Selection (user interface): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|A list of items on which user operations will take place.}}

In [[computing]] and [[user interface design|user interface engineering]], a '''selection''' is a list of items on which [[Command (computing)|user operations]] will take place. The user typically adds items to the list manually, although the [[computer]] may create a selection automatically.

Selections are enacted through combinations of key presses on a [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]], with a precision [[pointing device]] ([[Mouse (computing)|mouse]] or [[touchpad]] and [[Cursor (computers)|cursor]], [[Stylus (computing)|stylus]]), or by hand on a [[touchscreen]] device. The simultaneous selection of a group of items (either a subset of elements in a list, or discontinuous regions in a text) is called a ''multiple selection''.

[[Context menu]]s will usually include actions related to the objects included in the current selection -– the selection provides the "context" for the menu.

== Types ==

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=== Range selection ===

A variationselection method to facilitate the selection of alarge rangeamounts of text or items in a long list onsuch touchas screenfiles devicesand folders in [[file manager]]s is ''range selection'', sparing the user from clicking or tapping each item individually.

ItOn desktop file managers such as the [[Windows Explorer]] and [[Nemo (file manager)|Nemo file manager]], it can be used by clicking on the first item to be selected, then holding the <kbd>⇧</kbd> [[shift key]] while clicking on the last item to be selected. In mobile file managers, it is implemented since early versions of [[ES File Explorer#Popularization and functionality|ES File Explorer]], where only two listed items (file or directory) need to be highlighted and a button pressed to select all inbetweenitems in-between.

Ideally, the two list items are navigated to with a draggable [[scroll bar]]., since it can move through long lists faster.

=== Selection with dragging ===

The user taps or clicks on the first item, drags upward or downward, and waits for the list to scroll to the last desired item, at which the user releases the pointer or finger. The same applies to text.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nield |first1=David |title=The best ways to select text on your phone and computer |url=https://www.popsci.com/diy/how-to-select-all-text/ |website=Popular Science |access-date=30 September 2024 |date=14 October 2022}}</ref>

== Simultaneous editing ==

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=== Column selection ===

[[File:Ace_Code_Editor_-_Media_Wiki_Extension_CodeEditor_-_Vertical_Selection_1.png|thumb|Column selection in a [[source-code editor]]]]

A '''column selection''' is a [[text selection]] feature found in [[text editor]]s which allows the user to select characters in a grid-like fashion, selecting characters in several lines at the same columns. This is usually initiated by pressing the alt key (instead of the shift key, which creates a continuous selection) to select text when [[drag-and-drop|dragging]]. Some applications also enable text to be typed in multiple lines at once using this method as a limited form of [[simultaneous editing]].<ref name="npp">[http://notepad-plus-plus.org/features/column-mode-editing.html Notepad++ Column Mode Editing]</ref>

The feature is known by different names in different applications:

* '''block selection''' -– [[LibreOffice Writer]],<ref>[http://help.libreoffice.org/Writer/Selection_Mode Writer/Selection Mode -– LibreOffice Help]</ref> [[Kate (text editor)|Kate]]<ref>[http://docs.kde.org/stable/en/applications/kate/kate-part-selection.html The Kate Handbook] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512220601/http://docs.kde.org/stable/en/applications/kate/kate-part-selection.html |date=2014-05-12 }}</ref>

* '''column selection''' -– EditPlus,<ref>[http://editplus.info/wiki/FAQ FAQ -– EditPlus Wiki]</ref> [[Vim (text editor)|vi]], [[Emacs]]

* '''non-linear text selection''' -– [[TextEdit]]<ref>[http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20050509093516708 10.4: Use non-linear text selection in TextEdit]</ref>

* '''rectangular selection''' -– [[jEdit]]<ref>[http://www.jedit.org/users-guide/selection.html Selecting Text -– jEdit]</ref>

* '''column block selection''' -– [[Microsoft Visual Studio]]<ref>[https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa265698%28v=vs.60%29.aspx Selecting Text -– MSDN]</ref>

* '''column mode editing''' -– [[Notepad++]]<ref name="npp" />

=== Free-form simultaneous editing ===

The [[Lapis (text editor)|Lapis text editor]],<ref>[https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rcm/papers/chi02/chi02.html LAPIS: Smart Editing with Text Structure]</ref><ref>[http://www.usenix.org/event/usenix99/full_papers/miller/miller_html/usenix99.html Lightweight Structured Text Processing]</ref> Mozilla's [[Firefox developer tools]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hacks.mozilla.org/2014/05/editable-box-model-multiple-selection-sublime-text-keys-much-more-firefox-developer-tools-episode-31/ | title=Editable box model, multiple selection, Sublime Text keys + much more – Firefox Developer Tools Episode 31 | publisher=Mozilla | date=May 7, 2014 | access-date=7 May 2014 | author=Heather Arthur and Robert Nyman}}</ref> and the ''multi edit''<ref>[http://blogs.gnome.org/jessevdk/2009/11/15/new-gedit-plugin-multi-edit/ New gedit plugin: multi edit], and a [https://people.gnome.org/~jessevdk/multiedit.ogv demo video].</ref> plugin for [[gedit]] are examples of the simultaneous editing technique that work on discontinuous regions through direct manipulation. The Lapis editor can also create an automatic multiple selection based on an example item.

== See also ==

* [[Focus (computing)]]

== Notes ==