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# Advanced features

## AI chat assistant

### set-up

TeXstudio offers an interface for AI chat assistant. It supports Mistral AI, ChatGPT or local language models as AI provider. The communication to those servers is done using the official API which incur costs (except for local models). The user must set up an account and enter payment information. The cost is based on the number of words (tokens) in the question and answer, please refer the ai provider for details.

Warning

Using an AI assistant means both questions and selected text is sent to that provider !

Once an account is registered, an “API key” is provided which needs to be entered into TeXstudio configuration. There also the AI provider needs to be chosen as well as the desired ai model. The button “Retrieve list of models” downloads a current list of available models from the ai provider. An API key needs to be present for this to work.

The conversation is stored on disk, so that results can be reused later on. This can be disabled.

Local models can easily be set up via llamafile. Please refer their help for details. TeXstudio expects the OpenAI API interface on 127.0.0.1:8080 to work which is the default for llamafile, hence the llamafile needs to be started manually next to TeXstudio. Local models do not leak information to providers. A powerful GPU is recommended to get reasonable response times.

### Usage

The ai chat assistant is called via the menu “Wizards/AI chat…”.

The wizard is split in three parts. The lower half allows entering queries which will be sent to the ai provider by pressing “send”. The responses are shown in the upper right widget which presents the whole conversation which may consist of more than one question/answer. The upper left part gives access to old conversation in order to repeat or reuse questions or answers.

The “insert” button only inserts the last answer into the current editor. If explicit latex-code is given in the answer, only the latex-code is inserted and thereof also only the part between `\begin{document}` and `\end{document}` as the tools tend to answer with complete documents which contain the relevant code like tables, etc.

If a TeXstudio-macro is detected, TeXstudio offers to execute that code directly.

### Examples

#### Manipulating texts

TeXstudio predefines selected text as “text”. Queries can refer to that text (as text) directly and receive any transformed results.

E.g.

Selected text: `TeXstudio is a highly popular and powerful cross-platform open-source LaTeX editor, widely used by academics, researchers, and professionals for creating complex mathematical and scientific documents. Its user-friendly interface and rich features make it an ideal choice for both beginners and advanced LaTeX users.`

Query: `Extend the text`

Result (mistral.ai/open-mistral-7b): `TeXstudio is a highly popular and powerful cross-platform open-source LaTeX editor, widely used by academics, researchers, and professionals for creating complex mathematical and scientific documents. Its user-friendly interface, which includes features such as a spell checker, code completion, and a built-in document viewer, makes it an approachable choice for beginners. For more advanced LaTeX users, TeXstudio offers additional functionality such as a built-in compiler, project management tools, and support for various external packages. TeXstudio is also customizable, allowing users to tailor the editor to their specific needs and preferences. Overall, TeXstudio is a versatile and feature-rich tool that is well-suited for creating professional-level LaTeX documents.`

Similarly request like `summarize the text`,`shorten the text` should work well.

#### Generating LaTeX code

The assistant should provide an easy way to answer general LaTeX questions tailored to the real current situation.

E.g.

Query: “Generate a latex table with 4 rows and 3 columns.”

Result (mistral.ai/open-mistral-7b): `To create a LaTeX table with 5 rows and 3 columns, you can use the following code as a starting point:`

    \documentclass{article}
    \usepackage{tabularx} % For fixed width columns

    \begin{document}

    \begin{table}[h]
    \centering
    \begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{|X|X|X|} % Set width of table to textwidth
    % X is used for columns that adjust width to content

    % Table header
    \hline
    Column 1 & Column 2 & Column 3 \\
    \hline
    % Table content
    Row 1, Column 1 & Row 1, Column 2 & Row 1, Column 3 \\
    Row 2, Column 1 & Row 2, Column 2 & Row 2, Column 3 \\
    Row 3, Column 1 & Row 3, Column 2 & Row 3, Column 3 \\
    Row 4, Column 1 & Row 4, Column 2 & Row 4, Column 3 \\
    Row 5, Column 1 & Row 5, Column 2 & Row 5, Column 3 \\

    % Table footer
    \hline
    \end{tabularx}
    \caption{Your table caption}
    \label{table:your_label}
    \end{table}

    \end{document}

`Replace Column 1, Column 2, Column 3, Row 1, Column 1, etc., with your actual content. The tabularx package is used here to ensure that the table fits within the text width, and the X column type is used to allow columns to expand and fill the available space. Update the caption, label, and table width as needed.`

TeXstudio only inserts the part between begin/end document which is what you likely want. Please be aware that packages which are used in the result but not set in your document are not automatically included in your document.

Warning

The quality of the result may be not as expected and AI models do have the tendency to hallucinate, i.e. they invent code which is not working at all. Specifying what you want in more details may help to get what you want.

Wizards in TeXstudio are tailored for generating LaTeX code. The results are reproducible, faster and cheaper, so it is usually preferable to use these first.

#### Macro generation

The ai chat assistant can generate complete TeXstudio macros (scripts) which can solve specific problems. Here the result quality varies a lot and non-working code is generated often, less so with newer, larger models.

E.g.

Query: `Write a macro for texstudio which converts the first letter of every word in a text-selection to uppercase.`

The results have been disappointing with mistral.ai, though it was possible to get better results in the chat on the internet. The assumption is that this may get better (or better queries are needed).

## Sessions

TeXstudio uses “Sessions” to store and restore the set-up of open documents. Session are stored as .txss2 files. By default, the session is stored when exiting from TeXstudio and restored at start-up.

## User Fold Marker

Normally every structure command marks a start of foldable range, and every environment or TeX group constructs a foldable range. You can mark an extra foldable range by inserting special comments `%BEGIN_FOLD` and `%END_FOLD`.

## Bibliography

For the “bib” files , the “Bibliography” menu enables you to directly insert the entries corresponding to the standard types of document.

Note

The optional fields can be automatically deleted with the “Clean” command of the “Bibliography” menu.

Specialized bibliography programs like JabRef allow a more comfortable management of bibliography references. It can also be set up to insert bibIDs directly into TeXstudio.

## GIT/SVN Support

TeXstudio provides some basic support for version control management with git or subversion (svn).

Once set up, saving the document will also generate a check-in. This is only the case with explicit saves via “File/Save” (or the shortcut `CTRL+S`), saving via a compile run is not checked in. This allows tweaking the document around compilation runs without overflowing the version management.

Newly saved documents are automatically added to an existing repository, if no repository exist, a new one will be generated at the directory level of the document.

Note

You cannot checkout/clone a repository via TeXstudio. Just use the normal tools for this. Once you have a working copy, TeXstudio can operate on it.

“File/Checkin”

  Performs an explicit save and check in, with an input dialog which asks for a checkin in message which is stored in the SVN/GIT history.

“File/Show old Revisions”

  Pops up a dialog, which shows all available revisions. A selection of an older revision leads to instantaneous change of the current document to that older revision. You can select and copy old parts to transfer them to the most recent version of your document, by copying the parts and then going back to most recent version. If you start editing that document directly, the dialog is closed and the present text will be your new most recent version though yet unsaved.

Lock PDF/Checkin PDF

  allows to check in resulting pdf documents into the repository. SVN may lock the pdf from being changed by anyone else.

Show difference …

  shows diffs of two or three files in the editor. Changes are highlighted.

## Advanced header usage

So called “magic comments” are a way to adapt the options of the editor on a per-document level. The concept was originally introduced in TeXshop and has been adopted in a number of editors since. TeXstudio supports the following magic comments:

`% !TeX spellcheck = de_DE`

  Defines the language used for spell checking of the document. This overrides the global spellchecking settings. Nevertheless, an appropriate dictionary has to be installed.

  If no spellchecking is desired, set value to “none”.

`% !TeX encoding = utf8`

  Defines the character encoding of a document.

`% !TeX root = filename`

  Defines the root document for this file (i.e. the file which will be passed to the LaTeX compiler when building). This setting override the automatic root detection in TeXstudio. In turn, it’s overridden, if an explicit root document is set at `Options -> Root Document`.

`% !TeX program = pdflatex`

  Defines the compiler to be used for the document. To be precise, it overrides the default compiler (command `txs:///compile`) which is used in the actions “Build & View” as well as “Compile”. Valid options are “latex”, “pdflatex”, “xelatex”, “lualatex” and “usern” (e.g. user0 as user defined command 0)

`% !TeX TXS-program:bibliography = txs:///biber`

  This is a TeXstudio-specific setting. It overrides the build-system command specified to the left by the one on the right. In the example, we tell TXS to use the biber command (`txs:///biber`) for the general “Bibliography command” (txs:///bibliography). See also the description of the build system.

