Skip to main content
1
1roach
Known Participant
March 11, 2013
Question

How do I select a long block of text

  • March 11, 2013
  • 4 replies
  • 1000 views

I select a block of text by holding the left mouse button down at the start of the block to be selected, drag the mouse to the end of the required block, then let go of the mouse. Then I can do things to the text like apply a condition. However, if the text block is longer than a page, when I get to the bottom of the page, FrameMaker(10, unstructured)  takes off at the speed of light and has usually sped through five or six pages before I have had time to release the mouse button. I have had to resort selecting a long piece of text paragarph by paragraph, then performing the desired operation on the text before moving on. This is time consuming and error prone. I woud like to know if I could do either of these:

  • slow the scrolling down so that I have time to react  to release the mouse button when I reach the end of the required block
  • manually set a marker at the beginning of the block and at the end of the block, so that all text in between gets selected.

Thanks.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    4 replies

    1
    1roachAuthor
    Known Participant
    March 12, 2013

    Thanks Robo, Jeff, Arnis. I am now spoilt for choice to rid myself of this major irritation.

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 11, 2013

    > ... takes off at the speed of light ...

    Almost all applications violate Federation policy on Warp Speed limits when you mouse near the edge of the window. Adobe Illustrator is even worse. It goes to warp 8 well before you reach the edge.

    Apparently these apps (or the Windows API they rely on) provided an optimal pan speed back when the feature was first coded, perhaps in Windows 3.1. No one has revisited the behavior since, much less thought to implement a Preferences control for the rate.

    If you have an older computer, turn off Turbo and revert to 8 MHz clock.

    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 11, 2013

    I usually just click to set the starting point at the beginning & then press Shift before clicking the end point.

    Arnis Gubins
    Arnis Gubins
    Inspiring
    March 11, 2013

    The simplest & easiest technique is as Jeff suggests. Just click at the start of the selection, then hold the shift key down and click at the end of the selection.

    RoboColum_n_
    RoboColum_n_
    Legend
    March 11, 2013

    There is a list of FM10 keyboard shortcuts (including how to select text) at this link:

    http://blogs.adobe.com/tcs/files/2011/02/fm10_mindmap_screenshot.png

    Incidentally it isn't just FM that suffers from this form of whacky races text selection. I find using the Shift + up/down arrow key is a better way to control the selection of large text blocks.

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices