How to select text vertically

How to select text vertically

2
NewbieNewbie
2

    Nov 20, 2014#1

    I am not a programmer or a particularly techie person so forgive me if I am doing this incorrectly. I wonder if one of you experts could help me with a unique problem.

    Anyone familiar with the Brion Gysin/ William Burroughs cut-up method? That is what I want to use UltraEdit for. You don't need to know but it would be fun for you to look up.

    ANYWAY HERE IS WHAT I WANT TO DO

    I have a large block of text loaded into UltraEdit. Say 1000 lines and I previously hit Word wrap so it is now 140 characters wide.

    I would like to select from character 1 up to, say, 70 and cut that and leave the rest.
    Then I want to select that amount from every line-- from line 1 to 1000.

    That would leave lines 1 to 1000 from character 71 to 140 on the screen.

    Is that possible?

    Then I want to paste the 1-70 selection at the end of line 1000.

    So that way I will have the same text but it will be cut in half horizontally. Does that make sense?

    -------

    Another way to describe it is

    I want to create 2 columns. One from characters 1-70 and column Two from character 71 to 140.

    My preference would be if I could cut in the space between words but I don't want to be greedy. If I could just slice the page right down the middle that would be good enough. Is there a way to do that?

    I am running Mac 10.8.5

    UltraEdit Hex text editor version 15.0.0.9

    Thanks.

    115
    Power UserPower User
    115

      Nov 20, 2014#2

      What you want could be done with column mode cut and paste, except for the fact that the text is word-wrapped. Column mode automatically turns word-wrap off.

      So instead you need to first go from word-wrapped text to ordinary text.
      First make sure your file is not already open in UltraEdit.
      Go to the menu Advanced->Configuration->Editor->Word Wrap/Tab Settings and click on the Wrap after column #, insert CR/LF and set the desired column number and also select the option on file open, then click on apply. This replaces the wrap with an actual end of line character so that you now have two (or more) lines where you once had one. Turn on Word Wrap by clicking on the icon or by selecting it from the menu. Then open your file.

      Now you can select Column mode, cut the first xxx columns out and then paste them after the remaining columns. It cuts exactly at the column specified, not at a word end, so you still have to fix that bit. And don't forget to change your menu settings back so you don't ruin some other file in the future.

      Have fun with your project.

      2
      NewbieNewbie
      2

        Nov 21, 2014#3

        Thanks, I do not see "Advanced" as one of the choices in my menu. I could not find anything close to configuring the area you discussed. Sorry.

        6,684586
        Grand MasterGrand Master
        6,684586

          Nov 21, 2014#4

          You posted your question in forum for UE for Windows and MickRC3 has overlooked that you are working with UEM v15.0.0.9 on Mac. I moved the topic to UltraEdit for Mac forum. In UltraEdit for Mac Tools is the name of the menu named in UltraEdit for Windows Avanced, and Preferences is the menu item named in UE for Windows Configuration.

          There is the power tip Column mode explaining how to use column mode editing in UltraEdit for Linux and Mac.

          For example you have following in file:

          Code: Select all

          00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
          00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
          00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
          1. Turn on column editing mode with Alt+C, or by clicking in menu Column on Column Mode, or by clicking on appropriate icon in toolbar.
          2. Move caret to top of file with Ctrl+Home, i.e. line 1 column 1.
          3. Execute Column - Cut Columns with value 70 to cut the first 70 characters from each line.
          4. Move caret to end of file with Ctrl+Home. Depending on last line has a line termination or not, you may press key RETURN to be below last line with data.
          5. Press Ctrl+V to insert the columns cut before.
          6. Press Alt+C to turn off column editing mode.
          The result of those 6 actions is:

          Code: Select all

          1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
          1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
          1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
          0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
          0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
          0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
          Other methods to quickly select a rectangular block:
          • Using Edit - Select Range
          • Key Alt is hold while selecting text with mouse - the quick column mode selection without explicitly enabling column editing mode, briefly explained in help about Column Mode.
          Best regards from an UC/UE/UES for Windows user from Austria