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    • dinkumoilD
      dinkumoil @dkeenan7
      last edited by dinkumoil

      @dkeenan7

      Back from garden work (ouch, my back!).

      Thank you for creating this topic here in the community forum and for providing an alternative solution.

      Can anyone explain how to get the Ctrl+T shortcut to work from the script, or why it doesn’t work as written?

      The only idea I have is, that you should go to (menu) Settings -> Shortcut Mapper and ensure that CTRL+T is not already assigned to another function of Notepad++, a plugin or Scintilla. Usually CTRL+T is assigned to the the Scintilla command SCI_LINETRANSPOSE (no. 92 of the Scintilla commands at Shortcut Mappers’s Scintilla register card).

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • dkeenan7D
        dkeenan7
        last edited by dkeenan7

        @dinkumoil Thanks for the suggestion. It wasn’t easy to remove the existing assignment of Ctrl+T to SCI_LINETRANSPOSE. Thanks go to @sasumner for describing the workaround here:
        https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/13687/bug-unable-to-clear-or-remove-shortcuts-for-scintilla-commands

        But it made no difference. And if I try a shortcut key that was never assigned, e.g.
        npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections", "Ctrl+E", transposeSelections)
        that doesn’t work either.

        On another matter: Neil Hodgson mentioned another operation performed by Ctrl+T in some editors. When the selection is empty (only a blinking vertical line representing an insertion point) then Ctrl+T swaps the two characters on either side of the insertion point. This may be useful for correcting common typos.

        Would it be easy for you to add that to your script? I suppose we should also allow for multiple selections, all empty, and do the same to all of them.

        I notice Scintilla has:
        SCI_GETSELECTIONEMPTY → bool
        Return 1 if every selected range is empty else 0.
        which, in Lua, is:
        Editor.SelectionEmpty

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • dkeenan7D
          dkeenan7
          last edited by dkeenan7

          If an empty selection is at the start or end of a line, then the characters either side of it should not be swapped. If there is only one selection and it is empty and it is at the start or end of a line, then Ctrl+T should revert to transposing lines.

          dinkumoilD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • dinkumoilD
            dinkumoil @dkeenan7
            last edited by dinkumoil

            @dkeenan7

            I have tried to integrate a slightly modified version of your code above in my LuaScript plugin startup script using CTRL+ALT+0 and Ctrl+Alt+0 (note the different case) as keyboard shortcuts because this shortcut is unused in my Notepad++ installation - it worked. The modifications I made were only to rename the functions to avoid conflicts with my own version of the script (provided in the GitHub issue) I already use. But IMO it should be avoided to set a keyboard shortcut by script anyway because of possible conflicts with existing shortcuts.

            Would it be easy for you to add that to your script?

            Since you seem not to be a novice in programming, how about doing it yourself? Thus you will learn something useful.

            Hint: Visit the >>> documentation site of the LuaScript plugin <<<, there you will find all information you need. Beyond the functions I’ve used in my script I guess the following functions could be useful for that task as well:

            • editor.CurrentPos
            • editor:LineFromPosition
            • editor.LineEndPosition

            Please note:

            1. Don’t confuse Editor and editor. The first one is the class name and the second one is the instance name. Lua is case sensitive.
            2. In Lua calling a method is different from using a property. The first one requires a colon as delimiter between instance and method name (thus editor:LineFromPosition) and the latter one requires a dot as delimiter (thus editor.CurrentPos).
            3. In Lua there is no difference between arrays and lists, both are implemented as dictionaries with the index as the key. The routines of the runtime assume that indices are 1-based. That’s the reason why I wrote a sort function by myself.

            For further information about the Lua language visit the >>> online version of “Programming in Lua” <<< written by the author of the language.

            dkeenan7D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
            • dkeenan7D
              dkeenan7 @dinkumoil
              last edited by

              @dinkumoil Ctrl+Alt+0 is also unused in my Notepad++ installation. I tried
              npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections", "Ctrl+Alt+0", transposeSelections)
              npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections", "CTRL+ALT+0", transposeSelections)
              Neither of them added the keyboard shortcut for me. Are you sure they worked for you? I fooled myself for a while, that “Ctrl+Shift+T” had worked, but it was merely that I had previously set it manually, using Shortcut Mapper.

              But IMO it should be avoided to set a keyboard shortcut by script anyway because of possible conflicts with existing shortcuts.

              In this case, we expect there to be a conflict as we are deliberately extending the function of the likely existing Ctrl+T. The script could first remove the existing assignment of Ctrl+T. Ideally it would only do this if it was the shortcut for SCI_LINETRANSPOSE. But I see no way to determine that. And I tried
              editor:ClearCmdKey(string.byte("T"), SCMOD_CTRL)
              but this had no effect. I also tried substituting editor1, editor2, console and input for editor. Still no effect.

              Yes, I will add the character-transpose function and post the script. Thanks for the hints.

              dinkumoilD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • dinkumoilD
                dinkumoil @dkeenan7
                last edited by dinkumoil

                @dkeenan7 said in Transpose multiple selections:

                I tried
                npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections", "Ctrl+Alt+0", transposeSelections)

                The correct syntax is:

                npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections", "Ctrl+Alt+0", function()
                  transposeSelections()
                end)
                

                The third parameter of AddShortcut is called a closure or anonymous function. It calls the actual handler function transposeSelections. See >>> here <<<.

                dkeenan7D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • dkeenan7D
                  dkeenan7 @dinkumoil
                  last edited by

                  @dinkumoil said in Transpose multiple selections:

                  The third parameter of AddShortcut is called a closure or anonymous function. It calls the actual handler function transposeSelections. See >>> here <<<.

