Handy Code Viewer | Experts Exchange

INTRODUCTION

We all know how to code. But at times you simply want to insert a common code block into your existing code and amend it as per your requirements. This tool not only saves you time but also saves you the pain of typing it all out again and again.

Here is a tool which I have been using for a long time now. This tool has not only helped me with the projects that I am involved in but ALSO in quickly answering question in forums like EE :)

This tool also doesn't need any installer and hence you can use it in different version of Windows.

Right now the tool can manage code for the following

"Visual Basic 6"
"VB.NET"
"VBA - Excel"
"VBA - Word"
"VBA - PowerPoint"
"Visual Basic Script"
"C#"
"ASP.Net"
"Miscellaneous" (This can be used to store formulas, code samples of any other language)

THE DESIGN

Main View

The main Form looks like Snapshot 1. The moment you select an entry from the combobox, if the relevant folder has any "Titles" then the same gets populated in the List Box. For example, if you see snapshot 2, you will notice that I have selected "VBA - Excel".

Add New Item
When you click on "New Entry" in the main form, you are taken to a section where you can add a new "Title". Please see snapshot 3

Edit Item
When you click on "Edit Entry" in the main form, you are taken to a section where you can edit an existing "Title". Please see snapshot 4

Delete Item
This is to delete any Title. Please see snapshot 5

Category

There are currently 9 Categories,
"Visual Basic 6"
"VB.NET"
"VBA - Excel"
"VBA - Word"
"VBA - PowerPoint"
"Visual Basic Script"
"C#"
"ASP.Net"
"Miscellaneous"

You may add / modify or delete categories if you want. See Snapshot 6 (a), 6 (b) and 6 (c)

Search

There are many a times when you don't remember where you have kept a particular Title but now, you can search for that Title using the "Search" Option. Simply enter a Keyword and it will search for the Code snippet in the "Title" or "Title - Contents". See Snapshot 7

INSTALLATION

Like I mentioned earlier, this tool doesn't need any installation. All you need to do is extract the zip file and directly use the "Handy Code" exe. The Main Folder has sub folders for all sections. When you add a code, a text file is automatically created in that folder.

ZIP FILE EXTRACTOR CONTENTS

1) Handy Code exe
2) Source Code
3) Pre Created Folders
4) One Title for VBA as shown in Snapshot 2
5) Pix Folder containing images and Icon used in the App

CODE USED

Main Form

Option Explicit
                      
                      Private Sub Form_Load()
                          '~~> Sub Categories
                          Combo1.AddItem "Visual Basic 6"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VB.NET"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VBA - Excel"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VBA - Word"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VBA - PowerPoint"
                          Combo1.AddItem "Visual Basic Script"
                          Combo1.AddItem "C#"
                          Combo1.AddItem "ASP.Net"
                          Combo1.AddItem "Miscellaneous"
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Exit
                      Private Sub Command1_Click()
                          Unload Me
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Populate Listbox
                      Private Sub Combo1_Click()
                          If Len(Trim(Combo1.Text)) <> 0 Then
                              strPath = App.Path & "\" & Combo1.Text
                              strFile = Dir(strPath & "\*.txt")
                                 
                              Do While strFile <> ""
                                  List1.AddItem Replace(strFile, ".txt", "")
                                  strFile = Dir
                              Loop
                          End If
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Populate code window
                      Private Sub List1_Click()
                          For i = 0 To List1.ListCount - 1
                              If List1.Selected(i) = True Then
                                  FlName = App.Path & "\" & Combo1.Text & "\" & List1.List(i) & ".txt"
                                  Open FlName For Input As #1
                                  filesize = LOF(1)
                                  Text1.Text = Input(filesize, #1)
                                  Close #1
                                  Text2.Text = List1.List(i)
                                  Exit For
                              End If
                          Next
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Highlight in listbox as you type in textbox
                      Private Sub Text2_Change()
                          List1.ListIndex = SendMessage(List1.hWnd, LB_FINDSTRING, Text2, ByVal Text2.Text)
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> When user presses enter the listbox text comes into textbox
                      Private Sub Text2_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)
                          If KeyAscii = 13 Then
                              Text2.Text = List1.Text
                          End If
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Add A New Entry
                      Private Sub Command4_Click()
                          frmAdd.Show
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Edit An New Entry
                      Private Sub Command2_Click()
                          If List1.ListIndex < 0 Then
                              MsgBox "Please select an item first which you want to edit", vbInformation, "Nothing to edit"
                              Exit Sub
                          End If
                          FlName = App.Path & "\" & Combo1.Text & "\" & List1.List(List1.ListIndex) & ".txt"
                          frmEdit.Show
                          Me.Hide
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Delete An Entry
                      Private Sub Command3_Click()
                          Dim Ret
                          
                          On Error GoTo KillError
                          
                          If List1.ListIndex < 0 Then
                              MsgBox "Please select an item first which you want to edit", vbInformation, "Nothing to Delete"
                              Exit Sub
                          End If
                          
                          FlName = App.Path & "\" & Combo1.Text & "\" & List1.List(List1.ListIndex) & ".txt"
                          
                          Ret = MsgBox("Are you sure you want to delete the file? Files once deleted cannot be restored", vbYesNoCancel, "Confirm Deletion")
                          
                          If Ret = vbYes Then
                              Kill FlName
                              MsgBox "File Deleted!", vbInformation, "Deletion Confirmation"
                              List1.Clear
                              Text1.Text = ""
                              Text2.Text = ""
                              Combo1.ListIndex = -1
                          End If
                          
