Text editor feature Q:

[Krupski]

Hi all,

Is there a plain text editor in Ubuntu (like gedit or kate type) which allows cut and paste of COLUMNS?

For example, I wish to be able to do this:



name-01.bin
name-02.bin
name-03.bin

name_01.exe
name_02.exe <-- select these, then cut...
name_03.exe






name-01.bin name_01.exe
name-02.bin name_02.exe <-- and paste them here
name-03.bin name_03.exe



Thanks!

-- Roger

[Natr0n]

Emacs (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) can do it (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Rectangles.html#Rectangles).

[Krupski]

Emacs (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) can do it (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Rectangles.html#Rectangles).

Thank you for the reply. I went to the link you posted (I already had emacs installed).

Maybe I'm a dummy... but I just don't seem to get what the "Control-X, R..." commands do or how to use them.

In other editors (in Windows, for example), I can do something like hold down shift or control and highlight a "box" of text, then cut and paste it anywhere I wish.

That's sort of what I was hoping to find... as well as an editor similar to NANO (i.e. a simple, console based text editor).

Concerning emacs, do you know if it's possible to bind (or re-bind) commands to different keys and/or mouse buttons?

If so, I might be able to replicate the "hold shift and select a rectangle" type of action.

Oh well.. thanks again for the info, and if you can tell me any more (or help me figure out the emacs rectangle commands), I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!!!

-- Roger

[geirha]

vim (apt://vim) can too of course. Enter visual mode with Ctrl+v, move the cursor to the opposite corner of the rectangle, then y to yank or d to delete. Move to the upperleft corner of where you want to paste it and hit p.

[kaligus]

+1 for wanting simple plain editor such as Emerald/Crimson from my long gone windows days .

I have found replacement for all of crimsons features and found new things I cant live without in Geany.

But I have not found an editor I can use in my sleep/drunken-stupor/etc. that will do rectangular blocks as well or sweetly as that pleasantly wine-enabled (if you accept a few kinks) editor

[jpkotta]

Emacs (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) can do it (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Rectangles.html#Rectangles).

Sure, you can use the built-in rectangles, but they're so clunky. Use CUA rectangles instead. You can use them even if you don't want the rest of CUA mode.

http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/CuaMode

[knattlhuber]

Geany can do that when you hold down the Ctrl-key and then drag the mouse over the columns.

[cyberslayer]

Thank you for the reply. I went to the link you posted (I already had emacs installed).

Maybe I'm a dummy... but I just don't seem to get what the "Control-X, R..." commands do or how to use them.

In other editors (in Windows, for example), I can do something like hold down shift or control and highlight a "box" of text, then cut and paste it anywhere I wish.

That's sort of what I was hoping to find... as well as an editor similar to NANO (i.e. a simple, console based text editor).

Concerning emacs, do you know if it's possible to bind (or re-bind) commands to different keys and/or mouse buttons?

If so, I might be able to replicate the "hold shift and select a rectangle" type of action.

Oh well.. thanks again for the info, and if you can tell me any more (or help me figure out the emacs rectangle commands), I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!!!

-- Roger

You can rebind keys in emacs using global-set-key and local-set-key in your .emacs (among other methods). However, what you need to do in this case is to select the desired column by pressing C-SPC at the first entry of the column. Then go the last entry of the column and press C-x r k to kill the rectangle. You can then yank it using C-x r y.