                  Because transposeSelections has no parameters, it works just fine as a closure here without being anonymised. I only have to drop the trailing empty parentheses “()”.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • dkeenan7D
                    dkeenan7
                    last edited by dkeenan7

                    Here is a Transpose script that includes transposing characters either side of insertion points.

                    You will see that I have also added code to handle virtual space, when transposing the rows of a rectangular selection. If you apply it to sasumner’s example you will see that it does give a visual improvement, but still does not give the result I want. I believe my desired result can be achieved by inserting and removing real spaces. But that’s enough work for one day. :-)

                    -- Startup script for LuaScript plugin
                    -- Changes will take effect once Notepad++ is restarted
                    
                    -- ================================================================================
                    -- Add a menu entry (intended for Ctrl+T shortcut) to transpose multiple selections 
                    -- by rotating them in the order they were selected, 
                    -- and to transpose characters either side of an insertion point, 
                    -- and to transpose lines if neither of the above apply.
                    -- Modified from a script kindly written by Andreas Heim (dinkumoil), 2019-10-25
                    -- ================================================================================
                    
                    -- Get text and virtual space of selection with index idx
                    local function getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx)
                    	local str = editor:textrange(editor.SelectionNStart[idx], editor.SelectionNEnd[idx])
                    	if not str then str = "" end
                    	local aVirt = editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx]
                    	local cVirt = editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx]
                    
                    	return str, aVirt, cVirt
                    end
                    
                    
                    -- Set text and virtual space of selection with index idx and readjust its span
                    local function setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx, str, aVirt, cVirt)
                    	editor:SetTargetRange(editor.SelectionNStart[idx], editor.SelectionNEnd[idx])
                    	editor:ReplaceTarget(str)
                    
                    	editor.SelectionNCaret[idx] = editor.SelectionNAnchor[idx] + #str
                    	editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx] = aVirt
                    	editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx] = cVirt
                    end
                    
                    
                    -- Is the given position at the start or end of a line?
                    local function isStartOrEndOfLine(pos)
                    	local line, lineStart, lineEnd
                    	line = editor:LineFromPosition(pos)
                    	lineStart = editor:PositionFromLine(line)
                    	lineEnd = editor.LineEndPosition[line]
                    	return pos == lineStart or pos == lineEnd
                    end
                    
                    
                    -- Transpose the characters either side of the given position
                    local function transposeCharactersAt(pos)
                    	local before = editor:PositionBefore(pos) -- Allow for multi-byte characters
                    	local after = editor:PositionAfter(pos)
                    	local str = editor:textrange(pos, after) -- Save the character to the right of the insertion point
                    	editor:SetTargetRange(pos, after) -- Target the character to the right of the insertion point
                    	editor:ReplaceTarget(editor:textrange(before, pos)) -- Replace the char to the right with the char to the left
                    	editor:SetTargetRange(before, pos) -- Target the character to the left of the insertion point
                    	editor:ReplaceTarget(str) -- Replace the char to the left with the saved char from the right
                    end
                    
                    
                    -- Transpose selections or characters or lines.
                    -- If there is only one selection and it is non-empty or at the start or end of a line, then 
                    -- transpose the line with the one above it (the pre-existing Ctrl+T behaviour).
                    -- If all selections are empty insertion points, then transpose the characters on either side of them 
                    -- unless they are at the start or end of a line
                    -- If there are less than 2 selections, the standard Line Transpose function is used
                    local function transposeSelectionsCharactersLines()
                    	-- According to the Scintilla documentation, there is always at least one selection
                    	local lastIdx = editor.Selections-1 -- Indexes for multiple selections are zero-based
                      
                    	if editor.SelectionEmpty then -- If all selections are empty, i.e. consist only of an insertion point
                    		if lastIdx == 0 and isStartOrEndOfLine(editor.CurrentPos) then -- If there is only one selection and it's at the start or end of a line
                    			editor:LineTranspose() -- Transpose the current line with the one before
                    		else -- Else multiple empty selections or a single empty selection not at the start or end of a line
                    			editor:BeginUndoAction() -- Begin the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                    			
                    			-- Transpose the characters on either side of each insertion point that is not at the start or end of a line
                    			for idx = 0, lastIdx do
                    				local pos = editor.SelectionNCaret[idx]
                    				if not isStartOrEndOfLine(pos) then -- If this empty selection is not at the start or end of a line
                    					transposeCharactersAt(pos) -- Transpose the characters either side of the given position
                    					-- For some unknown reason, the insertion point will now be to the left of both characters 
                    					-- Put the insertion point back in between them, allowing for different numbers of bytes per character
                    					pos = editor:PositionAfter(editor.SelectionNCaret[idx])
                    					editor.SelectionNAnchor[idx] = pos
                    					editor.SelectionNCaret[idx] = pos
                    				end
                    			end
                    			
                    			editor:EndUndoAction() -- End the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                    		end
                    	else -- Else selections are not all empty
                    		if lastIdx == 0 then -- If there is only 1 selection
                    			editor:LineTranspose() -- Transpose the current line with the one before
                    		else -- Else there are 2 or more selections
                    			editor:BeginUndoAction() -- Begin the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                    			
                    			-- Rotate selection contents between selections
                    			local lastStr, lastAVirt, lastCVirt = getSelectionNTextVirtual(lastIdx) -- Save the last selection including any virtual space			
                    			for idx = lastIdx, 1, -1 do -- Shift the other selections along
                    				setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx, getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx-1))
                    			end
                    			setSelectionNTextVirtual(0, lastStr, lastAVirt, lastCVirt) -- Make the first selection be the saved last selection
                    			
                    			editor:EndUndoAction() -- End the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                    		end
                    	end
                    end
                    