  Example:

      % !TeX TXS-program:compile = txs:///pdflatex/{-synctex}

  This will run pdflatex as defined in the option without the `-synctex=1` options, see description of the build system.

`% !TeX TXS-SCRIPT = name`

  This defines a temporary script macro .

  Example:

      % !TeX TXS-SCRIPT = foobar
      % //Trigger = ?load-this-file
      % app.load("/tmp/test/test.tex");
      % app.load("/tmp/test/a.tex");
      % TXS-SCRIPT-END

  This defines a temporary script macro which is executed, when the file is loaded, and which in turns loads the two files in /tmp/test.

  The macros defined via TXS-SCRIPT are active in all files of a document (e.g. included files). You cannot run them manually. They are run via the trigger (regular expression or special trigger, see section on triggers). The macro is just read once, when the file is opened. Changes during an edit session will only take effect when you reopen the file.

`% !BIB program = biber`

  The special `% !BIB program` command is understood for compatibility with TeXShop and TeXWorks (also in the variant `% !BIB TS-program`). This is equivalent to `% !TeX TXS-program:bibliography = txs:///biber`

## Personal macros

TeXstudio allows you to insert your own macros. These macros are defined with the “Macros - Edit Macros” menu. Macros can consist of simple text which is directly placed into txs (use type “Normal”). It can also be an “environment” which are automatically extended by begin/end or it can be a java script. The needed macro type can be selected by radio buttons “Normal”, “Environment”, or “Script”.

The “abbreviation” is a pseudo-command for the latex completer. If the pseudo-command is completed, the macro will be inserted instead. Note that the pseudo-command needs to start with a backslash (”\”).

“Trigger” is a regular expression which triggers the inclusion of the macro: When the last written characters match this expression, they are removed and the macro is inserted/executed. (see below for more details).

Some macros can be directly downloaded from an internet repository. The dialog is started with the button “Browse”. For easier data exchange, macros can be im- and exported to a file. If you want to add a macro of your own to that repository, you can hand it in as a feature request on Github. Each macro can be assigned a fixed shortcut in the “Shortcut” box. The list of macros on the left-hand side represents the macro ordering in the macro-menu. It is rearranged with the “up”/”down”/”add”/”remove” buttons or with drag and drop. Folders can be added to sort a larger number of macros sensibly. To move macros into/from folders, only drag and drop works. The “Exec Macro” button executes the macro immediately.

### Text macros

Apart from normal text, some special codes are recognized and replaced on insertion.

- If you write %| somewhere the cursor will be placed at that place in the inserted text. (A second %| will select everything between them).

- Write %<something%> to mark it as placeholder which is highlighted in the text and can be selected by `Ctrl+Left/Right`. Additional properties of the placeholder can be set after a %:, e.g. %<something%:persistent,id:123,mirror%>. The available properties are:

  - select: The placeholder will be selected (similar to %|)

  - multiline: The placeholder is used for multiline text. If a macro insertion replaces an existing text, the replaced text is again inserted into a placeholder in the macro. If the original text spans more than one line, it will be inserted into a placeholder with the multiline property. Otherwise in a placeholder with the select-property.

  - persistent: The placeholder is not automatically removed, when its text is changed in the editor

  - mirror: The placeholder is a mirror of another placeholder in the macro and thus will always have the same content as the original placeholder. You should set an id, so it knows which placeholders are connected

  - id:123: The id of the placeholder

  - columnShift:-12: The placeholder is not placed where the %< markers are, but some columns to the left of it

  - translatable: The text of the placeholder should be added to translations (only applicable to macros that are known during the compilation of texstudio).

  - cutInsert: The text of the placeholder is replaced by cut buffer (selected text when the snippet is inserted). This code is only necessary if not the first placeholder is intended to take the cut buffer, e.g. generate env (ctrl+e).

- The option %(filefilter%) will be replaced by a filename which is asked for in a file dialog. The file filter is the standard Qt-Filefilterformat. For example “Images (*.png *.xpm *.jpg);;Text files (*.txt);;XML files (*.xml)”, see also Qt-Doc

### Environment macros

The text must consist of one word and no newline. The word will be used as environment-name, thus “environment” will be inserted as:

    \begin{environment}

    \end{environment}

### Script Macros

Instead of using code snippets, you can also make use of scripting with QJS, an application scripting language based on ECMAScript.

