How to select every N line in vscode?

Question

How can I select every N lines in visual studio code. I can't find a proper regualr expression can let me do this.

The question is not clear. Do you want to select it by cursor or what? — Hamza Anis, Jun 01 '17 at 14:04
I want to use multiple cursors on my document for editing(extracting), which the data I need is in every other line or every N line. — Charlez Kwan Tsz Shun, Jun 02 '17 at 07:42

Daniel · Answer 1 · 2022-11-27T17:10:25.657

54

Press Ctrl+F or command+F.
If not already enabled, press Alt+R or option+command+R to toggle RegEx searching (or press the .* button).
Enter (.*\n){N} into the search field, replacing N with the number of lines to select (such as (.*\n){2} for every second line).
Press Alt+Enter or option+return or Select All Occurrences of find Match from the command palette to select every Nth grouped lines.
Press ← to place the cursor at the beginning of every Nth line, or → then ← to place the cursor at the end of every Nth line.

edited Nov 27 '22 at 17:10

answered Nov 22 '20 at 07:46

Daniel

Is there a Mac equivalent for the `ALT+ENTER`? – n8udd Jan 22 '21 at 17:07
Hey @n8udd, on mac it's also `alt+enter`, or `option+return` – Daniel Jan 22 '21 at 22:13
2

instead of `alt+enter` can from command palate select `Select All Occurrences of find Match` – Mohammad Hossein Amri Aug 30 '21 at 03:47
Thanks @MohammadHosseinAmri! I'll add that to the answer – Daniel Aug 30 '21 at 18:24

Mark · Answer 2 · 2019-12-29T12:01:36.880

17

That RegExp will find [ed. but not select] 9 lines of code at a time - empty lines do count as a line.

What are you going to replace them with?

If you want to replace every nth line, like every 9th line with some new text, try this regex:

((.*\n){8})(.*\n)

and replace with $1[new line 9 stuff here]

edited Dec 29 '19 at 12:01

answered Jun 02 '17 at 02:09

Mark

Thanks Mark, but for this one I can only replace it with something. If I want to copy the content by multiple cursor does it work as well? – Charlez Kwan Tsz Shun Jun 02 '17 at 07:44
Oddly, I cannot find an option to select the current "find" occurrence, only all finds via Alt+Enter Select All Occurrences of Find Match editor.action.selectAllMatches Does anyone know of a "selectCurrentMatch" command? – Mark Jun 02 '17 at 19:55
If you use a regex, you can wrap a selection you want to reference later in round brackets. ([a-z]+)\w+. Then use it in the 'replace' with $1. So '$1 my new string'. – Alex B Jul 14 '18 at 11:25
You can combine this regex with [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/36008779/1945782), to select the number of required lines. Perfect! – Paul Mar 18 '20 at 11:09

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 02 '17 at 10:55

10

Select Multi lines in VsCode

Visual code natively supports this functionality.

But you have to select the lines manually.

answered Jun 02 '17 at 10:55

Hamza Anis

Thanks Hamza, do you know can i do it via keyboard? Because I have few thousands lines of code, anyway to do it faster? – Charlez Kwan Tsz Shun Jun 02 '17 at 16:53
@Charlez The selection will be after every N lines or N can vary? – Hamza Anis Jun 02 '17 at 17:10
Correct. The selections are having the pattern. Every N line, which N can be varied. – Charlez Kwan Tsz Shun Jun 03 '17 at 03:56

3 Answers3