                    
                    -- Add menu entry for transposing selections, characters or lines.
                    -- The Ctrl+T shortcut may need to be added manually via 
                    -- Settings -> Shortcut Mapper -> Plugin commands -> Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines -> Modify.
                    -- You can ignore the conflict with the shortcut for Scintilla SCI_LINETRANSPOSE.
                    -- editor:ClearCmdKey(string.byte("T"), SCMOD_CTRL)
                    npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines", "Ctrl+T", transposeSelectionsCharactersLines)
                    
                    dinkumoilD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • dinkumoilD
                      dinkumoil @dkeenan7
                      last edited by

                      @dkeenan7

                      Nice!

                      I believe my desired result can be achieved by inserting and removing real spaces.

                      I stay tuned!

                      dkeenan7D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • dkeenan7D
                        dkeenan7 @dinkumoil
                        last edited by dinkumoil

                        @dinkumoil @sasumner That was waaay harder than I expected. I was tearing out what little hair I have left, while debugging it. :-) I eventually started over from scratch with a blank sheet of paper on which I mapped out a grid of all the possible combinations of virtual space to the left and right of the selection and the replacement, and what should be done in each case, then simplified it Karnaugh-map style. And it finally does what I expect it to do with rectangular selections that include virtual space.

                        So, please install this script, map it to Ctrl+T, take your most ragged set of line endings, alt-select a rectangle through the middle of them and rotate them to your heart’s content.

                        That was a lot of work for a feature probably no-one will ever use. But I couldn’t let it beat me. :-)

                        But everyone can benefit from this script’s basic Ctrl+T functions of swapping two adjacent characters or swapping two disjoint selections. I used these myself several times while writing, and rewriting, the virtual rectangle code.

                        Thanks again dinkumoil, for introducing me to Lua and scripting of Notepad++. Here’s the final code:

                        -- Startup script for LuaScript plugin
                        -- Changes will take effect once Notepad++ is restarted
                        
                        -- ================================================================================
                        -- Add a menu entry (intended for Ctrl+T shortcut) to transpose multiple selections 
                        -- (disjoint or rectangular) by rotating them in the order they were selected, 
                        -- and to transpose characters either side of an insertion point, 
                        -- and to transpose lines if neither of the above apply.
                        -- Modified from a script kindly written by Andreas Heim (dinkumoil), 2019-10-25
                        -- ================================================================================
                        
                        -- Get text of selection with index idx, converting any trailing virtual space to real spaces
                        local function getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx)
                        	local startVirt = editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx] -- Number of positions virtual anchor is past real anchor 
                        	local endVirt = editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx] -- Number of positions virtual caret is past real caret
                        	if startVirt > endVirt then startVirt, endVirt = endVirt, startVirt end -- Ensure startVirt < endVirt
                        	
                        	local selStart = editor.SelectionNStart[idx]
                        	local selEnd = editor.SelectionNEnd[idx]
                        	local str = editor:textrange(selStart, selEnd)
                        	if not str then str = "" end
                        	
                        	-- The following line was added to give the behaviour I expect when transposing rectangular selections
                        	-- that contain virtual space. Dave Keenan, 2019-10-30
                        	str = str .. string.rep(" ", endVirt - startVirt) -- Convert virtual space at the end of the selection into real spaces at the end of the string
                        
                        	return str
                        end
                        
                        
                        -- Set text of selection with index idx, converting any trailing real spaces to virtual space
                        local function setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx, str)
                        	local selStart = editor.SelectionNStart[idx] -- The start of the selection
                        	local selEnd = editor.SelectionNEnd[idx] -- The end of the selection
                        	local lineEnd = editor.LineEndPosition[editor:LineFromPosition(selEnd)] -- The end of the line that the selection ends on
                        	
                        	local startVirt = editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx] -- The number of positions virtual anchor is past real anchor
                        	local endVirt = editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx] -- The number of positions virtual caret is past real caret
                        	if startVirt > endVirt then startVirt = endVirt end -- Ensure startVirt really is the starting virtual space
                        	
                        	-- The following section was added to give the behaviour I expect when transposing rectangular selections
                        	-- that contain virtual space. Dave Keenan, 2019-10-30
                        	-- It has the unavoidable side effect of leaving no trailing spaces on any line that ends with a selection.
                        	-- This (fairly benign) side effect could be eliminated if Rotate Selections was implemented as a Scintilla method.
                        