Select radio button “Script” to declare a macro as a script. Here are the objects that provide the interface to the TeXstudio internals:

- “editor” allows some top level operations like searching/save/load. in the current document

- “cursor” gives access to cursor operations like moving, inserting and deleting texts.

- “fileChooser” gives access to the filechooser dialog, a very simple file selection dialog

- “app” to access application wide things like the clipboard or the menus

The following table gives an overview on the provided commands.

Command | Description
--- | ---
alert(str), information(str), warning(str) or critical(str) | shows str in a messagebox with a certain icon
confirm(str) or confirmWarning(str) | shows str as a yes/no question in a messagebox
debug(str) | prints str to stdout
writeFile(name, value) | Writes value to file name (requires write privileges)
readFile(name) | Reads the entire file name (requires read privileges)

system(cmd, workingDirectory=””)

Calls an external command cmd, which includes the program name and its arguments.
cmd may undergo command-line expansion as follows:
If cmd contains the string txs:/// or if it does not contain any pipe (|) characters, then cmd undergoes standard command-line expansion like any other external command. When expanding any tokens the current file is assumed to be the empty string, so any tokens that use the current file (e.g. % or ?) will expand to the empty string too.
If cmd does not contain the string txs:/// and it contains at least one pipe character, then it is executed without any string expansion or replacement.
If workingDirectory is not set, the working directory will be inherited from the TeXstudio executable. This command returns a ProcessX object which has the following methods:
- waitForFinished: Wait until the process is finished
- readAllStandardOutputStr: Returns the stdout
- readAllStandardErrorStr: Returns the stderr
- exitCode: The exit code
- exitStatus: The qt exit status
- terminate or kill: Stops the process
If the script does is not granted permission to run the external command, then system() returns null.
Examples
List all the files in the Subversion repository /usr/local/svnrepository
The command contains the string txs:///, so it undergoes the expansion as an external command.
%SCRIPT
cmd = system(“txs:///svn ls /usr/local/svnrepository”)
cmd.waitForFinished()
output = cmd.readAllStandardOutputStr()
alert (output)
Download the web page from http://www.my-website.com??arg1=abc&arg2=def and save it as the local file /home/john/page.html.
The command does not contain any pipe characters (|), so it undergoes the expansion as an external command. Note that we have doubled the character ? in the URL, otherwise it would be expanded to current file which in our case would be the empty string.
%SCRIPT
cmd = system (“wget -O /home/john/page.html http://www.my-website.com??arg1=abc&arg2=def”)
cmd.waitForFinished()

setGlobal(name, value) | Unsuppoted since txs 4.x. Sets a temporary, global variable
getGlobal(name) | Unsuppoted since txs 4.x. Reads a global variable
hasGlobal(name) | Unsuppoted since txs 4.x. Checks for the existence of a global variable
setPersistent(name, value) | Sets a global configuration variable. (can change the values of the ini file, requires write privileges)
getPersistent(name) | Reads a global configuration variable. (can read all values of the ini file, requires read privileges)
hasPersistent(name) | Checks if a global configuration variable exists. (requires read privileges)
hasReadPrivileges() | Checks if the script has read privileges
hasWritePrivileges() | Checks if the script has write privileges
registerAsBackgroundScript([id]) | Allows the script to run in the background (necessary iff the script should handle events/signals)
triggerMatches | Matches of the regular trigger expression, if the script was called by an editor trigger.
triggerId | Numeric id of the trigger, if the script was called by an event trigger.
include(script) | Unsuppoted since txs 4.x. Includes another script. Can be a filename or the name of a macro.
pdfs | List of all open, internal pdf viewers .

editor.search(searchFor, [options], [scope], [callback])

Searches something in the editor.
- searchFor is the text which is searched. It can be either a string (e.g. “..”) or a regexp (e.g. /[.]{2}/).
- options is a string and a combination of “i”, “g”, “w” to specify a case-insensitive search, a global search (continue after the first match) or a whole-word-only search.
- scope is a cursor constraining the search scope (see editor.document().cursor).
- callback is a function which is called for every match. A cursor describing the position of the match is passed as first argument.
All arguments except searchFor are optional, and the order may be changed (which may not be future compatible). The function returns the number of found matches.