                          Exit Sub
                      KillError:
                          MsgBox Err.Description
                      End Sub

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Add New Item

Private Sub Form_Load()
                          '~~> Sub Categories
                          Combo1.AddItem "Visual Basic 6"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VB.NET"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VBA - Excel"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VBA - Word"
                          Combo1.AddItem "VBA - PowerPoint"
                          Combo1.AddItem "Visual Basic Script"
                          Combo1.AddItem "C#"
                          Combo1.AddItem "ASP.Net"
                          Combo1.AddItem "Miscellaneous"
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> A filename cannot contain any of these Characters \ / : * ? " < > |
                      Private Sub Text2_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)
                          Select Case KeyAscii
                          Case 92, 47, 58, 42, 63, 34, 60, 62, 124
                              KeyAscii = 0
                          End Select
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> If user pastes the invalid characters then check on lost focus.
                      Private Sub Text2_LostFocus()
                          For i = 1 To Len(Text2.Text)
                              If Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 92 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 47 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 58 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 42 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 63 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 34 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 60 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 62 Or _
                              Asc(Mid(Text2.Text, i, 1)) = 124 Then
                                  MsgBox "The name contains invalid character(s)", vbCritical, "Invalid Character"
                                  Text2.SetFocus
                                  Text2.SelStart = 0
                                  Text2.SelLength = Len(Text2.Text)
                                  Exit Sub
                              End If
                          Next
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Add New Code
                      Private Sub Command1_Click()
                          If Len(Trim(Text2.Text)) = 0 Then
                              MsgBox "The Title cannot be empty", vbInformation, "Title Missing"
                              Exit Sub
                          End If
                          If Len(Trim(Combo1.Text)) = 0 Then
                              MsgBox "The Category cannot be empty", vbInformation, "Category Missing"
                              Exit Sub
                          End If
                          If Len(Trim(Text1.Text)) = 0 Then
                              MsgBox "The Code Section cannot be empty", vbInformation, "Code Missing"
                              Exit Sub
                          End If
                          
                          '~~> Check if file aready exists
                          FlName = App.Path & "\" & Combo1.Text & "\" & Text2.Text & ".txt"
                          
                          If Dir(FlName) <> "" Then
                              MsgBox "A topic with that title already exists. Please change the title", vbInformation, "Title Exists"
                              Exit Sub
                          End If
                            
                          '~~> Save and Exit
                          '~~> get a free file handle
                          filesize = FreeFile()
                        
                          '~~> Open your file
                          Open FlName For Output As #filesize
                          
                          '~~> Export Text
                          Print #filesize, Text1.Text
                          Close #filesize
                        
                          MsgBox "Data Saved", vbInformation, "Code Added to CodeBank"
                          
                          frmview.List1.Clear
                          frmview.Text1.Text = ""
                          frmview.Text2.Text = ""
                          frmview.Combo1.ListIndex = -1
                          
                          frmview.Show
                          Unload Me
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Exit
                      Private Sub Command2_Click()
                          frmview.Show
                          Unload Me
                      End Sub
                      
                      Private Sub Form_QueryUnload(Cancel As Integer, UnloadMode As Integer)
                          frmview.Show
                          Unload Me
                      End Sub

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Edit Item

'~~> Load the code to edit
                      Private Sub Form_Load()
                          Open FlName For Input As #1
                          filesize = LOF(1)
                          Text1.Text = Input(filesize, #1)
                          Close #1
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Saving the amended code
                      Private Sub Command1_Click()
                          If Len(Trim(Text1.Text)) = 0 Then
                              MsgBox "The Code Section cannot be empty", vbInformation, "Code Missing"
                              Exit Sub
                          End If
                          
                          '~~> Save and Exit
                          '~~> get a free file handle
                          filesize = FreeFile()
                        
                          '~~> Open your file
                          Open FlName For Output As #filesize
                          
                          '~~> Export Text
                          Print #filesize, Text1.Text
                          Close #filesize
                          
                          frmview.List1.Clear
                          frmview.Text1.Text = ""
                          frmview.Text2.Text = ""
                          frmview.Combo1.ListIndex = -1
                          
                          MsgBox "Data Saved", vbInformation, "Code amended"
                          
                          frmview.Show
                          Unload Me
                      End Sub
                      
                      '~~> Exit
                      Private Sub Command2_Click()
                          frmview.Show
                          Unload Me
                      End Sub
                      
                      Private Sub Form_QueryUnload(Cancel As Integer, UnloadMode As Integer)
                          frmview.Show
                          Unload Me
                      End Sub

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Delete Item
It is in the Main Form's code above

The code for the rest can be seen in the source file.

NOTE

1. This tool is freeware. It can be passed on but not sold.
2. Bugs can (and should) be posted in this thread.
3. As and when I add new section, I will upload the updated ZIP file here.

Hope you like it.

Sid

Handy-Code.exe

Comments (5)

bromy2004

CERTIFIED EXPERT

Commented: 2011-04-05

Pretty good idea to consolidate code snippets, rather than having to create a snippet project.

Feature suggestion: Syntax Colours and Possible Errors(i.e. missing brackets etc.)

Dave

Nicely done Sid

Cheers

Dave

SiddharthRout

Author

Thanks Dave.

Sid

karunamoorthy

Commented: 2011-06-11

Really wonderful

Glad you like it :)

Sid