                        	-- If there is no text after the selection, convert any trailing spaces in the replacement into end virtual space
                        	-- and if the replacement is then empty, convert spaces before the selection into start virtual space, otherwise do the opposite conversion.
                        	endVirt = 0 -- Set end virtual space to a default value of zero
                        	if selEnd == lineEnd then -- If there is no text after the selection
                        		-- Convert any spaces at the end of the replacement string, into virtual space at the end of the new selection
                        		local origStrLen = #str -- Save the original string length
                        		str = string.gsub(str, " +$", "") -- Remove any trailing spaces
                        		endVirt = origStrLen - #str -- Set end virtual to the number of spaces removed. Assumes start virtual will be zero. May be modified below.
                        		-- If the replacement is now empty, convert spaces before the selection into start virtual space, otherwise do the opposite conversion
                        		if #str == 0 then -- If the replacement string is now empty
                        			-- Convert any real spaces before the selection, into virtual space
                        			local before = editor:PositionBefore(selStart) -- Get the character position before the present selection start
                        			while editor:textrange(before, selStart) == " " do -- While the character before the selection is a space
                        				editor:SetTargetRange(before, selStart) -- Target the space
                        				editor:ReplaceTarget("") -- Delete the space
                        				selStart = selStart - 1 -- Shift the real selection start back
                        				selEnd = selEnd - 1 -- Shift the real selection end back
                        				startVirt = startVirt + 1 -- Increment the start virtual space
                        				before = editor:PositionBefore(selStart) -- Get the character position before the new selection start
                        			end
                        			endVirt = endVirt + startVirt -- End virtual previously assumed start virtual was zero
                        		else -- Else the replacement string is not now empty
                        			-- Convert any virtual space before the selection, into real spaces
                        			editor:SetTargetRange(selStart, selStart) -- Target the start of the selection
                        			editor:ReplaceTarget(string.rep(" ", startVirt)) -- Insert a number of spaces corresponding to start virtual
                        			selStart = selStart + startVirt -- New start is old start plus the number of spaces inserted
                        			selEnd = selEnd + startVirt -- New end is old end plus the number of spaces inserted
                        			startVirt = 0 -- New start virtual is zero. End virtual is unchanged.
                        		end
                        	end
                        	
                        	-- Update the text and position and virtual space of the selection
                        	editor:SetTargetRange(selStart, selEnd) -- Target the existing selection position
                        	editor:ReplaceTarget(str) -- Replace the selection contents with the possibly-modified replacement string
                        	editor.SelectionNStart[idx] = selStart -- Set the selection start
                        	selEnd = selStart + #str -- Set the new selection end based on the length of the replacement string
                        	editor.SelectionNEnd[idx] = selEnd -- Set the selection end
                        	editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx] = startVirt -- Update the selection start virtual space
                        	editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx] = endVirt  -- Update the selection end virtual space
                        end
                        
                        
                        -- Is the given position at the start or end of a line?
                        local function isStartOrEndOfLine(pos)
                        	local line, lineStart, lineEnd
                        	line = editor:LineFromPosition(pos)
                        	lineStart = editor:PositionFromLine(line)
                        	lineEnd = editor.LineEndPosition[line]
                        	return pos == lineStart or pos == lineEnd
                        end
                        
                        
                        -- Transpose the characters either side of the given position
                        local function transposeCharactersAt(pos)
                        	local before = editor:PositionBefore(pos) -- Allow for multi-byte characters
                        	local after = editor:PositionAfter(pos)
                        	local str = editor:textrange(pos, after) -- Save the character after the insertion point
                        	editor:SetTargetRange(pos, after) -- Target the character after the insertion point
                        	editor:ReplaceTarget(editor:textrange(before, pos)) -- Replace the char before with the char after
                        	editor:SetTargetRange(before, pos) -- Target the character before the insertion point
                        	editor:ReplaceTarget(str) -- Replace the char before with the saved char from after
                        end
                        
                        
                        -- Transpose selections or characters or lines.
                        -- If there is only one selection and it is non-empty or at the start or end of a line, then 
                        -- transpose the line with the one above it (the pre-existing Ctrl+T behaviour).
                        -- If all selections are empty insertion points, then transpose the characters on either side of them 
                        -- unless they are at the start or end of a line.
                        -- If there are 2 or more selections that are not all empty, rotate the selection contents between selections.
                        local function transposeSelectionsCharactersLines()
                        	-- According to the Scintilla documentation, there is always at least one selection
                        	local lastIdx = editor.Selections-1 -- Indexes for multiple selections are zero-based
                          
                        	if editor.SelectionEmpty then -- If all selections are empty, i.e. consist only of an insertion point
                        		if lastIdx == 0 and isStartOrEndOfLine(editor.CurrentPos) then -- If there is only one selection and it's at the start or end of a line
                        			editor:LineTranspose() -- Transpose the current line with the one before
                        		else -- Else multiple empty selections or a single empty selection not at the start or end of a line
                        			editor:BeginUndoAction() -- Begin the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                        			
                        			-- Transpose the characters on either side of each insertion point that is not at the start or end of a line
                        			for idx = 0, lastIdx do
                        				local pos = editor.SelectionNCaret[idx]
                        				if not isStartOrEndOfLine(pos) then -- If this empty selection is not at the start or end of a line
                        					transposeCharactersAt(pos) -- Transpose the characters either side of the given position
                        					-- For some unknown reason, the insertion point will now be before both characters 
                        					-- Put the insertion point back in between them, allowing for different numbers of bytes per character
                        					pos = editor:PositionAfter(editor.SelectionNCaret[idx])
                        					editor.SelectionNAnchor[idx] = pos
                        					editor.SelectionNCaret[idx] = pos
                        				end
                        			end
                        			
                        			editor:EndUndoAction() -- End the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                        		end
                        	else -- Else selections are not all empty
                        		if lastIdx == 0 then -- If there is only 1 selection
                        			editor:LineTranspose() -- Transpose the current line with the one before
                        		else -- Else there are 2 or more selections
                        			editor:BeginUndoAction() -- Begin the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                        			
                        			-- Rotate selection contents between selections
                        			local lastStr = getSelectionNTextVirtual(lastIdx) -- Save the last selection including any virtual space			
                        			for idx = lastIdx, 1, -1 do -- Shift the other selections along
                        				setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx, getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx-1))
                        			end
                        			setSelectionNTextVirtual(0, lastStr) -- Make the first selection be the saved last selection
                        			
