Rectangular Edit -- A Visual Tutorial

This is a short and visual tutorial that explains how to use the rectangular edit feature of lunar eclipse's "Editor Enhancements" plugin.

Imagine you have the following code:

Figure 1

Example 1

Now the instance variables x, y and z should be made private. Instead of prepending the private modifier to every line by hand, you place the selection as shown in figure 2 and hit A-r. Enter the string "private " (don't forget the trailing space!) into the texfield of the popup window and confirm the replacement.

Figure 2

The result can be seen in figure 3.

Figure 3

Example 2

In a next step you want the change the variable's type from int to double. Select the text as shown in figure 4, enter "double" into the textfield and confirm the replacement.

Figure 4

Now the code should look like in figure 5.

Figure 5

Example 3

In the last example I'll show you how the make the variables x and y static. Again, place the selection like in figure 6, enter "static " (don't forget the trailing space!) into the textfield and confirm the replacement.

The result is shown in figure 7.