The Script Editor

The script editor opens in a window with tabs across the top to let you have multiple scripts or events in one window (although this behaviour can be changed from the Preferences to give a new window to each script or event). You can click  on a tab and then drag it to change the tab order, or - if you prefer - you can pull it out of the current window and place it on the workspace to create a new window for that script (or add it to a different window), and you can also maximise the script editor to create a new workspace too. If you drag a script tab out of the IDE window, then a new IDE will be spawned to hold this script resource, and it can be used as you would the Main window.

Note that if you are editing code from an object event in the script editor and you have maximised the script editor or have it on a separate window or workspace, then the right-click  editor menu will have some extra options:

• Restore to workspace: This will take the script editor out of a maximised/workspace state and re-chain it to the object in the workspace.
• Go to Object: This will take you to the workspace that the object with the code is on and focus on the object.
• Add /Open Event: This permits you to add a new event to the object the current script belongs to, and will open a new code tab in the Script Editor for the added event. If the event selected already has code in it, then this will be opened in a new tab.

For information on the rest of the right-click  menu options, see the section on Editing, below.

The Gutter is used to show the line numbers for your code and also to convey some specific pieces of information about the state of the code. Most importantly, if you make a typo or construct the code incorrectly, then the GameMaker IDE will inform you of the issue by flagging the line of code with a red exclamation mark  showing a syntax error. You can then mouse over the symbol to get a brief description of what the issue is:

You can find more information on Syntax errors (and general errors when testing or compiling your code) from the following section:

• Error Reporting

The gutter will also mark any line of the script that has had a breakpoint added. A breakpoint is simply a place in the script where you want the debugger to pause the execution of your game when it is reached. You can toggle a breakpoint from any line of any script or object event by pressing "f9" or using the right-click  menu. When you add a breakpoint, it will show up like this in the gutter:

Finally, the gutter will also show any bookmarked items too. To bookmark a line of code simply hold down  /  +  + Number (from 0 to 9), and this will permit you to skip back to this line of code from anywhere in the IDE simply by using  /  + Number (from 0 to 9). To delete the bookmark, simply perform the same action as you used to add it on the line of code again. When a bookmark has been added, it will show like this:

While working in the script editor, you can press  /  + "F" to open up the Search box or  /  + "H" to open up Search and Replace:

Here you can perform a local search for the keyword you input and once you have entered your search term, you can then use the arrows at the top right of the search window to skip from one found term to the next in the script. You can change how the search operation is carried out by toggling the following buttons:

	When you toggle this, the search function will only highlight those strings that match the whole input string. For example, with it off a search for "random" will show up all words that contain this string - like irandom(), or randomise() - while toggling it to on would only show the function random().
	When this option is toggled, you are telling GameMaker to check not only the contents of the search string, but the case too. For example, if you have a sprite called "spr_Dog" and do a search for " dog" with this toggle off, then the sprite string will be highlighted, however if the toggle is on then it won't since "Dog" is no longer considered the same as "dog".

If you have opened the search window using  /  + "F", then the replace functionality will not be visible, so you need to click the Replace button  to open it. Once open, you can then enter a string that will be used to replace any given search string, using the following buttons to perform the action:

	Clicking this will replace the next search string found in the script with the given replace string. Note that the "next" term is considered the next one after the current cursor position, and you can skip to different ones using arrow buttons at the top right of the search window.
	Clicking this will replace all examples of the search string within the script using the given replace string.

Note that if you want to do a global search (ie: search the whole project rather than the current script or event), then you can press  /  +  + "F".

The main code editor is where you'll write all your code to create the script asset or fill an object event. The actual edition of your code is covered in the section on Editing further down this page.

The information bar at the bottom of the IDE shows you the current line number you are on and the position along the line. It is also where you can see the code helper, which is a line of text that shows the function you are currently editing along with the arguments it requires. As you fill in the function in the editor, the arguments will highlight to show you which one you are currently editing.

Note that any optional arguments in your script functions will be shown with [] brackets around them. If you have used the JSDoc Script Comments within a script asset then the information you have supplied will also show here.