Abstract: Automatic parameter help is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system comprises an editor to provide for developing source code for a computer program, where the source code includes an identifier; and an automatic help module invoked upon a predetermined event by the editor. The automatic help module is operative to display reference information associated with the identifier.

Abstract: An intelligent real time tool to assist a computer programmer during the writing and/or maintenance of a computer program. The tool generates assist windows that contain program related information that the programmer can use to construct a programming language statement and/or to obtain real time information about a programming language statement. An assist window can be automatically displayed as determined by the tool itself, and/or manually displayed on demand in response to a user input command. An assist window displays two general categories of information including but not limited to selection menu information based on a partial compilation of all programming language statements, and informational displays based on a partial compilation and a reverse parse of an immediate programming language statement.

Abstract: A system and methods for rapidly incorporating changes to a project is described. An object derived from a frame component container is embedded into a project, with the frame component container being freely changeable as desired. Any changes made to the frame component container are automatically included, by inheritance, into the source files of the project. Preferably, the method synchronizes on a display all instances of the object derived from the frame component container to the frame component container. The development system includes a computer and an interface for creating frame objects having components. Software permits the creation of descendant frame objects from an ancestor frame, propagation of modifications of the ancestor frame to each descendant frame object, notification of the descendant frame objects that its corresponding ancestor frame has been modified, and synchronization on a display of all of the descendant frames with any modifications to the components of the ancestor frame.