editor.replace(searchFor, [options], [scope], [replaceWith]) | This function searches and replaces something in the editor. It behaves like editor.search apart from the replaceWith argument which can be a simple string or a callback function. If it is a function the return value of replaceWith is used to replace the match described by the cursor passed to replaceWith.

editor.replaceSelectedText(newText, [options])

This function replaces the current selections with newText or inserts newText, if nothing is selected. If newText is a function, it will be called with the selected text and corresponding cursor, and the return value will be the newText. It is recommended to use this function for all text replacements/insertions, since it is the easiest way to handle multiple cursors/block selections correctly.
Options is an object that can have the following properties:
- `{"noEmpty": true}` only replaces; does not insert anything if the selection is empty
- `{"onlyEmpty": true}` only inserts at the cursor position; does not change non empty selected text
- `{"append": true}` appends newText to the current selection, does not remove the old text
- `{"prepend": true}` prepends newText to the current selection, does not remove the old text
- `{"macro": true}` Treats newText as normal macro text, e.g. inserting %< %> placeholders
Examples:
`editor.replaceSelectedText("world", {"append": true} )` Appends “world” to the current selections.
`editor.replaceSelectedText(function(s){return s.toUpperCase();})` Converts the current selection to uppercase.

editor.insertSnippet(text); | Inserts a text snippet into the editor. For a list of extended features and syntax see Text Macros.
editor.undo(); | undo last command in editor
editor.redo(); | redo last command in editor
editor.cut(); | cut selection to clipboard
editor.copy(); | copy selection to clipboard
editor.paste(); | paste clipboard contents
editor.selectAll(); | select all
editor.selectNothing(); | select nothing (clear selections)
editor.cutBuffer | If a macro was triggered by a key press and there was a selection previous to the key press, the content of the selection is stored in the cutBuffer. The selection and its content is removed before the macro is entered.
editor.find(); | activate “find panel”
editor.find(QString text, bool highlight, bool regex, bool word=false,bool caseSensitive=false); | activate “find panel” with predefined values
editor.find(QString text, bool highlight, bool regex, bool word, bool caseSensitive, bool fromCursor, bool selection); | activate “find panel” with predefined values
editor.findNext(); | find next
editor.replacePanel(); | replace (if find panel open and something is selected)
editor.gotoLine(); | activate “goto line panel”
editor.indentSelection(); | indent selection
editor.unindentSelection(); | unindent selection
editor.commentSelection(); | comment selection
editor.uncommentSelection(); | uncomment selection
editor.clearPlaceHolders(); | clear place holders
editor.nextPlaceHolder(); | jump to next place holder
editor.previousPlaceHolder() | jump to previous place holder
editor.setPlaceHolder(int i, bool selectCursors=true); | set Placeholder
editor.setFileName(f); | set filename to f
editor.write(str) | inserts str at the current cursors position (if there are cursor mirrors, str will be inserted by all of them)
editor.insertText(str) | inserts str at the current cursor position (cursor mirrors are ignored,so it is preferable to use replaceSelectedText or write instead)
editor.setText(text) | replace the whole text of the current document by text
editor.text() | return the text of the complete document
editor.text(int line) | return text of line
editor.document().lineCount() | Returns the number of lines
