Highlighting selected text

[paieye]

I use tables more than any other feature in NWP. I regularly select cells for deletion by dragging the pointer to designate the range,then using Tables-Select-Cells-Delete-Cells. However, my eyesight is not good, and it would make all of this easier if I could highlight the selected range so as to let me see that I had made the selection intended. It is probably my fault, but I cannot work out how to do this. Could some kind person give me a list of the steps required ?

[adryan]

G'day, paieye et al

Once you've dragged the cursor across the range of cells you wish to select, all you need to do is Format > Highlight > (color of your choice). It's even easier if you have the Highlight toolbar item in your Toolbar. Or you could create a Keyboard Shortcut to do the highlighting.

Note that this will highlight the text. If you wish to color an entire cell, you can use Table > Shading Color > (color of your choice), or use the Table Cell Shading Palette. This will color the cell but leave the text color unchanged.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Adrian

[paieye]

Thank you, that is certainly a big improvement. Is it possible, though, to adjust the settings so that drag-to-select text drags the highlighting with it ?

[Þorvarður]

Is it possible, though, to adjust the settings so that drag-to-select text drags the highlighting with it ?

Perhaps this macro can help. It waits until you make your selection and then highlights it.
If you do this frequently you should assign a keyboard shortcut to the macro or create a custom Toolbar item (= button). See Nisus Writer User Guide, page 612.

Drag and highlight selection.nwm.zip

(2.21 KiB) Downloaded 317 times

[adryan]

G'day, Þorvarður et al

That Macro is fantastic! It inverts the traditional select-then-operate way of doing things. Changing the last line offers lots of possibilities. Replace it with "Italic" (without quotes), for example.

It occurs to me that perhaps the reason paieye wants to highlight cell contents is that there is insufficient contrast for them to be read when the cells are merely selected. What you can do, though, is drag to select the cells you want, then use Edit > Select > Invert Selection. This will leave the content of the cells you plan on deleting just as readable as they always have been, and allow you to check them. If all is as it should be, repeat Invert Selection and then delete the selected cells.

There's generally more than one way to accomplish any given task on a computer!

Cheers,
Adrian

[adryan]

G'day, Þorvarður et al

Actually, it would be better if that Macro could somehow be altered to make the highlighting (or whatever) applicable on the fly, so that the effect became progressively visible as the selection proceeded. Is this possible?

Cheers,
Adrian

[paieye]

Many thanks

[Þorvarður]

Hello Adrian and Paieye,

it would be better if that Macro could somehow be altered to make the highlighting (or whatever) applicable on the fly, so that the effect became progressively visible as the selection proceeded. Is this possible?

Don't know if that’s possible, but after reading Paieye's first post again I believe there is a much more simple and better way to achieve what he wants.

Forget the macro and try instead to change the Table selection color. To do that, go to Preferences > Appearance > Colors > Selection > Table selection > Table selection color. The default color is light green. Change it to Red, for example.

When you now drag the pointer over the cells, they will immediately clearly stand out and the problem, as far as I can see, should be resolved. Please let us know, Paieye, if this is not what you had in mind.

I have always used the default color myself, but now, after having changed it to red, I like that much better, and I'm going to adopt this new setting. :–)

[Þorvarður]

I regularly select cells for deletion by dragging the pointer to designate the range, then using Tables-Select-Cells-Delete-Cells.

Being a pedant when it comes to word processing, I wonder how you can be using Tables-Select-Cells-Delete-Cells, because these menu commands do not exist in NWP v.3.2.1. The menu commands I see on my Mac are:

1) Table > Select > Cells
and
2) Table > Delete > Cells

Instead of using Table > Delete > Cells, it's much easier and faster to just hit the Delete key (the Backspace). That will immediately delete all selected cells.