                        			editor:EndUndoAction() -- End the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                        		end
                        	end
                        end
                        
                        
                        -- Add menu entry for transposing selections, characters or lines.
                        -- The Ctrl+T shortcut may need to be added manually via 
                        -- Settings -> Shortcut Mapper -> Plugin commands -> Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines -> Modify.
                        -- You can ignore the conflict with the shortcut for Scintilla SCI_LINETRANSPOSE.
                        -- editor:ClearCmdKey(string.byte("T"), SCMOD_CTRL) -- Doesn't work
                        npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines", "Ctrl+T", transposeSelectionsCharactersLines)
                        
                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                        • dkeenan7D
                          dkeenan7
                          last edited by

                          I’d be pleased if a moderator would edit the above post so the code is syntax-highlighted as Lua. I learned how to do that a few minutes too late. :-) You could then delete this post. Thanks.

                          dinkumoilD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • dkeenan7D
                            dkeenan7
                            last edited by

                            For the general reader:

                            This script lets you correct common character-transposition typos, like “teh” instead of “the”, by clicking between the transposed characters (or arrow-keying back to between them) and hitting Ctrl+T. It also lets you swap two selections. You hold Ctrl to make the second selection. For example, you might want to swap the if and else code in a conditional.

                            The original function of Ctrl+T, i.e. swapping a line with the one above it, is still available by clicking at the start or end of a line, or by making a single non-empty selection anywhere in the line.

                            If you want to install Ctrl+T for “Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines” into Notepad++:

                            1. Install the “LuaScript” plugin using Plugins -> Plugins Admin.
                            2. Choose Plugins -> LuaScript -> Edit Startup Script, and paste in the code from this post:
                              https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/18415/transpose-multiple-selections/11
                            3. Exit and relaunch Notepad++.
                            4. Use Settings -> Shortcut Mapper -> Plugin commands -> Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines -> Modify, to add Ctrl+T as the shortcut. Ignore the conflict with the shortcut for Scintilla SCI_LINETRANSPOSE.
                            5. Choose Settings -> Preferences -> Editing -> Multi-Edit Settings -> Enable.

                            Many thanks to @dinkumoil @sasumner and Neil Hodgson.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • dinkumoilD
                              dinkumoil @dkeenan7
                              last edited by

                              @dkeenan7

                              Many thanks for that code and many respect for all the hard work!

                              I was tearing out what little hair I have left, while debugging it.

                              I thought so. ;-)

                              I’d be pleased if a moderator would edit the above post so the code is syntax-highlighted as Lua.

                              If you mean this syntax

                              ```Lua
                              some code
                              ```
                              

                              it doesn’t work, the forum doesn’t support Lua syntax highlighting. Above I’ve changed it to SQL as it uses the same syntax for line comments as Lua, thus it produces a result that is closest as possible to the desired result.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                              • dkeenan7D
                                dkeenan7
                                last edited by

                                Although it’s too late to solve the problem that @X had in this thread:
                                https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/18448/is-it-possible-to-switch-column-lines
                                I have added Reverse Selections/Characters Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T to our transpose script. If you Alt-select a column, it will reverse the rows.

                                We now have:
                                Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines Ctrl+T (rotate forwards)
                                Rotate Backwards Selections/Characters Ctrl+Alt+T
                                Reverse Selections/Characters Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T

                                In the case of a single selection with 2 or more characters, each of the above will now rotate or reverse the characters in the selection.

                                It’s such a monster now, that I have to post it in two pieces. It exceeds the limit of 16 768 bytes for a post.

                                -- Copy into the startup script for the LuaScript plugin
                                -- Changes will take effect once Notepad++ is restarted
                                
                                -- ================================================================================
                                -- Adds menu entries (intended for Ctrl+mod+T shortcuts) to transpose multiple selections 
                                -- (disjoint or rectangular) by rotating them in the order they were selected (Ctrl+T), 
                                -- or rotate them backwards (Ctrl+Alt+T), or reverse them (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T), 
                                -- and to do the same with the characters of a single non-empty selection.
                                -- and to transpose characters either side of an empty selection, 
                                -- and to transpose lines if none of the above apply.
                                -- Modified from a script kindly written by Andreas Heim (dinkumoil), 2019-10-25
                                -- ================================================================================
                                
                                
                                -- Get the number of positions the virtual start is past the real start, for the selection with index idx
                                local function getSelectionNStartVirtualSpace(idx)
                                	local anchor = editor.SelectionNAnchor[idx]
                                	local caret = editor.SelectionNCaret[idx]
                                	local anchorVirtual = editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx]
                                	local caretVirtual = editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx]
                                	if anchor < caret or (anchor == caret and anchorVirtual < caretVirtual) then
                                		return anchorVirtual
                                	else
                                		return caretVirtual
                                	end
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Get the number of positions the virtual end is past the real end, for the selection with index idx
                                local function getSelectionNEndVirtualSpace(idx)
                                	local anchor = editor.SelectionNAnchor[idx]
                                	local caret = editor.SelectionNCaret[idx]
                                	local anchorVirtual = editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx]
                                	local caretVirtual = editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx]
                                	if anchor < caret or (anchor == caret and anchorVirtual < caretVirtual) then
                                		return caretVirtual
                                	else
                                		return anchorVirtual
                                	end
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Get text of selection with index idx, converting any trailing virtual space to real spaces
                                local function getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx)
                                	local selStart = editor.SelectionNStart[idx]
                                	local selEnd = editor.SelectionNEnd[idx]
                                	local startVirtual = getSelectionNStartVirtualSpace(idx) -- Number of positions virtual start is past real start 
                                	local endVirtual = getSelectionNEndVirtualSpace(idx) -- Number of positions virtual end is past real end
                                
