GEdit multi-line edit on Ubuntu 18.04

18.04 gedit plugins

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Multi-line editing does work in gedit in Ubuntu 18.04.

This answer is based on an answer I posted earlier about column mode editing in gedit and is with Ubuntu 18.04.

sudo apt install gedit-plugin-multi-edit installs the necessary plugin.
Open gedit > Preferences > Plugins and enable Multi Edit.
Then, when the need arises to use Multi Edit, activate it from Tools. The mode will be reflected near the top right corner of the window.

If you use the Adwaita GTK3 theme and hover the mouse pointer over the words Multi Edit Mode, you'll get an explanatory pop-up. (I couldn't get this popup to appear with Ambiance or Radiance GTK3 themes.)

In the following image, I want to convert three instances of "true" to "false". I click at the end of the first instance of "true" as shown in the image and press Control+E. A brief message "Added edit point …" appears in the same row as Multi Edit Mode.

I click similarly for the other two instances of "true" pressing Control+E each time.

Once I'm done, simply press Backspace to remove the last instance of "true". The other two instances will be simultaneously removed.
I then type "false" and it appears in all the three spots.

Turn off Multi Edit Mode from Tools once you're done.

In 19.04, the informative popup appears with Yaru as well. Ambiance still doesn't show it.

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Luís de Sousa

Member of the PyWPS Project Steering Committee; Charter Member of the OSGeo Foundation. Unix/Linux user since 1996. Experiencing Ubuntu since 2007, using it as main OS at home and office since 2009. Check my projects at Codeberg. More about what I do is in my personal web site. Follow me at Mastodon.

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Luís de Sousa over 1 year
The multi-line edit mode in GEdit is not working on Ubuntu 18.04. It can be activated with the combination Ctrl+Shift+C, but presently it has no consequence. The basic sanity check shows the plug-in to be installed:
```
$ apt search gedit-plugin-multi-edit
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
gedit-plugin-multi-edit/bionic,now 3.28.1-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
  Multi Edit plugin for gedit
```
What could be wrong here? Is there any other way to activate this plug-in?
- DK Bose about 5 years
  
  @N0rbert this question deals with another aspect of the plugin and so may not be a dupe.
- N0rbert about 5 years
  
  @DKBose I see you great answer here, so it is not a dupe, upvoted :)