About the TDB Editor

In order to use this tool, it is important to understand how to work with the standard TDB database format. For example, see Thermodynamic and Kinetic/Mobility Databases, or press F1 in Thermo‑Calc and search for TDB file in the help.

The TDB Editor is an editing tool for those who develop their own custom databases for use with Thermo‑Calc or other applications. The tool speeds up the database editing process by providing immediate feedback through syntax coloring, syntax checking, and by allowing formatting and easy navigation to items of interest in the TDB file.

The advantage to using the TDB Editor compared to a basic text editor includes features such as syntax coloring and checking, formatting of TDB files, and generally easier navigation.

The TDB Editor has two components (see Installing the Code Editor and the TDB Editor for details):

  1. As an installed extension to a code editor, which provides the user interface for the TDB Editor. Currently, these code editors are supported:
    • Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VSCode): VSCode is open source and available for free.
    • JetBrains IntelliJ: The full version of IntelliJ is a commercial product but there are also free limited editions available.
    • JetBrains PyCharm: The full version of PyCharm is a commercial product but there are also free limited editions available.
  2. A server application that runs invisibly in the background and provides the code editor extension with services specific to the TDB format, such as syntax checking, formatting and the location within the document of various items, such as functions and references.

    The syntax checker uses the same text parsing engine as the Database Checker tool and the Thermo‑Calc application itself. This means that an edited TDB file (with no errors shown in the TDB Editor) is also accepted by the Thermo‑Calc application. For more information see About the Database Checker.