Inline help texts provide useful information about settings:
When to useFollow the rules for context help.
How to use Text lengthShow no more than five lines of help text to not clutter the screen. Text width is limited to 70 characters.
Show more than five lines only when a text cannot be shortened for legal purposes.
Implementationpanel { row { checkBox("Send usage statistics when using EAP versions") .comment(""" <p>Help JetBrains improve its products by sending anonymous data about features and plugins used, hardware and software configuration, statistics on types of files, number of files per project, etc.</p> <br/> <p>Please note that this will not include personal data or any sensitive information, such as source code, file names, etc. The data sent complies with the <a href=\"https://www.jetbrains.com\"> JetBrains Privacy Policy</a></p> """.trimIndent() ) } }
LinksProvide a link to the corresponding help article or to a place in the IDE where the related settings can be found. Place the link at the end of the text where possible so that it does not disrupt reading.
Text style formatting Avoid highlightingAvoid text highlighting. Usually, the help text is short, and no highlighting in bold or italics is needed:
Avoid bracketsAvoid using brackets in control labels and place this information in the inline text instead:
Writing guidelinesMake help text short and descriptive.
Do not repeat the setting name in the help text:
Place the help text to the right of labeled inputs (fields, combo boxes, or text areas), checkboxes, buttons, or radio buttons if all the following applies:
The space to the right is empty.
The help text has 1â5 words, not counting articles and prepositions.
The control label has 1â5 words.
panel { row("Plugin update policy:") { comboBox(listOf("Default", "Non default")) comment("Ignore by Maven 3+") } row("Thread count:") { textField() comment("-T option") } }
Implementationpanel { row { checkBox("Build project automatically") comment("Works while not running / debugging") } row { checkBox("Compile independent modules in parallel") comment("May require larger heap size") } }
In other cases, place the help text under the UI controls:
Implementationpanel { row("Default directory:") { textFieldWithBrowseButton() .comment( "Preselected in Open and New | Project dialogs" ) } }
If there is no space under the UI control, use the help tooltip with the question mark icon for labeled inputs, checkboxes, and radio buttons. For buttons, use the help tooltip without the icon.
Trees, lists, and tables Text applies to the whole componentIf the help text applies to a whole list, tree, or table, place it below the control.
Implementationimport javax.swing.JTable panel { row { cell(createTable()) // Actual table creation .align(Align.FILL) .comment(""" <Project> is content roots of all modules, all immediate descendants<br/>of the projects base directory, and .idea directory contents """.trimIndent() ) }.resizableRow() }
Text applies to a single itemIf the help text applies to a single list, tree, or table item, its location will depend on its length.
Short textsPlace short texts (1â10 words) to the right of the item:
Long textsPlace longer texts (more than 10 words) into the detail part of master-detail layouts:
For other cases, use the help tooltip with the question mark icon:
If the help text applies to several UI controls, place it at the bottom of the group.
ImplementationUse Panel.group() as the border for panels that need title and possibly the gray line on the right of the title:
panel { group("Build and Run") { row("Build and run with:") { comboBox(listOf("IntelliJ IDEA", "Gradle")) } row("Run tests with:") { comboBox(listOf("IntelliJ IDEA", "Gradle")) } row { comment(""" <p>By default IntelliJ IDEA uses Gradle to build the project and run the tasks.</p> <p>In a pure Java/Kotlin project, building and running by means of IDE might be faster, thanks to optimizations. Note, that the IDE doesn't support all Gradle plugins and the project might not be built correctly with some of them.</p> """.trimIndent() ) } } group("Gradle") { row("Use Gradle from:") { comboBox(gradleModel) } } }
You can find more examples by invoking the Tools | Internal Actions | UI | Kotlin UI DSL | UI DSL Showcase action (available in internal mode and clicking the View source links on specific pages.
05 February 2025
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