Macro to select next/previous block of consecutive non-blank lines

StaticGhost · PostFeb 19, 2019#12019-02-19T04:51+00:00

I have been having a go at creating a macro that will select the next/previous block of consecutive non-blank lines (working in a similar way for UNIX/DOS files).

This is what I have so far:

Select down

Code: Select all

InsertMode
ColumnModeOff
HexOff
PerlReOn
StartSelect
Find RegExp Select "(\r\n|\n)*..*(?=(\r\n\r\n|\n\n))"

Select up

Code: Select all

InsertMode
ColumnModeOff
HexOff
PerlReOn
StartSelect
Find RegExp Up Select "(\r\n|\n)*..*(?=(\r\n\r\n|\n\n))"

The select down macro seems to work as I want, selecting to the last piece of text just before the first instance of LINE-ENDING+LINE-ENDING; the select up isn't working as expected, selecting past LINE-ENDING+LINE-ENDING and to the next line.

I realize this is is a regular expression issue, not necessarily a macro issue, but wanted to see if anyone had another way to achieve this with a macro?

Rob

Mofi · PostFeb 19, 2019#22019-02-19T07:26+00:00

I suggest as macro to select next paragraph:

Code: Select all

InsertMode
ColumnModeOff
HexOff
PerlReOn
IfColNum 1
IfCharIs 13
Find MatchCase RegExp "(?s)(?:\r?\n)*\K.+?(?:\r?\n(?=\r?\n)|\z|\r?\n\z)"
ExitMacro
EndIf
IfCharIs 10
Find MatchCase RegExp "(?s)(?:\r?\n)*\K.+?(?:\r?\n(?=\r?\n)|\z|\r?\n\z)"
ExitMacro
EndIf
EndIf
Find MatchCase RegExp "(?s)(?:\r?\n){2,}\K.+?(?:\r?\n(?=\r?\n)|\z|\r?\n\z)"

I suggest as macro to select previous or current paragraph in case of caret is inside a paragraph:

Code: Select all

InsertMode
ColumnModeOff
HexOff
PerlReOn
Find MatchCase RegExp Up "(?:\r?\n){2,}(?=[^\r\n])\K|\A"
Find MatchCase RegExp "(?s).+?(?:\r?\n(?=\r?\n)|\z|\r?\n\z)"

I tested both macros with UltraEdit v22.20.0.49 on Windows XP and UltraEdit v25.20.0.166 on Windows 7.

Please note that \A is interpreted not as beginning of character stream buffer as defined by Boost Perl regular expression library, but as beginning of file as most user expect, since UltraEdit for Windows v24.00 and UEStudio v17.00. \z is also interpreted since UltraEdit for Windows v24.00 and UEStudio v17.00 as end of file and not anymore as end of character stream buffer as defined by the Boost Perl regular expression library. I have not tested the two macros on a very large file on the use cases for selecting last and first paragraph.

StaticGhost · PostFeb 19, 2019#32019-02-19T23:54+00:00

Thanks for that Mofi, that's marvelous! I made a couple of adjustments to suit what I am trying to achieve: If I am within a block, just select from current position to start/end of that block; plus keep the selection active so that multiple invocations of the same macro will continue to extend the selection in either direction.

Select next block:

Code: Select all

InsertMode
ColumnModeOff
HexOff
PerlReOn
IfColNum 1
IfCharIs 13
StartSelect
Find MatchCase RegExp Select "(?s)(?:\r?\n)*\K.+?(?:\r?\n(?=\r?\n)|\z|\r?\n\z)"
ExitMacro
EndIf
IfCharIs 10
StartSelect
Find MatchCase RegExp Select "(?s)(?:\r?\n)*\K.+?(?:\r?\n(?=\r?\n)|\z|\r?\n\z)"
ExitMacro
EndIf
EndIf
StartSelect
Find MatchCase RegExp Select "(?s)(?:\r?\n){2,}"

Select previous block:

Code: Select all

InsertMode
ColumnModeOff
HexOff
PerlReOn
StartSelect
Find MatchCase RegExp Up Select "(?:\r?\n){2,}(?=[^\r\n])\K|\A"