewhere in the sequence, you can skip this step.)
4. Preview your work. When you're satisfied with it, use the Save page button to add your new module to the wiki.
5. If you provided navigation links, update the NAV templates on the previous and next modules, if they exist.
6. If you didn't provide navigation links, please ask someone to insert your new module in an appropriate place. One way to do this would be to create a talk page for your new module and type your request there.

Images

Images are a vital part of the User's Guide. They clarify instructions, provide a point of reference, and improve the learning process. However, if the image's copyright is not attributed correctly, we must remove it. This can make a once-great addition useless. Even if you believe you know what copyright to use, please check the Checking copyright page to see how and where you should add copyright information. Please make sure every image you use is not copyrighted or that you have permission to use it.

Before uploading an image:

• Search Wikimedia Commons or look in to see if the image you want to use already exists. (Uploading duplicate images is wasteful.)
• Remember to attribute the work of others.

TODO: adapt B3D:N2P copyright stuff. If you use a Commons image in this WikiBook, please use one of the categories shown in the templates on proper Blender images copyright to make it visible from the category links in the image portfolio.

How to Create a Wikibooks Account

Creating a WikiBooks account is simple. Having an account brings several advantages. Click on Create Account in the first line of any Wikibooks page. Adding your email address is optional but low risk, as it is not disclosed to others when they send you a message.

Organization

The guide is organized into the following sections:

1. Getting Started
   • Overview
   • Installation and Upgrading
   • Quick Start
   • UI Tour
2. Editing with Eric
   • Quick-And-Dirty Editor
3. Eric for GUI Development
4. Settings
5. Extras
   • Virtual Environments
6. Other Tools
7. Appendices
   • Troubleshooting
   • FAQ
   • Licensing and Attributions
   • Contributors
   • Acknowledgments