pxt-calliope/docs/reference/js/editor.md

Touch Develop Editor

The Touch Develop editor.

@parent js/contents

The Touch Develop editor is where you write and test your code. If you're new to Touch Develop, check out the Touch Develop editor video.

To create a new Touch Develop script:

1. Go to the micro:bit website and click Create Code (along the top).

2. Under the Touch Develop editor heading, click New project.

3. Type a name for your script and click create.

An empty script with a function called main is created.

The Editor Menu Bar

The Touch Develop editor has a bar of options above the code area:

• my scripts takes you back to a list of your scripts (My Scripts). The open script is automatically saved (in the cloud) when you leave the editor.
• run executes your script, showing you the results on the on-screen micro:bit device. See run scripts in the browser for more about this.
• compile sends your script to an ARM compiler, which creates a file that you can run on your micro:bit. See run scripts on your micro:bit for more info.
• undo undoes changes that you made to your script.
• search code... search for functions in libraries such as the micro:bit library.
• script opens script options, where you can do things like publish and preview. See script options below.

Many of the above buttons aren't much use until you've written some code, so let's move on to the Code Keyboard.

Code Keyboard

The Code Keyboard makes it easy to write code on a touch screen device or by using your mouse. You can also type code using your computer keyboard if you know what function or statement you want (see Touch Develop documentation for a complete list).

To open the Code Keyboard, click on a line of code:

An on-screen keyboard appears, with buttons that vary depending on what's selected.

Statements

The first row of the Code Keyboard has Touch Develop statements that you can insert into your code. These buttons are blue and include things like var, if, for , and while. Click more to see additional statements.

The BBC micro:bit, math, and code buttons

• micro:bit: click to see all the micro:bit functions; click more to scroll left to right. The micro:bit functions are also grouped together behind the following category buttons: basic, control, input, image, led, andpins
• code: click to access functions you've written (see call a function for more info)
• math: click to see math functions; such as abs and round
• bits: click to see functions for bit-level manipulation of integers

Editing code: add, copy, paste, and cut

In the coding area...

• add: to add a new line, click on a line and then click a + to add a new line above or below the current line
• copy, paste, cut: click on a line then click copy or cut. Then click on a new line, and click paste.

Block editing

To copy, cut, or comment out a block of code (more than one line):

1. Click on a line of code.

2. Press and hold the Shift key, and then press the Up arrow or Down arrow key on your keyboard (this selects multiple lines).

3. Choose a block editing option like copy, cut, or comment out.

Script options

Click script (in the upper-right corner) to open the script options:

Here you'll find options like...

• script properties: the script name, description, and whether or not the script is a library (more info below)
• publish: share a script with other users by publishing it
• share: share a link to a published script (see publish as script for more info)
• preview: preview a documentation script
• + add new: add a new function, global variable, picture, or library to a script
• code: the functions in your script; click a function to open it in the editor
• global vars: the global variables in your script; click a variable to go to that variable
• libraries: the libraries added to your script
• art: picture and video resources added to your script

Script properties

To edit a script's properties, click script (in the upper-right corner), and then click the script name or script properties.

• name: the script's name (60 character limit)
• description: a description of what your script does along with #hashtags for search (for example, #game or #maker). Hashtags are especially important if you publish your script (200 character limit).
• this script is a library: click this check box to turn a script into a library

Comments

Comments are notes within your scripts. To learn how to insert comments into your scripts, see Comments. You can format your comments using markdown syntax.

Share your scripts

Share your scripts with other people by publishing them. See publish a script for more info.

See also

publish a script, Touch Develop documentation