Improve the discoverability of column selection

src/vs/editor/browser/controller/coreCommands.ts

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import { MenuId } from 'vs/platform/actions/common/actions';
 import { ICommandHandlerDescription } from 'vs/platform/commands/common/commands';
 import { ContextKeyExpr } from 'vs/platform/contextkey/common/contextkey';
 import { ServicesAccessor } from 'vs/platform/instantiation/common/instantiation';
-import { KeybindingWeight } from 'vs/platform/keybinding/common/keybindingsRegistry';
+import { KeybindingWeight, KeybindingsRegistry } from 'vs/platform/keybinding/common/keybindingsRegistry';
 import { EditorOption } from 'vs/editor/common/config/editorOptions';
 
 const CORE_WEIGHT = KeybindingWeight.EditorCore;
@@ -1530,6 +1530,26 @@ export namespace CoreNavigationCommands {
 	});
 }
 
+const columnSelectionCondition = ContextKeyExpr.and(
+	EditorContextKeys.textInputFocus,
+	EditorContextKeys.columnSelection
+);
+function registerColumnSelection(id: string, keybinding: number): void {
+	KeybindingsRegistry.registerKeybindingRule({
+		id: id,
+		primary: keybinding,
+		when: columnSelectionCondition,
+		weight: CORE_WEIGHT + 1
+	});
+}
+
+registerColumnSelection(CoreNavigationCommands.CursorColumnSelectLeft.id, KeyMod.Shift | KeyCode.LeftArrow);
+registerColumnSelection(CoreNavigationCommands.CursorColumnSelectRight.id, KeyMod.Shift | KeyCode.RightArrow);
+registerColumnSelection(CoreNavigationCommands.CursorColumnSelectUp.id, KeyMod.Shift | KeyCode.UpArrow);
+registerColumnSelection(CoreNavigationCommands.CursorColumnSelectPageUp.id, KeyMod.Shift | KeyCode.PageUp);
+registerColumnSelection(CoreNavigationCommands.CursorColumnSelectDown.id, KeyMod.Shift | KeyCode.DownArrow);
+registerColumnSelection(CoreNavigationCommands.CursorColumnSelectPageDown.id, KeyMod.Shift | KeyCode.PageDown);
+
 /**
  * A command that will:
  *  1. invoke a command on the focused editor.

src/vs/editor/browser/controller/mouseHandler.ts

@@ -352,6 +352,7 @@ class MouseDownOperation extends Disposable {
 
 		if (!options.get(EditorOption.readOnly)
 			&& options.get(EditorOption.dragAndDrop)
+			&& !options.get(EditorOption.columnSelection)
 			&& !this._mouseState.altKey // we don't support multiple mouse
 			&& e.detail < 2 // only single click on a selection can work
 			&& !this._isActive // the mouse is not down yet

src/vs/editor/browser/view/viewController.ts

@@ -133,7 +133,9 @@ export class ViewController {
 	}
 
 	public dispatchMouse(data: IMouseDispatchData): void {
-		const selectionClipboardIsOn = (platform.isLinux && this.configuration.options.get(EditorOption.selectionClipboard));
+		const options = this.configuration.options;
+		const selectionClipboardIsOn = (platform.isLinux && options.get(EditorOption.selectionClipboard));
+		const columnSelection = options.get(EditorOption.columnSelection);
 		if (data.middleButton && !selectionClipboardIsOn) {
 			this._columnSelect(data.position, data.mouseColumn, data.inSelectionMode);
 		} else if (data.startedOnLineNumbers) {
@@ -196,7 +198,11 @@ export class ViewController {
 					if (data.altKey) {
 						this._columnSelect(data.position, data.mouseColumn, true);
 					} else {
-						this._moveToSelect(data.position);
+						if (columnSelection) {
+							this._columnSelect(data.position, data.mouseColumn, true);
+						} else {
+							this._moveToSelect(data.position);
+						}
 					}
 				} else {
 					this.moveTo(data.position);

src/vs/editor/browser/widget/codeEditorWidget.ts

@@ -1666,6 +1666,7 @@ class EditorContextKeysManager extends Disposable {
 	private readonly _editorTextFocus: IContextKey<boolean>;
 	private readonly _editorTabMovesFocus: IContextKey<boolean>;
 	private readonly _editorReadonly: IContextKey<boolean>;
+	private readonly _editorColumnSelection: IContextKey<boolean>;
 	private readonly _hasMultipleSelections: IContextKey<boolean>;
 	private readonly _hasNonEmptySelection: IContextKey<boolean>;
 	private readonly _canUndo: IContextKey<boolean>;
@@ -1687,6 +1688,7 @@ class EditorContextKeysManager extends Disposable {
 		this._editorTextFocus = EditorContextKeys.editorTextFocus.bindTo(contextKeyService);
 		this._editorTabMovesFocus = EditorContextKeys.tabMovesFocus.bindTo(contextKeyService);
 		this._editorReadonly = EditorContextKeys.readOnly.bindTo(contextKeyService);
+		this._editorColumnSelection = EditorContextKeys.columnSelection.bindTo(contextKeyService);
 		this._hasMultipleSelections = EditorContextKeys.hasMultipleSelections.bindTo(contextKeyService);
 		this._hasNonEmptySelection = EditorContextKeys.hasNonEmptySelection.bindTo(contextKeyService);
 		this._canUndo = EditorContextKeys.canUndo.bindTo(contextKeyService);
@@ -1714,6 +1716,7 @@ class EditorContextKeysManager extends Disposable {
 