                                	local str = editor:textrange(selStart, selEnd) or ""
                                
                                	-- The following section was added to give the behaviour I expect when transposing rectangular selections
                                	-- that contain virtual space. Dave Keenan, 2019-11-01
                                	if selStart == selEnd then -- If the real part of the selection is empty
                                		endVirtual = endVirtual - startVirtual -- The virtual part that comes after, is the difference between end and start virtual
                                	-- else any start virtual is on a different line and so should not be subtracted from end virtual
                                	end
                                	str = str .. string.rep(" ", endVirtual) -- Convert virtual space at the end of the selection into real spaces at the end of the string
                                
                                	return str
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Set text of selection with index idx, converting any trailing real spaces to virtual space
                                local function setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx, str)
                                	local selStart = editor.SelectionNStart[idx] -- The start of the selection
                                	local selEnd = editor.SelectionNEnd[idx] -- The end of the selection
                                	local lineEnd = editor.LineEndPosition[editor:LineFromPosition(selEnd)] -- The end of the line that the selection ends on
                                	
                                	local startVirt = getSelectionNStartVirtualSpace(idx) -- The number of positions virtual start is past real start
                                	
                                	-- The following section was added to give the behaviour I expect when transposing rectangular selections
                                	-- that contain virtual space. Dave Keenan, 2019-11-01
                                	-- It has the fairly benign side effect of leaving no trailing spaces on any line that ends with a selection.
                                
                                	-- If there is no text after the selection, convert any trailing spaces in the replacement into end virtual space
                                	-- and if the replacement is then empty, convert spaces before the selection into start virtual space, otherwise do the opposite conversion.
                                	local endVirt = 0 -- Set end virtual space to a default value of zero
                                	if selEnd == lineEnd then -- If there is no text after the selection
                                		-- Convert any spaces at the end of the replacement string, into virtual space at the end of the new selection
                                		local origStrLen = #str -- Save the original string length
                                		str = string.gsub(str, " +$", "") -- Remove any trailing spaces
                                		endVirt = origStrLen - #str -- Set end virtual to the number of spaces removed. Assumes start virtual will be zero. May be modified below.
                                		-- If the replacement is now empty, convert spaces before the selection into start virtual space, otherwise do the opposite conversion
                                		if #str == 0 then -- If the replacement string is now empty
                                			-- Convert any real spaces before the selection, into virtual space
                                			local before = editor:PositionBefore(selStart) -- Get the character position before the present selection start
                                			while editor:textrange(before, selStart) == " " do -- While the character before the selection is a space
                                				editor:SetTargetRange(before, selStart) -- Target the space
                                				editor:ReplaceTarget("") -- Delete the space
                                				selStart = selStart - 1 -- Shift the real selection start back
                                				selEnd = selEnd - 1 -- Shift the real selection end back
                                				startVirt = startVirt + 1 -- Increment the start virtual space
                                				before = editor:PositionBefore(selStart) -- Get the character position before the new selection start
                                			end
                                			endVirt = endVirt + startVirt -- End virtual previously assumed start virtual was zero
                                		else -- Else the replacement string is not now empty
                                			-- Convert any virtual space before the selection, into real spaces
                                			editor:SetTargetRange(selStart, selStart) -- Target the start of the selection
                                			editor:ReplaceTarget(string.rep(" ", startVirt)) -- Insert a number of spaces corresponding to start virtual
                                			selStart = selStart + startVirt -- New start is old start plus the number of spaces inserted
                                			selEnd = selEnd + startVirt -- New end is old end plus the number of spaces inserted
                                			startVirt = 0 -- New start virtual is zero. End virtual is unchanged.
                                		end
                                	end
                                	
                                	-- Update the text and position and virtual space of the selection
                                	editor:SetTargetRange(selStart, selEnd) -- Target the existing selection position
                                	editor:ReplaceTarget(str) -- Replace the selection contents with the possibly-modified replacement string
                                	editor.SelectionNStart[idx] = selStart -- Set the selection start
                                	selEnd = selStart + #str -- Set the new selection end based on the length of the replacement string
                                	editor.SelectionNEnd[idx] = selEnd -- Set the selection end
                                	-- Setting SelectionNStart and SelectionNEnd above, will have ensured that the anchor is the start
                                	-- and the caret is the end, so that the following will be valid.
                                	editor.SelectionNAnchorVirtualSpace[idx] = startVirt -- Update the selection start virtual space
                                	editor.SelectionNCaretVirtualSpace[idx] = endVirt  -- Update the selection end virtual space
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Is the given position at the start or end of a line?
                                local function isStartOrEndOfLine(pos)
                                	local line, lineStart, lineEnd
                                	line = editor:LineFromPosition(pos)
                                	lineStart = editor:PositionFromLine(line)
                                	lineEnd = editor.LineEndPosition[line]
                                	return pos == lineStart or pos == lineEnd
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Transpose the characters either side of the given position
                                local function transposeCharactersAt(pos)
                                	local before = editor:PositionBefore(pos) -- Allow for multi-byte characters
                                	local after = editor:PositionAfter(pos)
                                	local str = editor:textrange(pos, after) -- Save the character after the insertion point
                                	editor:SetTargetRange(pos, after) -- Target the character after the insertion point. Doesn't work with different character widths if you go the other way first.
                                	editor:ReplaceTarget(editor:textrange(before, pos)) -- Replace the char after with the char before. 
                                	editor:SetTargetRange(before, pos) -- Target the character before the insertion point
                                	editor:ReplaceTarget(str) -- Replace the char before with the saved char from after
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Rotate the characters between the given positions
                                local function rotateCharacters(start, endd)
                                	if start == endd then return end
                                	local after = endd
                                	local pos = editor:PositionBefore(endd) -- Allow for multi-byte characters
                                	if pos == start then return end
                                	local before = editor:PositionBefore(pos)
                                	local str = editor:textrange(pos, after) -- Save the last character
                                	while before > start do -- While we haven't reached the start
                                		editor:SetTargetRange(pos, after) -- Target the after character. Doesn't work with different character widths if you go the other way first.
                                		editor:ReplaceTarget(editor:textrange(before, pos)) -- Replace the after char with the before character
                                		-- Move backwards
                                		pos = before
                                		before = editor:PositionBefore(pos)
                                		after = editor:PositionAfter(pos)  -- Can't just assign the previous pos, as the character width may have changed
                                	end
                                	editor:SetTargetRange(pos, after) -- Target the after character
                                	editor:ReplaceTarget(editor:textrange(before, pos)) -- Replace the after char with the before character
                                	
