Mass cursor movement via Python

M Andre Z Eckenrode

As I’ve pointed out in one or more previous posts, I’m a very amateurish user of the Python Script v2.1.0.0 plugin, with the majority of my simple scripts made up only of regex replacement sequences, but on rare occasions I need to do something requiring a little more sophistication. I’m currently investigating ways to move my cursor x number of spaces/words/lines at a time, such as moving it up 5 lines. I see, in the Python Script docs, that I can use editor.lineUp() to move it up one line at a time, but of course am hoping for a way to move up all 5 lines in one go, so to speak, rather than having to repeat that line of code 5 times in my script. I figured a loop would be the most obvious solution, but my experience with them is pretty limited, so I consulted the PS docs further, as well as the NPP Community here, and our old sometimes-friend Google. I see multiple examples of simple, basic loops using for i in range(), which I tried as follows:

for i in range(5)
    editor.lineUp()

But the Python Script console outputs the following:

    for i in range(5)
                    ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Am I doing something wrong?

Not that I’m inclined to trust any AI information, but when I googled notepad++ pythonscript move caret one direction multiple times, Google’s AI Overview also suggests that I can just use editor.lineUp(5). It only cost me less than a minute to give that a whirl, so what the heck, but I faired no better with it (issued via the console rather than a saved script). Console output:

>>> editor.lineUp(5)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<console>", line 1, in <module>
ArgumentError: Python argument types in
    Editor.lineUp(Editor, int)
did not match C++ signature:
    lineUp(class NppPythonScript::ScintillaWrapper {lvalue})

Full debug info:

Notepad++ v8.9 (32-bit)
Build time: Dec 27 2025 - 14:27:12
Scintilla/Lexilla included: 5.5.8/5.4.6
Boost Regex included: 1_85
TinyXML-2 included: 11.0.0
nlohmann JSON included: 3.12.0
Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line:
Admin mode: OFF
Local Conf mode: OFF
Cloud Config: OFF
Periodic Backup: ON
Placeholders: OFF
Scintilla Rendering Mode: SC_TECHNOLOGY_DIRECTWRITE (1)
Multi-instance Mode: monoInst
asNotepad: OFF
File Status Auto-Detection: cdEnabledNew (for current file/tab only)
Dark Mode: OFF
Display Info:
primary monitor: 1920x1080, scaling 100%
visible monitors count: 1
installed Display Class adapters:
0000: Description - Intel® HD Graphics 620
0000: DriverVersion - 31.0.101.2111
0001: Description - NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
0001: DriverVersion - 30.0.15.1169
OS Name: Windows 10 Enterprise (64-bit)
OS Version: 22H2
OS Build: 19045.6466
Current ANSI codepage: 1252
Plugins:
BetterMultiSelection (1.5)
ColumnsPlusPlus (1.3)
ColumnTools (1.4.5.1)
ComparePlus (2.2)
DSpellCheck (1.5)
ExtSettings (1.3.1)
HTMLTag_unicode (1.5.5)
mimeTools (3.1)
MultiClipboard (2.1)
MultiReplace (4.6.0.33)
NppCalc (1.5)
NppConverter (4.7)
NppExport (0.4)
NPPJSONViewer (2.1.1)
NppTextFX (1.4.1)
NppXmlTreeviewPlugin (2)
PreviewHTML (1.3.3.3)
PythonScript (2.1)
RegexTrainer (1.2)
SessionMgr (1.4.4)

M Andre Z Eckenrode

Never mind on the use of for i in range(), I see now that I neglected to put a colon after it.

Alan Kilborn

@M-Andre-Z-Eckenrode

Instead of the .lineUp() approach, I’d try finding the exact position you want to move the caret to, and then setting the current position to that.

You’d need to find what column you’re in, what line you’re on, and then apply math and go from there.