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    • bitagorasB
      bitagoras
      last edited by

      I think with a little bit of programming it could be possible with scintilla but it is not a standard feature that can just be activated.

      But you say the Notepad++ developers plan to replace Scintilla? Do you know any details? I haven’t seen any discussion here on this. I wonder, if this wouldn’t be just another new editor but not Notepad++ any more.

      Scott SumnerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Scott SumnerS
        Scott Sumner @bitagoras
        last edited by

        @bitagoras said:

        but it is not a standard feature that can just be activated

        Maybe not, I didn’t investigate–but I seem to recall that some of the “fancier” multi-selection stuff is available in newer Scintilla versions…but I don’t know if it takes it to the level of your examples. I really don’t care…until Notepad++ updates to something newer, and THEN I’ll take the time to explore what new features it provides.

        you say the Notepad++ developers plan to replace Scintilla?

        I most certainly did NOT say that! :-)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • guy038G
          guy038
          last edited by

          Hello, @bitagoras, @scott-sumner and All,

          @bitagoras, why don’t you use the excellent @Dail plugin BetterMultiselection version v1.3 ? See, below :

          https://github.com/dail8859/BetterMultiSelection/

          https://github.com/dail8859/BetterMultiSelection/releases

          https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/13653/new-plugin-bettermultiselection

          Note that, if you have the last v7.6 version of N++, you’ll have to :

          • Create the new directory BetterMultiSelection, under your active plugins folder

          • Place the BetterMultiSelection.dll inside the BetterMultiSelection folder

          Now, assuming the test test, below :

          abcde fghijk lmno pqr..stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr..stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr..stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr><stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr><stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr><stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr..stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr..stuv wxyz 012345789
          abcde fghijk lmno pqr..stuv wxyz 012345789
          
          • Create a column-mode selection, on the 3 middle lines, between the angle brackets ><

          • And, now have fun, playing around, with any of the following keys or shortcuts, below ;-))

            • Home , End , Left , Right , Ctrl + Left , Ctrl + Right

            • Shift + Home, Shift + End , Shift + Left, Shift + Right , Ctrl + Shift + Left , Ctrl + Shift + Right

            • Backspace , Delete , Ctrl + Backspace , Ctrl + Delete

            • Up, Down , Shift + Up, Shift + Down

            • Enter , Tab , Shift + Tab

          Just a pleasure, isn’t it ? Many thanks, again, @dail, for this very useful plugin, while waiting for this native behavior in N++, after a future update of Scintilla !

          Though I suppose,it will not happen soon, as I guess that @don-ho is quite busy with the new plugin’s organization :-)

          Best Regards,

          P.S. :

          You may be interested, too, by this other @dail useful plugin SurroundSelection.dll. See, below :

          https://github.com/dail8859/SurroundSelection/

          https://github.com/dail8859/SurroundSelection/releases

          https://notepad-plus-plus.org/community/topic/13610/new-plugin-surroundselection

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • bitagorasB
            bitagoras
            last edited by

            @Scott-Sumner

            I most certainly did NOT say that! :-)

            Sorry that I misunderstood you sentence. What you say is that it is a priority to upgrade to a new Scintilla version rather than tinker with the current version. I agree.

            @guy038,

            Yes BetterMultiSelection works very well. But the mulit clipboard and the Ctrl+D would make it perfekt.

            Here the example again. I just figured out how to embedd the GIF.

            Scott SumnerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • Scott SumnerS
              Scott Sumner @bitagoras
              last edited by

              @bitagoras said:

              What you say is that it is a priority to upgrade to a new Scintilla version rather than tinker with the current version

              I didn’t say THAT either (I don’t know WHAT if any Scintilla-based decisions are being made, or how they are made), but I agree as well. :-)

              I just figured out how to embedd the GIF.

              I don’t see the embedded GIF. But it is OK since it is available via the earlier link you posted.

              bitagorasB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • bitagorasB
                bitagoras @Scott Sumner
                last edited by

                @Scott-Sumner

                ok but I think I got your point ;-)

                Probably this GIF is only visible from my IP.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • PeterJonesP
                  PeterJones
                  last edited by

                  I can see the animated gif. It may be that Scott’s connection is being filtered from seeing s2.gifyu.com – I know that my employer blocks many file-sharing sites; fortunately, imgur is not one of them (amazingly enough), so I can upload to and see embedded images from imgur, which is quite helpful here.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                  • guy038G
                    guy038
                    last edited by guy038

                    Hi, @bitagoras, and All,

                    I found out a work-around to simulate the behavior of your animated gif picture !

