Q38309: Selecting Large Text Blocks with Microsoft Editor

Article: Q38309
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 1.00   | 1.00
Operating System(s): MS-DOS | OS/2
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 4-MAY-1989

Question:

When I want to select a large block of code for the clipboard, I press
ALT+A, then the DOWN ARROW key until I reach the last line I want to
select. This process is very slow if the block I am selecting is
several pages long (almost a whole file). Is there a way to move
faster to select a block than by using the CURSOR key (such as the
equivalent of ^K-B and ^K-K in Wordstar)?

Response:

CTRL+PGDN (Ppara) serves this purpose, as documented on Pages 91 and
104 of the "Microsoft Editor for MS OS/2 and MS-DOS Operating Systems:
User's Guide." This key sequence will move you to a new paragraph each
time you press the keys. If the movement sequence you want to use
contains an Arg, it is either used by the command or canceled.

A faster method is to define a couple of macros to help out. First, we
need a macro that will mark the beginning spot in the text, as
follows:

   txtmark:=arg arg "first" mark
   txtmark:alt+t

The second macro automates using the mark as an argument, as follows:

  callmark:=arg "first"
  callmark:alt+u

You can put these lines in your TOOLS.INI file.

To use this pair, move to the first spot, press ALT+T, then move up or
down using any movement keys to the second spot. Finally, press ALT+U
and press a key that allows a markarg as an argument. (The Copy and
Ldelete functions are among these.) Note: no highlighting occurs, so
you'll have to be careful.

Note: if you want the argument to be entire lines rather than a box,
the cursor MUST be in the same column when you press ALT+U as it was
when you pressed ALT+T. If you put it in a different column, you will
be selecting a box argument rather than a line argument.

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