A recent post included some PowerScript code, and I thought I would pass along a tip for pasting code snippets that produces a slightly more readable result than simply pasting code into the website's text editor.

The toolbar contains a button to assist with including a source code sample:

When selected, a dialog window appears, where you can paste your code sample. Here's what the upper portion of that dialog looks like:

Please note three things: (1) A drop-down selection is available for you to choose the source language you are including (it defaults to PowerBuilder, as you can see). Ten other languages are available, including C# if you are posting code taken from SnapDevelop. (2) The tab setting is fixed at eight characters, as shown above. I wish it was a smaller value (like 3 or 4) or controllable, but it's not. (3) A monospaced font will be used so that lines of code will align (notwithstanding the overtly large tab setting).

I manually edit the pasted code snippet to replace the expanded tab characters with three spaces, to make it more readable, but that's optional, of course.

Here's the result of including the above code sample (I did NOT replace the tab characters, so that you can see the results):

If dw_1.RowCount() > 0 Then
	// If this Data Object already contains data, clear out all of the data.
	dw_1.Reset()
End If
dw_1.InsertRow(0)

You can see how the code fragments are colorized in much the same way as in the PowerScript Editor.

To edit a code sample you've already added, click the source code sample to highlight it, then click the "Insert/Edit Code Sample" toolbar button and the same dialog window will appear with the code in it.

Bonus Tip! The toolbar button to the immediate left of the "Insert/Edit Code Sample" button with the "eye" icon displays a Preview of your posting prior to you submitting it. The preview is an approximation, not a fully-faithful rendering, but it gives you an idea as to how your posting will appear when it is submitted.

I look forward to seeing your posts!