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Shift+Arrow selection in the FrontEnd

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg64816] Shift+Arrow selection in the FrontEnd
• From: Chris Rodgers <rodgers at physchem.NOSPAMox.aREMOVEc.uk>
• Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2006 02:35:31 -0500 (EST)
• Organization: Oxford University, England
• Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

Hi,

If I wish to select some text in the Mathematica FrontEnd using the 
keyboard, I can press SHIFT and then use the arrow keys. However, the 
behaviour here is rather different to that with other programs. Pressing 
SHIFT+LEFT extends the selection at the left end, and pressing 
SHIFT+RIGHT extends it at the other end.

Most (every?) other program that I use works with a "mark" and "cursor" 
model. This means that one end of the selection is held fixed while 
SHIFT+LEFT and SHIFT+RIGHT move the other end. The advantage is that one 
can decrease the selected region using the keyboard. Thus, I could place 
the mark at the beginning of an argument list, press CTRL+END to jump to 
the end of a line and then press CTRL+LEFT a few times to eliminate a 
few brackets and semicolons before copying the text.

Is there a way to decrease the selected region in a Mathematica Notebook 
using the keyboard? Even better, is there a way to make Mathematica 
follow the "mark" and "cursor" model used by most software?

Many thanks,

Chris Rodgers.