disable parentheses box [SOLVED]

hope.I(this) = validProgrammingQuestion //This may not be valid syntax, but,
// intent(my) = ameliorate.potentially(ruffled feathers)

{
Is there a way to disable the little blue rectangle that appears around a parenthesis when the cursor is near/on its counterpart?
}

/*
And if I may tack on another quick question (am unsure of how this is received around here: welcomed, tolerated, discouraged, frowned upon, despised, forbidden): what is "code folding"? I have toggled its check box in preferences, but I haven't noticed any difference.
*/

EDIT: To solve this question, I used the library referenced in post #4, and the strategy given in post #7

Beavis4ever:
Is there a way to disable the little blue rectangle that appears around a parenthesis when the cursor is near/on its counterpart?

I am not sure if there is a setting in preferences for this. What are the drawbacks of having this?

Beavis4ever:
what is "code folding"?

Code folding allows for a +/- sign beside lines with { that allows you to collapse that block of code so that you can read your code more easily.

I just find that box appearing and disappearing to be distracting; and when it's just sitting there , (for me) it has a cluttering effect. I'm sensitive to sensory overload (TV commercials drive me bananas when they jump up to a higher volume), and so I find clutter to be stressful (to varying degrees). I even aggravate myself when I forget to move the cursor out of the way after clicking the spot where I want to start typing. I can see how this might seem odd to "normal" people! [this text denotes 'grin']

Thanks for the explanation of "code folding". I'm not surprised that I overlooked something obvious! I will try to get this feature going to see how I like it.

Beavis4ever:
what is "code folding"? I have toggled its check box in preferences, but I haven't noticed any difference.
*/

And you won't until you add some code that includes curly braces, {}. The code pictured collapses to just the first line when you click the little box on the left margin.

code fold forum.PNG

Beavis4ever:
Is there a way to disable the little blue rectangle that appears around a parenthesis when the cursor is near/on its counterpart?

When your programs lengthen and the matching parenthesis is off-screen it will be a big help in troubleshooting - this goes hand-in-hand with formatting via ctrl T to set indents. If you just can't stand it you can poke around in @pert's theme test. I believe I saw that setting in there somewhere (no guarantees).

code fold forum.PNG

Thanks dougp. You're correct that the matching bracket highlight can be turned off by editing the Arduino theme:

Open {Arduino IDE installation folder}/lib/theme/theme.txt in a text editor

Change line 86 from:

editor.brackethighlight = true

to:

editor.brackethighlight = false

Save the file.

Restart the Arduino IDE if it's running.

Even though you can turn it off, I would recommend that you don't. Highlighting matching brackets like that is a good way to find out if you've mis-bracketed something, which is very easy to do when you're using a bunch of ifs and fors all over the place. It's very helpful for debugging.

@pert

I followed the instructions to the letter and without incident (seemingly). It did not turn out well for me. I have attached a screenshot which shows the file with the address visible in the address bar. I used Word Pad for editing, and show the line I edited. I then show your post. And finally I show the Arduino IDE that is mocking me!

You could always change the color to match the background

editor.brackethighlight.color = #FFFFFF

The next time I have trouble debugging, I would have gone back and restored this feature... if I had actually disabled it in the first place. However, this a theoretical situation since I couldn't disable it.

@ evanmars

I just tried to change the color and that wouldn't work for me either. (I skipped the screenshot documenting my efforts as it seemed pointless)

Then you are changing the wrong file. Do you have two Arduino installations on your PC?

OK!!! Changing the color actually did work for me... once I realized that white is #FFFFFF and not #000000 ! (I always make that mistake!!) So thanks to everyone for all the help! I'm putting this down as a win! [this text denotes 'grin']

Beavis4ever:
OK!!! Changing the color actually did work for me... once I realized that white is #FFFFFF and not #000000 ! (I always make that mistake!!) So thanks to everyone for all the help! I'm putting this down as a win! [this text denotes 'grin']

Kinda like

evanmars:
You could always change the color to match the background

editor.brackethighlight.color = #FFFFFF

@evanmars

Yes, exactly that. My post #9 said that your approach didn't work for me. But really, I hadn't actually done it. After I realized I'd botched it, I went back to do it right. And so in my post #11, I was trying to say that your idea was sound and that the error was mine.
It seemed (to me) that your post #12 was implying that I was trying to take credit for your solution, and so I wanted to make clear that it was all you. I had, in fact, said that it would have taken me five years to think of changing the color, but was unable to post due to a rule limiting users with < 100 posts. I did my best to interpret the subtext of your post, given that it was only two words long!
Thanks again for your help, it's such a relief not to have that friggin' rectangle dogging me whenever I get parenthetical!
BTW... [text denotes 'grin'] = :slight_smile: