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Multi selection and multi edit

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  • B
    bitagoras
    last edited by Nov 25, 2018, 9:12 PM

    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.

    S 1 Reply Last reply Nov 25, 2018, 10:23 PM Reply Quote 0
    • S
      Scott Sumner @bitagoras
      last edited by Nov 25, 2018, 10:23 PM

      @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
      • G
        guy038
        last edited by Nov 26, 2018, 2:09 PM

        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
        • B
          bitagoras
          last edited by Nov 26, 2018, 8:18 PM

          @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.

          S 1 Reply Last reply Nov 26, 2018, 8:22 PM Reply Quote 2
          • S
            Scott Sumner @bitagoras
            last edited by Nov 26, 2018, 8:22 PM

            @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.

            B 1 Reply Last reply Nov 26, 2018, 8:34 PM Reply Quote 0
            • B
              bitagoras @Scott Sumner
              last edited by Nov 26, 2018, 8:34 PM

              @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
              • P
                PeterJones
                last edited by Nov 26, 2018, 8:49 PM

                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
                • G
                  guy038
                  last edited by guy038 Nov 28, 2018, 7:02 PM Nov 27, 2018, 12:23 AM

                  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 Nov 27, 2018, 10:45 PM

                    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 Nov 28, 2018, 12:06 AM Nov 28, 2018, 12:04 AM

                      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
                      • G
                        guy038
                        last edited by guy038 Nov 28, 2018, 7:00 PM Nov 28, 2018, 6:59 PM

                        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 Nov 29, 2018, 8:13 AM

                          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
                          • B
                            bitagoras
                            last edited by May 3, 2020, 12:36 PM

                            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 May 3, 2020, 12:53 PM Reply Quote 3
                            • EkopalypseE
                              Ekopalypse @bitagoras
                              last edited by Ekopalypse May 3, 2020, 12:53 PM May 3, 2020, 12:53 PM

                              @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 May 3, 2020, 7:49 PM May 3, 2020, 4:06 PM

                                @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)
                                
                                B 1 Reply Last reply May 3, 2020, 7:05 PM Reply Quote 4
                                • B
                                  bitagoras @dinkumoil
                                  last edited by May 3, 2020, 7:05 PM

                                  @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 May 3, 2020, 7:42 PM Reply Quote 1
                                  • EkopalypseE
                                    Ekopalypse @bitagoras
                                    last edited by May 3, 2020, 7:42 PM

                                    @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
                                    • B
                                      bitagoras
                                      last edited by May 4, 2020, 9:27 PM

                                      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 B 2 Replies Last reply Feb 26, 2021, 7:18 PM Reply Quote 6
                                      • michaelfernandez98M
                                        michaelfernandez98
                                        last edited by May 21, 2020, 7:23 AM

                                        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 May 21, 2020, 11:50 AM Reply Quote 0
                                        • Alan KilbornA
                                          Alan Kilborn @michaelfernandez98
                                          last edited by May 21, 2020, 11:50 AM

                                          @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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