                    I suppose 3 hypotheses :

                    • The Multi-Editing feature is enabled ( Settings > Preferences… > Editing > Multi-Editing settings )

                    • The BetterMultiSelection plugin is installed and enabled

                    • The Ctrl+ D shortcut is assigned to the Scintilla function SCI_SELECTION DUPLICATE ( and not to SCI_LINEDUPLICATE ! )


                    So, assuming this sample test, below , in a new tab :

                    var1, var2, object1, object2, object3, flag2, flag3
                    
                    • Place the cursor right before the string var1 ( without the Ctrl key pressed )

                    • Holding down a Ctrl key, left click, right in front of all the other strings, in order to get a total of 7 cursors !

                    Now :

                    • Backspace * 2

                    • Enter

                    You should get a 7- lines selection, below :

                    var1
                    var2
                    object1
                    object2
                    object3
                    flag2
                    flag3
                    

                    Note that the SP notation, below, represents a hit on the Space bar

                    • Type obj.

                    • Shift + End

                    • Ctrl + D

                    • Right

                    • Type SP=SParg["

                    • Shift + End

                    • Ctrl + D

                    • Right

                    • Type "]SP#SPDefinitionSPofSP

                    • Esc

                    You obtain the following text :

                    obj.var1 = arg["var1"] # Definition of var1
                    obj.var2 = arg["var2"] # Definition of var2
                    obj.object1 = arg["object1"] # Definition of object1
                    obj.object2 = arg["object2"] # Definition of object2
                    obj.object3 = arg["object3"] # Definition of object3
                    obj.flag2 = arg["flag2"] # Definition of flag2
                    obj.flag3 = arg["flag3"] # Definition of flag3
                    

                    Now, regarding the second block, we start, again, with the following text :

                    var1, var2, object1, object2, object3, flag2, flag3
                    
                    • Place the cursor right before the string var1 ( without the Ctrl key pressed )

                    • Holding down a Ctrl key, left click, right in front of all the other strings, in order to get a total of 7 cursors

                    Then :

                    • Backspace * 2

                    • Enter

                    Again , you’ll obtain the 7- lines selection, below :

                    var1
                    var2
                    object1
                    object2
                    object3
                    flag2
                    flag3
                    

                    Now :

                    • Tab

                    • Type "

                    • Shift + End

                    • Ctrl + D

                    • Right

                    • Type ":SPobj.

                    • End

                    • Type ,

                    • Esc

                    And… you get the expected text, with a leading tabulation :

                    	"var1": obj.var1,
                    	"var2": obj.var2,
                    	"object1": obj.object1,
                    	"object2": obj.object2,
                    	"object3": obj.object3,
                    	"flag2": obj.flag2,
                    	"flag3": obj.flag3,
                    

                    Cheers,

                    guy038

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • cipher-1024C
                      cipher-1024
                      last edited by

                      I don’t know HOW I missed @dali 's plugin for this long! I have to admit whenever I saw someone doing multiline work I was extremely jealous and tempted to try the VS Code waters. @guy038, what is your CTRL-D mapped to? CTRL-D is mapped to “Duplicate Current Line” for me. When I follow your instructions, I just get duplicate lines. If I try to copy and paste, the paste is just all of the selections globbed together. I can’t seem to duplicate just the selection (like it does in the gif on github). This is what I get when I follow your instructions:

                      	"var1": obj.,
                      	"var1
                      	"var2": obj.,
                      	"var2
                      	"object1": obj.,
                      	"object1
                      	"object2": obj.,
                      	"object2
                      	"object3": obj.,
                      	"object3
                      	"flag2": obj.,
                      	"flag2
                      	"flag3": obj.,
                      	"flag3
                      
                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • cipher-1024C
                        cipher-1024
                        last edited by cipher-1024

                        Ohh you rascals! I went into the shortcut mapper and under the Scintilla commands tab there was an unassigned “SCI_SELECTIONDUPLICATE”. I assigned that to Ctrl + D et voila! (as Guy would say)!

                        Christmas came early this year! Now I’m not the only kid on the block that can’t mulitedit! Thank you @dail and @guy038 for bringing this plugin to my attention!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                        • guy038G
                          guy038
                          last edited by guy038

                          Hello, @cipher-1024, and All,

                          Yes, as you found it out yourself, my Ctrl+D shortcut is assigned to the Scintilla function SCI_SELECTIONDUPLICATE ( and not to SCI_LINEDUPLICATE ! )

                          So, I updated my previous post to add this statement to the hypotheses block !

                          Cheers,

                          guy038

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                          • cipher-1024C
                            cipher-1024
                            last edited by

                            Thanks Guy. I must have changed the default ages ago because I don’t remember doing it. Also a big thank you again to @dail. Now I don’t have to be all like this.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • bitagorasB
                              bitagoras
                              last edited by

                              For your information: The newest version of the plugin “BetterMultiSelection” is now capable to do copy and paste on multiple cursors (as I used it in the VSCode animation above).

