Editor line numbers

[ksa]

I can't figure out how to configure the session to always display line numbers in the editor/trace windows. I'm tired of having to turn them on every time I start a session. I can't find a parameter to set anywhere. Can you help? Thanks!
...../Kim

[kai]

You might not be aware that all you have to do is press the <minus> key on the numeric keypad to toggle them on and off.

I would recommend doing that rather than saving/loading a session, particularly because in some circumstances you don't want line numbers, for example on nested variables.

[paulmansour]

Implicit in Kai's answer is that you can save the session configuration so you don't need to reset your preferences every time. There are t(at least) two ways to do this:

1. Go to session/save on the menu.

2. Click the x on the main window to close (rather than )off ) and select save session in the popup dialog box.

[ksa]

Thanks, Kai & Paul.

Kai, I knew about the num <->, except that I have reassigned the functionality as it destroys the possibility to use the num <-> key in the session/editor (the same with num </>).

Paul, it's strange, because even if I save the session file with the line numbers turned on they are still turned off when I start Dyalog anew. But the trick with closing the APL window works. What is being saved in this situation? There seems to be some confusion/inconsistency here...

Best Regards,
...../Kim

[AndyS|Dyalog]

The session file in general contains the configuration of the session - mainly what has been created using the BUILDSE workspace, along with the callback code etc. For many years we only had session files on Windows.

Settings such as the state of line numbers are defined to be configuration parameters, which are saved in the registry (on Windows) or are defined as environment variables on non-Windows platforms. Again, in general, we read the registry entries on startup, and write changed ones back when APL terminates. This is due to several reasons, including reducing the amount of polling of the registry, allowing consistency across platforms, and avoiding race conditions when multiple APL processes are attempting to update the same registry entry.

So indeed, the state of the line number toggle is written only when you terminate the APL process cleanly because it is a configuration parameter, rather than a property of the session.

[ksa]

Thanks for the clarification, Andy.
...../Kim