editor.document().visualLineCount() | Returns the number of visual lines (counting wrapped lines)
editor.document().cursor(line, [column = 0], [lineTo = -1],[columnTo = length of lineTo]) | Unsupported in txs 4.x. Use new QDocumentCursor(…) instead, see section cursor.
editor.document().text([removeTrailing = false], [preserveIndent = true]) | Returns the complete text of the document
editor.document().textLines() | Returns an array of all text lines
editor.document().lineEndingString() | Returns a string containing the ending of a line (\n or \n\r)
editor.document().getLineTokens(lineNr) | Unsupported in txs 4.x.
editor.document().canUndo() | Returns true if undo is possible
editor.document().canRedo() | Returns true if redo is possible
editor.document().expand(lineNr) | Unfold the line in editor
editor.document().collapse(lineNr) | Fold the line in editor
editor.document().expandParents(lineNr) | Expand all parents of the line until it is visible
editor.document().foldBlockAt(bool unFold, lineNr); | Collapses or expands the first block before lineNr
editor.document().getMasterDocument(); | Returns the open document which directly includes this document
editor.document().getTopMasterDocument(); | Deprecated: Use getRootDocument() instead
editor.document().getRootDocument(); | Returns the open document which indireclty includes this document and is not itself included by any other document
editor.document().getMagicComment(name); | Returns the content of a magic comment, if it exists
editor.document().updateMagicComment(name, value, [create = false]); | Changes a magic comment
editor.document().labelItems/refItems/bibItems | Returns the ids of all labels/references or included bibliography files.
editor.document().getLastEnvName(lineNr) | Returns the name of the current environment (at the end of the line).
documentManager.currentDocument | Current document (usually the same as editor.document(), unless the script is running in background mode)
documents.masterDocument | Master document if defined
[documentManager.]documents | Array of all open documents
documentManager.findDocument(fileName) | Returns the open document with a certain file name
documentManager.singleMode() | Returns true if there is no explicit master document
documentManager. getMasterDocumentForDoc(document) | Deprecated: Use getRootDocumentForDoc(document) instead
documentManager. getRootDocumentForDoc(document) | Returns the open document (possibly indirectly) including the given document
documentManager.findFileFromBibId(id) | Returns the file name of the bib file containing an entry with the given id
new QDocumentCursor(editor.document(),line, [column = 0], [lineTo = -1], [columnTo = length of lineTo]) | Returns a cursor object. If lineTo is given the cursor has a selection from line:column to lineTo:columnTo, otherwise not.
cursor.atEnd() | returns whether the cursor is at the end of the document
cursor.atStart() | returns whether the cursor is at the start of the document
cursor.atBlockEnd() | returns whether the cursor is at the end of a block
cursor.atBlockStart() | returns whether the cursor is at the start of a block
cursor.atLineEnd() | returns whether the cursor is at the end of a line
cursor.atLineStart() | returns whether the cursor is at the start of a line
cursor.hasSelection() | return whether the cursor has a selection
cursor.lineNumber() | returns the line number of the cursor
cursor.columnNumber() | returns the column of the cursor
cursor.anchorLineNumber() | returns the line number of the anchor.
cursor.anchorColumnNumber() | returns the column of the anchor.
cursor.shift(int offset) | Shift cursor position (text column) by a number of columns (characters)
cursor.setPosition(int pos, MoveMode m = MoveAnchor) | set the cursor position after pos-characters counted from document start (very slow)

