Question

I remember seeing someone use a shortcut in NetBeans to open a dialog similar to phpStrom that can open files based on class names or is it file name. whats that?

Answer 1

Updated

I’m fairly certain you are referring to the “Quick File Chooser” plugin. As someone else points out, though, there are several other candidates. I list them below…

The Quick File Chooser Plugin:

By default CTRL–SHIFT–O opens the Open Project dialog, and once the plugin is installed, you will get the dialog pictured here automatically:

(The Quick File Chooser plugin replaces the default open project dialog with its own.)

When opening a file with the Quick File Chooser plugin, you see this:

I did not find that the plugin was able to open based on a class name.

Quick File Chooser is available through the NetBeans Plugin Portal. You can also install it directly from within NetBeans versions 7.1 and 7.3 if you have the “Plugin Portal” Update Center configured. (See the bottom of this answer for instructions.)

NetBeans Core (no plugin)

By default CTRL–SHIFT–O opens the Open Project dialog, and without the QFC plugin, you will get the default dialog:

The default Open File dialog is this:

The Open File dialog does not have a keyboard shortcut by default, but you can easily add it:

• Click on Tools, then Options, then on the Keymap icon in the tool bar of the dialog.
• In Search: type “Open Fi” and you should see “Open File…” in the Actions list.
• Double click on the Shortcut box for that entry, and select an appropriate shortcut (either by pressing the key combination, or by selecting it from the drop-down).
• Click OK.

The Go To… Dialogs:

The Go To… dialogs are provided by core NetBeans, and are available even if the QFC plugin is installed (the QFC plugin does not override them).

The Go To File dialog is ALT–SHIFT–O.

Go To Type: CTRL–O, appears to list classes, variables, and all sorts of stuff.

Go To Symbol: CTRL–ALT–SHIFT–O

For PHP projects, Go To Type and Go To Symbol appear to list the same set. As mentioned, all of these are available on the Navigate menu.

Installing Quick File Chooser from the Plugin Portal Update Center

In NetBeans:

• Click on Tools, then Plugins
• Go to the Settings tab
• Ensure that the “Plugin Portal” is listed in Configuration of Update Centers and checked as Active. If it is not listed, click Add, give it an appropriate name, and the URL is http://plugins.netbeans.org/nbpluginportal/updates/7.3/catalog.xml.gz for versions 7.3.x. (In the URL replace the “7.3” with, e.g., “7.2” or “7.1” if you are using an older version of NetBeans.)
• Click on the Available Plugins tab.
• Click on Reload Catalog just to be sure you have the latest contents.
• In Search: type “Quick”. That should be enough to get it listed by itself (or at least on a short list).
• Click on the check box under the Install column, and then click on the Install button down below.