                              There is now only the one missing important feature to make multi editing as fast as in VSCode: the ctrl+D select function. Scintilla seems to support this feature as well, but it’s not available in Notepad++ for keyboard shortcut:

                              SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT (in VSCode bound to ctrl-d)
                              SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDEACH (in VSCode bound to shift-ctrl-l)

                              What ctrl-d does:
                              It selects the next occurence of the current selection as added multiselection. You can use it to very quickly rename variables. In Notepad++ you have to use the mouse, which is much slower, or the replace function. In VSCode there is also a “skip next occurence” (ctrl-k) and “undo last selection” (ctrl-u) which makes it very versatile.

                              EkopalypseE dinkumoilD 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
                              • EkopalypseE
                                Ekopalypse @bitagoras
                                last edited by Ekopalypse

                                @bitagoras said in Multi selection and multi edit:

                                SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT

                                Added this feature request.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                                • dinkumoilD
                                  dinkumoil @bitagoras
                                  last edited by dinkumoil

                                  @bitagoras

                                  About to one year ago we had a conversation about this topic here in the forum, have a look at this thread.

                                  The essentials of the discussion:

                                  1. You can already use these features using a scripting plugin.

                                  In the following I provide the code for the NppExec plugin.

                                  Command SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT (with the help of @Ekopalypse):

                                  sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS SCFIND_WHOLEWORD
                                  sci_sendmsg 2690  // SCI_TARGETWHOLEDOCUMENT
                                  sci_sendmsg 2688  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT
                                  

                                  Command SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDEACH (generously provided by @Ekopalypse):

                                  sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS SCFIND_WHOLEWORD
                                  sci_sendmsg 2690  // SCI_TARGETWHOLEDOCUMENT
                                  
                                  sci_sendmsg SCI_GETSELECTIONEMPTY
                                  
                                  if $(MSG_RESULT) == 1 then
                                    sci_sendmsg 2688  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT
                                   
                                  sci_sendmsg 2689  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDEACH
                                  
                                  1. As these commands are not supported in Notepad++ versions older than v7.7, it is possible to emulate them using a scripting plugin. In the following I provide the Lua code (can be used in conjunction with the LuaScript plugin) to do this:

                                  Command SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT (provided by @dail):

                                  -- =============================================================================
                                  -- Add menu entry to select next occurence of word under or next to cursor or
                                  -- already selected word
                                  -- =============================================================================
                                  
                                  npp.AddShortcut("Selection Add Next", "", function()
                                    -- From SciTEBase.cxx
                                    local flags = SCFIND_WHOLEWORD -- can use 0
                                  
                                    editor:SetTargetRange(0, editor.TextLength)
                                    editor.SearchFlags = flags
                                  
                                    -- From Editor.cxx
                                    if editor.SelectionEmpty or not editor.MultipleSelection then
                                      local startWord = editor:WordStartPosition(editor.CurrentPos, true)
                                      local endWord   = editor:WordEndPosition(startWord, true)
                                  
                                      editor:SetSelection(startWord, endWord)
                                    else
                                      local i = editor.MainSelection
                                      local s = editor:textrange(editor.SelectionNStart[i], editor.SelectionNEnd[i])
                                      local searchRanges = {{editor.SelectionNEnd[i], editor.TargetEnd}, {editor.TargetStart, editor.SelectionNStart[i]}}
                                  
                                      for _, range in pairs(searchRanges) do
                                        editor:SetTargetRange(range[1], range[2])
                                  
                                        if editor:SearchInTarget(s) ~= -1 then
                                          editor:AddSelection(editor.TargetStart, editor.TargetEnd)
                                  
                                          -- To scroll main selection in sight
                                          editor:ScrollRange(editor.TargetStart, editor.TargetEnd)
                                  
                                          break
                                        end
                                      end
                                    end
                                  
                                    -- To turn on Notepad++ multi select markers
                                    editor:LineScroll(0, 1)
                                    editor:LineScroll(0, -1)
                                  end)
                                  

                                  Command SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDEACH (devolped by myself by extending above script):

                                  -- =============================================================================
                                  -- Add menu entry to select all occurences of word under or next to cursor or
                                  -- already selected word
                                  -- =============================================================================
                                  
                                  npp.AddShortcut("Selection Add All", "", function()
                                    local flags     = SCFIND_WHOLEWORD -- can use 0
                                    local startWord = -1
                                    local endWord   = -1
                                    local s         = ""
                                  
                                    editor.SearchFlags = flags
                                  
                                    if editor.SelectionEmpty or not editor.MultipleSelection then
                                      startWord = editor:WordStartPosition(editor.CurrentPos, true)
                                      endWord   = editor:WordEndPosition(startWord, true)
                                  
                                      editor:SetSelection(startWord, endWord)
                                    else
                                      local i   = editor.MainSelection
                                  
