Select entire column

Select entire column

2
NewbieNewbie
2

    Jan 15, 2021#1

    Hi,

    I have just started to use UltraEdit and I tried to find a method to select entire column.
    After activation the column mode what may I do?
    I tried to push pg button but I can select only some columns.

    Thanks a lot!

    6,686586
    Grand MasterGrand Master
    6,686586

      Jan 15, 2021#2

      There is no command to select a column in entire file.  The column mode is usually used (by programmers using UltraEdit) just with a small rectangular selection created by first enabling column mode with Alt+C and then pressing and holding left mouse button while moving mouse pointer (cursor) or pressing and holding key Shift while moving the caret (text cursor) with the caret moving keys. It is also possible to press and hold  key Alt and press and hold left mouse button while moving mouse pointer (cursor) to make a rectangular selection even if column mode is not yet enabled (quick column mode selection).

      There is the command Select range in popup menu of first item Select on ribbon tab Edit. This command is often used to make a large rectangular selection. The end line number can be also much greater than the number of lines the file currently has. For that reason this command can be used to quickly create a rectangular selection for the entire file with 0 to n columns selected.

      But I use for selecting 0 to n columns in entire file a different method. I press Ctrl+Home to move caret to top of the file and Alt+C to enable the column mode. I next move caret with key Right Arrow and Ctrl+Right Arrow to the column on which the column(s) selection should start. Then I press Ctrl+Shift+End and keep holding Shift while pressing key Up Arrow (last line in file has a line termination) and moving the caret to right or left with Right Arrow and Ctrl+Right Arrow or Left Arrow and Ctrl+Left Arrow. That is a quite quick method to select 0 or more columns in all lines of a file if the file has not thousands of columns.

      Please note that there are the column commands:
      • Insert/fill columns to insert/fill a string at the current column according to caret position and all lines below or just all selected lines.
      • Cut columns to cut  one or more columns according to caret position and all lines below or just all selected lines.
      • Delete columns to delete  one or more columns according to caret position and all lines below or just all selected lines.
      There is no command to copy columns. But it is possible to use Cut columns and Ctrl+V to get columns copied to clipboard and keep the columns which should just be copied and not cut.

      It is of course also possible to make a rectangular selection and use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V as in normal text editing mode. It is also often useful to make a rectangular selection over multiple lines with no column selected (no character selected) and then just type the string to insert in the selected lines at the current position of the caret.

      It takes a while to detect all the features UltraEdit has on working with column mode including the different behavior on having additionally overstrike mode enabled whereby the column mode editing behavior with overstrike active can be customized in configuration. I use column mode quite often and I am used to do everything in column mode using only keys for maximum editing efficiency.
      Best regards from an UC/UE/UES for Windows user from Austria

      2
      NewbieNewbie
      2

        Jan 15, 2021#3

        Thanks a lot! 
        I'll try your method. It doesn't seem very difficult.