                                	editor:SetTargetRange(before, pos) -- Target the first character
                                	editor:ReplaceTarget(str) -- Replace the first character with the saved last character
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Rotate the characters backwards between the given positions
                                local function rotateCharactersBackwards(start, endd)
                                	-- This is tricky to make work with multi-byte characters, which include CR LF newlines.
                                	-- We can't simply reverse direction relative to the forward rotation function above.
                                	-- We still need to work backwards.
                                	if start == endd then return end
                                	local afterStart = editor:PositionAfter(start)
                                	if afterStart == endd then return end
                                	local posStr = editor:textrange(start, afterStart) -- Get the first character
                                	local pos = endd
                                	local before = editor:PositionBefore(endd) -- Allow for multi-byte characters
                                	while before > start do -- While we haven't reached the start
                                		local beforeStr = editor:textrange(before, pos) -- Save the before character
                                		editor:SetTargetRange(before, pos) -- Target the before character.
                                		editor:ReplaceTarget(posStr) -- Replace the before character with the saved present character
                                		posStr = beforeStr -- Replace the saved present character with the saved before character
                                		-- Move backwards
                                		pos = before
                                		before = editor:PositionBefore(pos)
                                	end
                                	editor:SetTargetRange(before, pos) -- Target the first character
                                	editor:ReplaceTarget(posStr) -- Replace the first character with the saved present character
                                end
                                
                                
                                -- Reverse the characters between the given positions
                                local function reverseCharacters(start, endd)
                                	if start == endd then return end
                                	local afterStart = editor:PositionAfter(start) -- Allow for multi-byte characters
                                	if afterStart == endd then return end
                                	local beforeEnd = editor:PositionBefore(endd)
                                	while afterStart <= beforeEnd do -- While we haven't reached the middle
                                		local str = editor:textrange(beforeEnd, endd) -- Save the character from the last half
                                		editor:SetTargetRange(beforeEnd, endd) -- Target the character in the last half. Doesn't work with different character widths if you go the other way first.
                                		editor:ReplaceTarget(editor:textrange(start, afterStart)) -- Replace the char in the last half with its opposite in the first half
                                		editor:SetTargetRange(start, afterStart) -- Target the character in the first half
                                		editor:ReplaceTarget(str) -- Replace the char in the first half with the saved char from the last half
                                		-- Move inward
                                		start = editor:PositionAfter(start) -- Can't just assign afterStart, as the character width may have changed
                                		endd = editor:PositionBefore(endd)
                                		afterStart = editor:PositionAfter(start)
                                		beforeEnd = editor:PositionBefore(endd)
                                	end
                                end
                                
                                
                                
                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                                • dkeenan7D
                                  dkeenan7
                                  last edited by

                                  -- Transpose selections or characters or lines.
                                  -- If there is 1 empty selection at the start or end of a line, then 
                                  -- transpose the line with the one above it (the pre-existing Ctrl+T behaviour).
                                  -- If all selections are empty, then transpose the characters on either side of
                                  -- any that are not at the start or end of a line.
                                  -- If there is 1 non-empty selection, rotate its characters forward.
                                  -- If there are 2 or more selections that are not all empty, rotate the selection contents between selections.
                                  -- Useful for rotating the rows in a rectangular/column selection (Alt-select)
                                  local function transposeSelectionsOrCharactersOrLines()
                                  	-- According to the Scintilla documentation, there is always at least one selection
                                  	local lastIdx = editor.Selections - 1 -- Indexes for multiple selections are zero-based
                                    
