First, use File - Special Functions - Insert String At Every Increment.
To insert a line break use ^p as described in the dialog.
For second switch to Column Mode and select all lines but no characters (thin blue line is displayed) and reformat the file like you want. There can be used in Column Mode also from menu Column the command Insert/Fill Columns for inserting a semicolon after the first five characters in all lines of the file on using this command at column 6 in the first line.
How do I set up a list of tab positions like 10 15 22 33 81 162 167 so that if I hit the tab key the cursor will jump to the next position in the line.
There must be entered how many characters each tab represents and not at which column the tab stops.
The tab stop values would be for the example: 9,5,7,11,48,81,5
Please note that the column numbering on the ruler can start with 0 or 1 for the caret at most left position in a line (at first column) according to the configuration setting Start ruler numbering at column 1 at Advanced - SettingsorConfiguration - Editor display - Miscellaneous. The column number in the status bar at the bottom of the main application window starts always with 1 for the first column.
Thank you very much. I never would have figured that out by myself.
However, it is not quite the solution I need.
If I was typing into a new file and I was entering things like name, address, age, etc. it would be perfect.
I created an extension of ttt because I only want to tab this way on a certain type of txt file and not all txt files.
When I hit the tab key multiple times the cursor jumps to the next position correctly.
However, I am entering data that is the name of an orchid with the type, document, page # etc.
Since most of the fields remain the same with only the first field (name) changing I copy the last record and tab to the parts of the duplicate record that need to be changed.
I need the record to continue to start at column 1 but when I hit the tab key, it inserts the tab and moves the whole record to the right if in insert mode or in overstrike mode it jumps to the next position and replaces the first character with the tab.
I need to be able to jump to the various locations without moving the record.
I am not sure if I understood your issue, but open Advanced - SettingsorConfiguration - Editor display - Formatting and uncheck the setting Auto indent new lines.
The key TAB cannot be used to just move the caret as in spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc for moving the input focus from one cell to the next cell to the right. It inserts a horizontal tab character with replacing the character at current text cursor position in overstrike mode. Ctrl+RIGHT ARROW moves the caret to the beginning of the next word which is the next tab stop position if the text cursor is at the beginning or in the middle or at the end of the last word of first field (name). Ctrl+RIGHT ARROW must be pressed multiple times if the caret is at column 1 and the first data field consists of multiple words as it is typical for names.
I guess what I need is not available.
However, the Ctrl+Right Arrow will be a big help.
I am indexing books and documents about orchids. The first word is always the genus name which will often be the same from line to line.
At least now I can I can copy the current line, Jump to the start of the duplicated line and use Ctrl+Right Arrow to jump to the beginning of the second word (the species name) which is where I will normally start typing so it will speed up the process a bit.
Thanks for your help.
Do you know the command Duplicate line which is in the menu Edit on using toolbar/menu mode with traditional menus?
The menu item is named just Duplicate in the contemporary menu Edit respectively on ribbon tab Edit in third group Selected line(s).
This command should be always executed by key and never with using the pointing device. It duplicates the current line and moves the caret into the inserted line with keeping the caret at the current column. This seems to be the best command for your current work.
There is assigned Alt+Shift+D to this command. I reconfigured the hotkey for my daily work with UltraEdit and UEStudio to Ctrl+Shift+RETURN and use it since 20 years. The usage is in the meantime fully automated done by my brain. I do not need think anymore which key to press to duplicate the current line and move the caret into the inserted line at the same column. My fingers just do it. The command has the name Duplicate line with the description Duplicate active line in the Commands list in the Key mapping configuration dialog window in case of you want to change the hotkey from Alt+Shift+D to something other like Ctrl+Shift+RETURN.
It would be possible to write two macros which move the caret to next/previous tab stop column, define a hotkey for each macro for fast execution by key, and save the two macros into one macro file being configured for automatic load on startup of UltraEdit. But I do not recommend to overwrite TAB and Shift+TAB behavior with custom macros. The behavior on pressing key TAB or Shift+TAB depends on current context. For example, on having multiple lines selected, pressing key TAB indents all selected lines and pressing Shift+TAB unindents the selected lines. The behavior is different on nothing is selected as you already know depending on insert or overstrike mode. The behavior changes again on enabled column mode with insert or overstrike mode depending on configuration. The behavior is again different in hex edit mode and of course on having opened a dialog window like the Find and Replace window.
Thanks again for your help and suggestions.
I had discovered the Alt-Shift-D way to duplicate the current line. I then hit home to get to the start of the new line and since the first word is the genus name and is frequently the same as the genus name on the previous record I hit Ctl-Right Arrow to jump to the beginning of the second word which is where I would normally start typing the new information.
I was an IT programmer, analyst, architect for 38 years with IBM, TKM, and Lucent Technologies but have been retired for 24 years so I am not likely to start writing macros at this late stage.
I am now able to do my data entry at an acceptable speed using the other things you showed me so I will stick with that at least for the time being.
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