Hyperlink Navigation in the MPLAB® X IDE Editor

Last modified by Microchip on 2023/11/09 09:11

Hyperlink Navigation is a powerful feature of the MPLAB® X IDE Editor for getting around source files and projects. Its primary capabilities include:

  • Find the definition of a variable, function, or macro, whether it is in the current source file or somewhere else in the project.
  • Open files directly from #include directives.

To Use Hyperlink Navigation

Hold down the Ctrl key on a PC or the Command key on a Mac. Then hover the mouse pointer over an identifier (variable name, function name, macro label) or the filename of a #include directive. The text below the mouse pointer should turn into a blue hyperlink. Clicking on the hyperlink will perform one of several possible actions depending on what the link represents:

  • If the link is a filename (header file) in a #include directive, the header file will be opened. This works both for your own header files in your project as well as system header files provided with the compiler and its libraries.
  • If the link is a variable name, function name, or macro label and they are defined somewhere in the project's source code, you will be taken to the file where they are defined and the cursor will be placed on the first line of the definition.
  • If the link is a function name that is defined in a library (object code only, no source code available), you will be taken to the file where its function prototype is declared and the cursor will be placed on the first line of the declaration.

Using Hyperlink Navigation

  • Finding a variable declaration
  • Finding a function's definition
  • Opening a header file