                                  	editor:BeginUndoAction() -- Begin the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                                  	
                                  	if editor.SelectionEmpty then -- If all selections are empty, i.e. consist only of an insertion point
                                  		if lastIdx == 0 and isStartOrEndOfLine(editor.CurrentPos) then -- If there is only one selection and it's at the start or end of a line
                                  			editor:LineTranspose() -- Transpose the current line with the one before
                                  		else -- Else multiple empty selections or a single empty selection not at the start or end of a line
                                  			-- Transpose the characters on either side of each insertion point that is not at the start or end of a line
                                  			for idx = 0, lastIdx do
                                  				local pos = editor.SelectionNCaret[idx]
                                  				if not isStartOrEndOfLine(pos) then -- If this empty selection is not at the start or end of a line
                                  					transposeCharactersAt(pos) -- Transpose the characters either side of the given position
                                  					-- The insertion point will now be before both characters 
                                  					-- Put the insertion point back in between them, allowing for different numbers of bytes per character
                                  					pos = editor:PositionAfter(editor.SelectionNCaret[idx])
                                  					editor.SelectionNAnchor[idx] = pos
                                  					editor.SelectionNCaret[idx] = pos
                                  				end
                                  			end
                                  		end
                                  	else -- Else selections are not all empty
                                  		if lastIdx == 0 then -- If there is only 1 selection
                                  			--[[ Alternative behaviour: 
                                  			editor:LineTranspose() -- Transpose the current line with the one before
                                  			--]]
                                  			-- Rotate the characters in the selection (ignores virtual space)
                                  			local selStart = editor.SelectionNStart[0]
                                  			local selEnd = editor.SelectionNEnd[0]
                                  			rotateCharacters(selStart, selEnd)
                                  			-- Restore the selection
                                  			editor.SelectionNStart[0] = selStart
                                  			editor.SelectionNEnd[0] = selEnd
                                  		else -- Else there are 2 or more selections			
                                  			-- Rotate selection contents between selections
                                  			local str = getSelectionNTextVirtual(lastIdx) -- Save the last selection including any virtual space			
                                  			for idx = lastIdx, 1, -1 do -- Shift the other selections along
                                  				setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx, getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx-1))
                                  			end
                                  			setSelectionNTextVirtual(0, str) -- Make the first selection be the saved last selection
                                  		end
                                  	end
                                  
                                  	editor:EndUndoAction() -- End the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                                  end
                                  
                                  
                                  -- Rotate selections backwards
                                  -- Useful for rotating the rows backwards in a rectangular/column selection (Alt-select)
                                  local function rotateSelectionsOrCharactersBackwards()
                                  	-- According to the Scintilla documentation, there is always at least one selection
                                  	local lastIdx = editor.Selections - 1 -- Indexes for multiple selections are zero-based
                                  
                                  	editor:BeginUndoAction() -- Begin the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                                  	
                                  	if lastIdx == 0 then -- If there is only 1 selection
                                  		-- Rotate the characters backwards in the selection (ignores virtual space)
                                  		local selStart = editor.SelectionNStart[0]
                                  		local selEnd = editor.SelectionNEnd[0]
                                  		rotateCharactersBackwards(selStart, selEnd)
                                  		-- Restore the selection
                                  		editor.SelectionNStart[0] = selStart
                                  		editor.SelectionNEnd[0] = selEnd		
                                  	else
                                  		-- Rotate selection contents backwards between selections
                                  		local str = getSelectionNTextVirtual(0) -- Save the first selection including any virtual space			
                                  		for idx = 1, lastIdx do -- Shift the other selections along
                                  			setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx-1, getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx))
                                  		end
                                  		setSelectionNTextVirtual(lastIdx, str) -- Make the last selection be the saved first selection
                                  	end
                                  	
                                  	editor:EndUndoAction() -- End the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                                  end
                                  
                                  
                                  -- Reverse selections
                                  -- Useful for reversing the order of rows in a rectangular/column selection (Alt-select)
                                  local function reverseSelectionsOrCharacters()
                                  	-- According to the Scintilla documentation, there is always at least one selection
                                  	local lastIdx = editor.Selections - 1 -- Indexes for multiple selections are zero-based
                                  	local lastSwap = editor.Selections // 2 - 1
                                  
                                  	editor:BeginUndoAction() -- Begin the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                                  	
                                  	if lastIdx == 0 then -- If there is only 1 selection
                                  		-- Reverse the characters in the selection (ignores virtual space)
                                  		local selStart = editor.SelectionNStart[0]
                                  		local selEnd = editor.SelectionNEnd[0]
                                  		reverseCharacters(selStart, selEnd)
                                  		-- Restore the selection
                                  		editor.SelectionNStart[0] = selStart
                                  		editor.SelectionNEnd[0] = selEnd
                                  	else -- Else there are 2 or more selections
                                  		-- Swap selection contents between opposite pairs of selections
                                  		for idx = 0, lastSwap do
                                  			local str = getSelectionNTextVirtual(lastIdx - idx) -- Save the later selection including any virtual space			
                                  			setSelectionNTextVirtual(lastIdx - idx, getSelectionNTextVirtual(idx)) -- Replace later selection with the opposite earlier selection
                                  			setSelectionNTextVirtual(idx, str) -- Make the opposite earlier selection be the saved later selection
                                  		end
                                  	end
                                  	
                                  	editor:EndUndoAction() -- End the sequence of actions to be undone or redone as a unit
                                  end
                                  
                                  
                                  -- Add menu entry for transposing or rotating selections, characters or lines.
                                  -- The Ctrl+T shortcut may need to be added manually via 
                                  -- Settings -> Shortcut Mapper -> Plugin commands -> Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines -> Modify.
                                  -- You can ignore the conflict with the shortcut for Scintilla SCI_LINETRANSPOSE.
                                  editor:ClearCmdKey(string.byte("T"), SCMOD_CTRL) -- This doesn't seem to work here
                                  npp.AddShortcut("Transpose Selections/Characters/Lines", "Ctrl+T", transposeSelectionsOrCharactersOrLines)
                                  
                                  -- Add menu entry for rotating selections backwards.
                                  npp.AddShortcut("Rotate Selections/Characters Backwards", "Ctrl+Alt+T", rotateSelectionsOrCharactersBackwards)
                                  
                                  -- Add menu entry for reversing selections.
                                  npp.AddShortcut("Reverse Selections/Characters", "Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T", reverseSelectionsOrCharacters)
                                  
                                  
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