                                      startWord = editor.SelectionNStart[i]
                                      endWord   = editor.SelectionNEnd[i]
                                    end
                                  
                                    s = editor:textrange(startWord, endWord)
                                  
                                    while true do
                                      editor:SetTargetRange(0, editor.TextLength)
                                  
                                      local i            = editor.MainSelection
                                      local searchRanges = {{editor.SelectionNEnd[i], editor.TargetEnd}, {editor.TargetStart, editor.SelectionNStart[i]}}
                                      local itemFound    = false
                                  
                                      for _, range in pairs(searchRanges) do
                                        editor:SetTargetRange(range[1], range[2])
                                  
                                        if editor:SearchInTarget(s) ~= -1 then
                                          editor:AddSelection(editor.TargetStart, editor.TargetEnd)
                                          itemFound = true
                                          break
                                        end
                                      end
                                  
                                      if editor.TargetStart == startWord and
                                         editor.TargetEnd   == endWord   or
                                         not itemFound                   then
                                        break
                                      end
                                    end
                                  
                                    -- To turn on Notepad++ multi select markers
                                    editor:LineScroll(0, 1)
                                    editor:LineScroll(0, -1)
                                  end)
                                  
                                  bitagorasB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                                  • bitagorasB
                                    bitagoras @dinkumoil
                                    last edited by

                                    @dinkumoil : Ok thank you, I was not aware. But I still would appreaciate if the two functions would be added to list of scintilla comands at the keyboard shortcuts. Should not be to difficult.

                                    EkopalypseE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • EkopalypseE
                                      Ekopalypse @bitagoras
                                      last edited by

                                      @bitagoras
                                      I just have updated the FR with my test.
                                      A simple keyboard binding does not work but the solution is
                                      similar easy.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • bitagorasB
                                        bitagoras
                                        last edited by

                                        Here is my entire solution (copy from this Github Issue) with NppExec which gives Notepad++ all the multi editing functionality from VSCode. The only difference is that there are two different shortcuts each for addNext and for skip.

                                        addNext (Ctrl-D):

                                        NPP_CONSOLE 0
                                        sci_sendmsg 2690  // SCI_TARGETWHOLEDOCUMENT
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS 0
                                        sci_sendmsg 2688  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT
                                        

                                        multiSelect_D

                                        addNextWholeWord (Shift-Ctrl-D):

                                        NPP_CONSOLE 0
                                        sci_sendmsg 2690  // SCI_TARGETWHOLEDOCUMENT
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS SCFIND_WHOLEWORD
                                        sci_sendmsg 2688  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT
                                        

                                        multiSelect_DW

                                        addEach (Shift-Ctrl-L):

                                        NPP_CONSOLE 0
                                        sci_sendmsg 2690  // SCI_TARGETWHOLEDOCUMENT
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_GETSELECTIONEMPTY
                                        if $(MSG_RESULT) == 1 then
                                          sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS SCFIND_WHOLEWORD
                                        else
                                          sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS 0
                                        endif
                                        sci_sendmsg 2689  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDEACH
                                        sci_sendmsg 2689  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDEACH
                                        

                                        multiSelect_EACH

                                        undoAddNext (Ctrl-U):

                                        NPP_CONSOLE 0
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_GETSELECTIONS
                                        set n ~ $(MSG_RESULT) - 1
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_DROPSELECTIONN $(n)
                                        

                                        multiSelect_DU

                                        skip (Alt-Ctrl-D):

                                        NPP_CONSOLE 0
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS SCFIND_NONE
                                        sci_sendmsg 2688  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_GETSELECTIONS
                                        set n ~ $(MSG_RESULT) - 2
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_DROPSELECTIONN $(n)
                                        

                                        multiSelect_DS

                                        skipWholeWord (Alt-Shift-Ctrl-D):

                                        NPP_CONSOLE 0
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_SETSEARCHFLAGS SCFIND_NONE
                                        sci_sendmsg 2688  // SCI_MULTIPLESELECTADDNEXT
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_GETSELECTIONS
                                        set n ~ $(MSG_RESULT) - 2
                                        sci_sendmsg SCI_DROPSELECTIONN $(n)
                                        
                                        Don BhaiD bitagorasB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 6
                                        • michaelfernandez98M
                                          michaelfernandez98
                                          last edited by

                                          Hello
                                          I’m new to this but I’m interested in having the functionality to select similar strings in a document and be able to do multiple editing
                                          how can i add this functionality to notepad ++?

                                          Alan KilbornA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • Alan KilbornA
                                            Alan Kilborn @michaelfernandez98
                                            last edited by

                                            @michaelfernandez98

                                            Perhaps the simplest way would be to add the NppExec plugin to your Notepad++ and used the scripts by @bitagoras directly above?

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
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