Brief

text editor
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How do I compile my code?
Brief can be used as an efficient integrated development environment that runs your compiler. First press
Ctrl F10
and enter a command line that executes your compiler. Brief will add the name of the file being edited to the end of this command line. You can use any compiler or command line options desired. Below are some examples:
Compiler Command Line
Visual Studio* cl -c -W4
Windows Device Driver build
PC-Lint lint-nt -h1 -width(0) -"format=%(%f(%l,%C) %)%m (%n)"
VBScript cscript
Perl perl -c
* assure Visual Studio registers its environment variables or run vcvars32.bat before starting brief

Now press
F10
to compile the file. Brief will save your file, use your compiler to compile it, then place the cursor on the first compiler error and display the corresponding error message. Press
Ctrl N
to advance to the next error. Press
Ctrl P
to choose from a list of all errors.
Can I change the key mappings?
Press
Ctrl Alt M
to customize any key to do anything you wish. There are also two special commands to set all the keystrokes to brief like with the following differences:
Command Ins KeyPad + Ctrl Home/End Ctrl PgUp/PgDn Alt 0..9
Ctrl Alt B: map all keys to defaults paste copy top/bottom of page start/end of file set bookmark
Ctrl Alt I: map all keys to enhanced mode toggle insert mode paste start/end of file top/bottom of page go to bookmark
Can Brief run under Linux?

Brief is a Windows console application. It can be run under Linux using wineconsole rather than wine.

How can I know if a certain feature is in the Professional version?

There are exactly 4 differences between the Basic and Professional version described here.

What are some tips and tricks?
  • There is no need to type in complete paths or filenames from the
    Alt E
    prompt. Type in just a few characters or none at all then press the
    Tab
    key and it will help complete the name or popup a file browser.
  • Copy and paste filenames between the
    Alt E
    prompt and other applications
  • The
    Alt B
    menu accepts
    Alt E
    and
    Ctrl -
    (switch to file and close file respectively)
  • Alt X
    can be used to close popup windows
  • If text is selected, searches will stay within the selected text
Any other questions?

For questions not answered here or in the product help, please buy the Professional edition which contains a user manual explaining all features and keystrokes. Suggestions, problem reports and other inquiries are welcome at info@briefeditor.com.