cursor.movePosition(int offset, MoveOperation op = NextCharacter, MoveMode m = MoveAnchor);

move cursor offset times. MoveOperations may be:
- cursorEnums.NoMove
- cursorEnums.Up
- cursorEnums.Down
- cursorEnums.Left
- cursorEnums.PreviousCharacter = Left
- cursorEnums.Right
- cursorEnums.NextCharacter = Right
- cursorEnums.Start
- cursorEnums.StartOfLine
- cursorEnums.StartOfBlock = StartOfLine
- cursorEnums.StartOfWord
- cursorEnums.StartOfWordOrCommand
- cursorEnums.PreviousBlock
- cursorEnums.PreviousLine = PreviousBlock
- cursorEnums.PreviousWord
- cursorEnums.WordLeft
- cursorEnums.WordRight
- cursorEnums.End
- cursorEnums.EndOfLine
- cursorEnums.EndOfBlock = EndOfLine
- cursorEnums.EndOfWord
- cursorEnums.EndOfWordOrCommand
- cursorEnums.NextWord
- cursorEnums.NextBlock
- cursorEnums.NextLine = NextBlock
Options for MoveMode are:
- cursorEnums.MoveAnchor
- cursorEnums.KeepAnchor
- cursorEnums.ThroughWrap

cursor.moveTo(int line, int column); | move cursor to line and column
cursor.eraseLine(); | remove current line
cursor.insertLine(bool keepAnchor = false); | insert empty line
cursor.insertText(text, bool keepAnchor = false) | insert text text at cursor (this function will ignore indentations and mirrors, see editor.write and editor.insertText)
cursor.selectedText() | return the selected text
cursor.clearSelection(); | clears selection
cursor.removeSelectedText(); | removes selected text
cursor.replaceSelectedText(text); | replace selected text with text
cursor.deleteChar(); | removes char right to the cursor
cursor.deletePreviousChar(); | removes char left to the cursor
cursor.beginEditBlock(); | begins a new edit block. All cursor operations encapsulated in an edit block are undone/redone at once.
cursor.endEditBlock(); | ends an edit block
app.getVersion() | Current version (0xMMmm00)
app.clipboard | Property to read/write to the clipboard
app.getCurrentFileName() | File name of currently edited file
app.getAbsoluteFilePath(rel, ext = “”) | Converts a relative filename to an absolute one
app.load(file) | Loads a file
app.fileOpen/Save/Close/…/editUndo/…/QuickBuild/… | All menu commands (i.e. all slots in the texstudio.h file). You can view a list of all currently existing slots on the “menu” page of the config dialog.
app.completerIsVisible() | check if completer is visible.
app.newManagedMenu([parent menu,] id, caption) | Creates a new menu and returns it
app.getManagedMenu(id) | Returns a QMenu with a certain id
app.newManagedAction(menu, id, caption) | Creates a new action and returns it - menu: Parent menu - id: Id of the new action (the final, unique id will be menu id/action id) - caption: Visible text You can use action.triggered.connect(function(){ … }); to link a function to the returned action (for details see the qt signal/slot documentation).
app.getManagedAction([id]) | Returns a QAction with a certain id (all ids have the form main/menu1/menu2/…/menuN/action, with usually one menu, e.g. “main/edit/undo”, see texstudio.cpp)
app.loadManagedMenu(filename) | load menu structure from an xml-file, same format as uiconfig.xml
app.setupToolBars() | recreate toolbars. Call this if a newly created menu is used in the toolbar.
app.createUI(file, [parent]) | Loads a certain ui file and creates a QWidget* from it
app.createUIFromString(string, [parent]) | Creates a QWidget* described in the string
app.slowOperationStarted()/slowOperationEnded() | Notify txs about the start/end of a slow operation to temporary disable the endless loop detection.
app.simulateKeyPress(shortcut) | Trigger a KeyPress event for the given shortcut, e.g. `app.simulateKeyPress("Shift+Up")`. Note: this is mainly intended for shortcuts and navigation. Currently, it does not support all functions of a KeyPress event. In particular, you cannot type any text.
new UniversalInputDialog() | Creates a new dialog
dialog.add(defaultValue, [description, [id]]) | Adds a new variable with the given default value, optional description and id to the dialog; and returns the corresponding qt component. A string default value becomes a QLineEdit, a number a QSpinBox and an array a QComboBox.
dialog.get(nr/id) | Returns the current value of the nr-th added variable or the variable with a certain id.
dialog.getAll() | Returns the value of all variables as combined numerical/associative array. You can use returnvalue[i] to get the i-th variable, and returnvalue.id to get the variable with a certain id.
dialog.exec() | Displays the dialog. Returns 1 if the user accepted the dialog, 0 if it was canceled.
dialog.show() | Displays the dialog asynchronously.
UniversalInputDialog([[defaultValue_0, description_0, id_0],[defaultValue_1, description_1, id_1], …]) | Not working in txs 4.0.0. Short form: Creates a new dialog, adds all variables of the array and call exec on it.
fileChooser.exec() | show dialog and wait until it is closed again
fileChooser.setDir(dir) | set directory in the dialog to dir
fileChooser.setFilter(filter) | set file filter to filter, using the QT-format, see above
fileChooser.fileName() | return selected filename (after exec)

Some examples:

- Copy current file name to clipboard:

      %SCRIPT
      app.clipboard = editor.fileName();

- Execution of editor text:

      %SCRIPT
      eval(editor.text());

- Show all properties of an object:

      %SCRIPT
      function write_properties(obj) {
          app.fileNew();
          newEditor = documentManager.currentDocument.editorView.editor;   //access the newly created document
          newEditor.setText(Object.getOwnPropertyNames(obj).join("\n"));   //print the properties
      }

      obj = editor;                                                        //object to show (e.g. the current editor)
      write_properties(obj)

- Additional action in the edit menu

      %SCRIPT
      var menu = app.getManagedMenu("main/edit");                   //get edit menu
      var act = app.newManagedAction(menu, "script", "scripttest"); //add action
      act.triggered.connect(function(){alert("called");});          //register simple handler
      registerAsBackgroundScript("test");                           //keep handler valid

- Asynchronous dialog:

      %SCRIPT
      var ui = createUI(" ... path to your ui file ...");  //load dialog
      ui.accepted.connect(function(){alert("x");})         //react to dialog closing
      registerAsBackgroundScript("abc");                   //keep function valid
      ui.show();                                           //show dialog

  The dialog is described in an ui file which can be created with the Qt Designer.

