Files are displayed in windows. You can have more than one window showing at a time. A Window can be minimized, maximized, resized by dragging the edges, repositioned by dragging the title bar, hidden, and unhidden. Multiple windows can be cascaded, tiled vertically or horizontally, or positioned however you please. The maximum number of windows is now 2048.

Each window has a status area to the left of the horizontal scroll bar.
From left to right, the bar displays the following:
• Window Letter: Displays the window letter. The window letter may change as new windows are opened and existing windows are closed. –Hex will be appended if the window is being viewed in hex mode (Text | Hex mode). –Cmpr will be appended if you are currently doing a Classic Multi-Edit File Compare. (Multi-Edit now uses BCDiffer for file compare. Classic Multi-Edit File Compare is still available; click on Macro | Run and enter Fc /MFC=1, click on the OK button, and the old style Multi-Edit FC Split Window dialog will appear.)

Window Status: May display any of the following symbols:

– The file has been modified and not yet saved
– The file is loaded read-only
– The window is linked to another window

The tab bar provides a way of quickly switching between windows. When it is enabled, a button will be available for every visible window that Multi-Edit has open. Clicking on a button is all that is required to switch to the selected window.

The appearance of the tab bar is very configurable and can be found in Tools | Customize | Windowing | TabBar. You can have the tab bar at top (the default), or you can move the tab bar to the bottom, or you can switch off the tab bar altogether. You can change the font and color of the buttons and text to your liking. You can even switch to using regular tabs, instead of “button” style tabs. Minimized and hidden windows can also be shown on the tab bar if the appropriate option is enabled.

The Window List Add-On (described below) allows you to arrange the tab bar buttons in any order.
For more on the Tab Bar see Tab Bar in the Interface section of chapter The Multi-Edit Interface.

The Window | List command opens a standard Multi-Edit Window list box that displays information about the open windows. You will see the letter name for each window, the name of the file loaded into each window, the windows, and the path of each loaded file.

While you are in this dialog box, you can delete a window (press the Delete key on a selection), save the file loaded in a window, hide a window (hiding a window allows you to skip over a window when you move sequentially from window to window), and minimize a window. Each operation affects only the highlighted window(s) in the list. You can select multiple windows by holding down the 'Ctrl' key while selecting. You can select a block of windows by selecting a start line, then holding down the 'Shift' key while selecting the end line. You can close many windows quickly this way by selecting all the windows you want to close and then clicking ‘Close File’.

The ‘Sort’ button allows you to sort the windows by filename, path, or extension.

The ‘Select’ button will select the highlighted file and allow you to edit it.

The Window List Add-On is a fully functional alternative to the Window List dialog described above. You may access the Window List Add-On via View | Windows. (If Windows is already checked, then use View | Navigation Pane.) In the Window List Add-On pane you may change the order of the windows by clicking the ‘Move Window Up’ and ‘Move Window Down’ toolbar buttons. You may also sort the windows by right clicking any window listed and selecting Sort. Note that manually reordering the windows will turn off the automatic sort. You may sort by Filename, Path, Extension, or Date. You may also use the toolbar buttons to Hide Window, Unhide Window, Minimize Window, Restore Window, Save File, Print File, Close File, or get a File Prompt to load a new file.

The following options are available from the Window menu:

• Split allows you to divide your current window, having two adjacent windows occupying the screen area previously occupied by the original window. You can use Split to view two or more files at the same time, or view two or more parts of the same file simultaneously. The latter is called linking.

Splitting a window doesn't literally split a window, but rather creates a new window and sizes both the original window and the new window to each be half the size of the original window so they appear in the same area that the original window occupied. The big difference between two separate windows and split windows is that split windows are considered to share the same screen number. When two windows share the same screen number, they will both react to the same commands. For instance, when one is brought to the foreground, both are shown in the foreground.

When Split is invoked, a dialog box with four arrows appears. Each arrow points in a different direction. Your arrow choice determines where the next window appears. After choosing where you want a split window to appear, the Link Window dialog box appears (a standard Multi-Edit Window List). Linking is optional. Select a window from the list to which you would like to link the first window, or press Esc to cancel linking. If you decide not to link, the original window's file will be loaded into the split one.

Split windows can be resized by dragging the edges. Resizing of split windows resizes other windows sharing the screen. In addition, windows are resized when the client area changes. You can not, however, move the windows by dragging the title bar.

• Unsplit will return a split window back to a single window. When closing a window in Single Window mode, the current window is deleted and replaced with the next visible window.
• List will display the Window List dialog, described above. (See Window List dialog above)
• Next will move you to the next window in alphabetical window letter order. Hidden, minimized, and compiler error windows are skipped over.
• Previous moves you to the previous window in reverse alphabetical order. Hidden, minimized, and compiler error windows are skipped over.
• Adjacent Window switches you to an adjacent window in a split-window or tiled situation. This is useful for toggling between two windows that you have set up by splitting the screen. When implemented, a Split Window dialog box appears. Select the direction of the split by pressing an arrow button on the dialog, or select Cancel to cancel the operation.
• Hide conceals the current window. After that, Next and Previous will skip over it. To unhide windows, select List, highlight the desired window and press the ‘Unhide’ button, or select it from The “Quick Pick” Window List (described below).
• Zoom is an archaic word for maximizing a window. Zoom will toggle between maximizing a window and restoring a window to its previous size. You can achieve the same results by clicking the mouse on the Maximize/Restore buttons. You can also maximize a window by double-clicking on the window's title bar. Once you maximize a window, all windows will show as maximized until you restore a window to its previous size.
• Link allows you to have two or more windows containing the same file. You may edit in any one of the linked windows, and the changes will be reflected in the other(s). This is very handy if you need to edit a file in two or more places.

Link will display a standard Multi-Edit Window List box, from which you can choose the file to which you wish to link. The file you link to will be displayed in your current window. If other text was in your current window, and that text has not been saved, you will be prompted to save that first, as the file you link to will replace the text in your current window.

• Unlink cancels the link between the current window and any other windows linked to the current window. Your current window is changed to a blank window with no file loaded.
• Arrange Icons arranges your minimized window title bar icons into neat, orderly rows and columns.
• Minimize All changes all editing windows into title bar icons. The title bar icon displays the window letter and the name of the file.

To return a minimized window to its previous size, click the ‘Restore’ button on the title bar icon, or double click the title bar icon. You can also restore a minimized window by selecting it from the “Quick Pick” list of windows at the bottom of the Window menu, or by selecting it from the Window List dialog (via Window | List) or the Window List Add-On (via View | Windows).

Minimized windows are not affected by Cascade, Tile Vertical, or Tile Horizontal.
• Cascade provides ways to group your non-minimized windows in a cascade arrangement (like tabbed index cards).
• Tile vertical allows you to arrange your non-minimized windows into a vertically tiled arrangement.
• Tile horizontal allows you to arrange your non-minimized windows into a horizontally tiled arrangement.

“Quick Pick” Window List

Also shown at the bottom of the Window menu is a list of loaded files. This is the “Quick Pick” list. You can select a file from this list, and Multi-Edit makes that window the active window. All files will be listed, even minimized ones. If you select a file that you currently have minimized, Multi-Edit will return it to normal size.

Only nine files can be listed in the “quick-pick” window list due to space limitations. If you have more than nine files loaded and want to choose one of the files not listed in the list, select the More Windows… menu selection to get the Window List dialog. You will be presented with a list box of all your currently loaded files. Select one, and it will be made the active window.