How to copy a column with 1.5M lines.

Michel Vincent

I want to copy a column with 1.5M lines. It will take forever to do “alt+shift+ arrow down”. Any other way to do this quickly? Thanks!!!

PeterJones

@Michel-Vincent ,

See this post or this earlier post.

Based on that earlier discussion, I actually created a macro:

    <Macro name="Begin/End Column Select" Ctrl="no" Alt="yes" Shift="yes" Key="66">
        <Action type="0" message="2429" wParam="0" lParam="0" sParam="" />
        <Action type="0" message="2428" wParam="0" lParam="0" sParam="" />
        <Action type="2" message="0" wParam="42020" lParam="0" sParam="" />
    </Macro>

You can exit Notepad++, restart notepad++, edit %AppData%\Notepad++\shortcuts.xml, paste that macro in the <macros> section, save, exit Notepad++, restart Notepad++, and now your macro will exist and be usable. I have Alt+Shift+B assigned to that macro, but you can set your own keystroke in .Macro > Modify Shortcut / Delete Macro…

Using this macro, you could

Click at the upper left corner of the column
BEGIN column selection with Alt+Shift+B or running the macro from the menu
Ctrl+Endto get to the end of the 1.5M-line document, then put the cursor at the lower-right corner of the column
END column selection with Alt+Shift+B or running the macro from the menu
the selection is now complete

(The posts I linked above will show the similar steps if you don’t have the macro)

guy038

Hello, @michel-vincent, @peterjones, @alan-kilborn and All,

An other solution, a little less easy than the @peterjones’s method, would not use any macro !

First, simply define, with the Settings > Shortcut Mapper..., the shortcut Alt + Shift + B to the menu option Edit > Begin/End Select

Then, for any needed column-selection :

Left-click to the upper-left corner of the future column-area
Use the shortcut Alt + Shift + B
Go, by any means, to the lower-right corner of the column-area
Hold down the Alt key and left-click at this lower-right corner ( Do not use the Alt + Shift + Left-click combination !! )
Release the Alt key
Use, again, the shortcut Alt + Shift + B

=> The appropriate column-selection should appear !

Now, as @alan-kilborn said, in one the related posts above, a visual indication of the ticked status of the Begin/End Select feature would be welcome !

Why not, in the rightmost part of the status bar, after the INS / OVR indication, a kind of flashing red letter S would appear ?

Best Regards,

guy038

Michel Vincent

@PeterJones said in How to copy a column with 1.5M lines.:

You can exit Notepad++, restart notepad++, edit %AppData%\Notepad++\shortcuts.xml, paste that macro in the <macros> section,

Hello Peter,

Thank you for the tip!! Can you guide as to where I should put the macro? I don’t see in the edit section. Thanks!

Alan Kilborn

@Michel-Vincent said in How to copy a column with 1.5M lines.:

Can you guide as to where I should put the macro?

There are other macros in shortcuts.xml (unless you’ve deleted all of them).
You’d insert something new after the last </Macro> line in the file.