More examples can be found in the Wiki.

### Triggers

#### Regular Expressions

In its simplest form, the trigger is simply a text, which is replaced by the macro. E.g. trigger=”eg” macro=”example given”, “eg” in “the leg” is replaced on pressing “g” by “example given”

As the trigger is a regular expression, more elaborate triggers can be created. TXS makes use of look-behind searching: “(?<=\s)%” is used to replace a “%” if the previous character is a space. More help on regular expressions can be found on the internet.

You can access the matched expression in the script via the global variable `triggerMatches`. `triggerMatches` is an array. It’s zero-th component is the match to the complete regexp. The following elements are matches to groups (if groups are defined).

Example:

    Trigger: #([a-z])
    Typed text: #a

    triggerMatches[0] == '#a'
    triggerMatches[1] == 'a'

Note: Triggers are inactive while the completer is active. For example you cannot trigger on `\\sec` if the completer is open suggesting to complete `\section`.

#### Limitation of Scope

To the scope in which a macro will be active, you can prepend an expression of the pattern `(?[scope-type]:...)`.

Scope Limiting Expression | Meaning
--- | ---
`(?language:...)` | The macro is only active if the highlighting of the document matches the given language. Example: `(?language:latex)`
`(?highlighted-as:...)` | Restrict the macro to certain highlighted environments. The possible values correspond to the list on the syntax highlighting config page. Example: `(?highlighted-as:numbers,math-delimiter,math-keyword)`
`(?not-highlighted-as:...)` | Similar to `(?highlighted-as:...)`, but the macro is deactivated in the given environments.

You may combine `(?language:...)` and `(?highlighted-as:...)` expressions. However, combing `(?highlighted-as:...)` and `(?not-highlighted-as:...)` does not make sense logically and has undefined behavior.

Note that you still need the regular expression of the trigger itself. Here’s a full complex example: `(?language:latex)(?highlighted-as:comment,commentTodo)FIXME`. This trigger responds to typing “FIXME”, but only in comments and todo-notes of latex documents.

#### Event Triggers

Additionally the following special trigger terms (without parentheses) can be used to execute the script when the corresponding event occurs:

Special Trigger | Executed on Event
--- | ---
?txs-start | TeXstudio is started.
?new-file | A new file is created
?new-from-template | A new file is created from a template
?load-file | A file is loaded
?load-this-file | The file containing the macro is loaded (only makes sense, if the script is defined as magic comment)
?save-file | A file is saved
?close-file | A file is closed
?master-changed | A document is un/defined as master document
?after-typeset | A latex-like command has ended
?after-command-run | A command run has ended (e.g. a compile command that calls latex twice and opens the viewer, will trigger this event once, but after-typeset twice)

Multiple of these special triggers can be combined by | symbols.

## Save/Load Profile

TeXstudio offers the possibility to save/load profile files (.txsprofile). Profile files are complete configuration files, containing all configuration settings. To use it meaningfully for exchanging profiles or settings, the .txsprofile file, which is a text file, should be stripped down to the necessary settings. In case of syntax highlighting, this affects the formats section.

    [formats]
    data\align-ampersand\bold=true
    data\align-ampersand\fontFamily=
    data\align-ampersand\foreground=#0055ff
    data\align-ampersand\italic=false
    data\align-ampersand\overline=false
    ...

In case of other settings, the setting name is usually similar to the configuration settings name, so guessing should work. The section header for the setting like `[formats]` or `[texmaker]` needs to be present before the actual setting.

Example:

    [texmaker]
    Tools\Commands\latex="latex -src -interaction=nonstopmode %.tex"

## The “Convert to Html” command

This command (from the “Tools” menu ) produces a set of html pages from a LaTeX source file with one image for each html page. Each page in the slide presentation corresponds to one of the postscript pages you would obtain running LaTeX.

The command also produces an index page corresponding to the table of contents you would obtain with LaTeX. Each item of the index page includes a link to the corresponding html page.

You can create links in the html pages by using the `\\ttwplink{}{}` command in the tex file.

Synopsis:

    \ttwplink{http://www.mylink.com}{my text} (external link)
    \ttwplink{page3.html}{my text} (internal link)
    \ttwplink{name_of_a_label}{my text} (internal link)

Warning

You can’t use this command with the hyperref package (and some others packages). This command can only be used with the “Convert to html” tool.