 		this._editorTabMovesFocus.set(options.get(EditorOption.tabFocusMode));
 		this._editorReadonly.set(options.get(EditorOption.readOnly));
+		this._editorColumnSelection.set(options.get(EditorOption.columnSelection));
 	}
 
 	private _updateFromSelection(): void {

src/vs/editor/common/config/editorOptions.ts

@@ -324,6 +324,11 @@ export interface IEditorOptions {
 	 * Defaults to true.
 	 */
 	scrollPredominantAxis?: boolean;
+	/**
+	 * Enable that the selection with the mouse and keys is doing column selection.
+	 * Defaults to false.
+	 */
+	columnSelection?: boolean;
 	/**
 	 * The modifier to be used to add multiple cursors with the mouse.
 	 * Defaults to 'alt'
@@ -3294,6 +3299,7 @@ export const enum EditorOption {
 	autoSurround,
 	codeLens,
 	colorDecorators,
+	columnSelection,
 	comments,
 	contextmenu,
 	copyWithSyntaxHighlighting,
@@ -3518,6 +3524,10 @@ export const EditorOptions = {
 		EditorOption.colorDecorators, 'colorDecorators', true,
 		{ description: nls.localize('colorDecorators', "Controls whether the editor should render the inline color decorators and color picker.") }
 	)),
+	columnSelection: register(new EditorBooleanOption(
+		EditorOption.columnSelection, 'columnSelection', false,
+		{ description: nls.localize('columnSelection', "Enable that the selection with the mouse and keys is doing column selection.") }
+	)),
 	comments: register(new EditorComments()),
 	contextmenu: register(new EditorBooleanOption(
 		EditorOption.contextmenu, 'contextmenu', true,

src/vs/editor/common/editorContextKeys.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export namespace EditorContextKeys {
 	export const textInputFocus = new RawContextKey<boolean>('textInputFocus', false);
 
 	export const readOnly = new RawContextKey<boolean>('editorReadonly', false);
+	export const columnSelection = new RawContextKey<boolean>('editorColumnSelection', false);
 	export const writable: ContextKeyExpr = readOnly.toNegated();
 	export const hasNonEmptySelection = new RawContextKey<boolean>('editorHasSelection', false);
 	export const hasOnlyEmptySelection: ContextKeyExpr = hasNonEmptySelection.toNegated();

src/vs/editor/common/standalone/standaloneEnums.ts

@@ -178,105 +178,106 @@ export enum EditorOption {
 	autoSurround = 10,
 	codeLens = 11,
 	colorDecorators = 12,
-	comments = 13,
-	contextmenu = 14,
-	copyWithSyntaxHighlighting = 15,
-	cursorBlinking = 16,
-	cursorSmoothCaretAnimation = 17,
-	cursorStyle = 18,
-	cursorSurroundingLines = 19,
-	cursorSurroundingLinesStyle = 20,
-	cursorWidth = 21,
-	disableLayerHinting = 22,
-	disableMonospaceOptimizations = 23,
-	dragAndDrop = 24,
-	emptySelectionClipboard = 25,
-	extraEditorClassName = 26,
-	fastScrollSensitivity = 27,
-	find = 28,
-	fixedOverflowWidgets = 29,
-	folding = 30,
-	foldingStrategy = 31,
-	foldingHighlight = 32,
-	fontFamily = 33,
-	fontInfo = 34,
-	fontLigatures = 35,
-	fontSize = 36,
-	fontWeight = 37,
-	formatOnPaste = 38,
-	formatOnType = 39,
-	glyphMargin = 40,
-	gotoLocation = 41,
-	hideCursorInOverviewRuler = 42,
-	highlightActiveIndentGuide = 43,
-	hover = 44,
-	inDiffEditor = 45,
-	letterSpacing = 46,
-	lightbulb = 47,
-	lineDecorationsWidth = 48,
-	lineHeight = 49,
-	lineNumbers = 50,
-	lineNumbersMinChars = 51,
-	links = 52,
-	matchBrackets = 53,
-	minimap = 54,
-	mouseStyle = 55,
-	mouseWheelScrollSensitivity = 56,
-	mouseWheelZoom = 57,
-	multiCursorMergeOverlapping = 58,
-	multiCursorModifier = 59,
-	multiCursorPaste = 60,
-	occurrencesHighlight = 61,
-	overviewRulerBorder = 62,
-	overviewRulerLanes = 63,
-	padding = 64,
-	parameterHints = 65,
-	peekWidgetDefaultFocus = 66,
-	definitionLinkOpensInPeek = 67,
-	quickSuggestions = 68,
-	quickSuggestionsDelay = 69,
-	readOnly = 70,
-	renderControlCharacters = 71,
-	renderIndentGuides = 72,
-	renderFinalNewline = 73,
-	renderLineHighlight = 74,
-	renderValidationDecorations = 75,
-	renderWhitespace = 76,
-	revealHorizontalRightPadding = 77,
-	roundedSelection = 78,
-	rulers = 79,
-	scrollbar = 80,
-	scrollBeyondLastColumn = 81,
-	scrollBeyondLastLine = 82,
-	scrollPredominantAxis = 83,
-	selectionClipboard = 84,
-	selectionHighlight = 85,
-	selectOnLineNumbers = 86,
-	showFoldingControls = 87,
-	showUnused = 88,
-	snippetSuggestions = 89,
-	smoothScrolling = 90,
-	stopRenderingLineAfter = 91,
-	suggest = 92,
-	suggestFontSize = 93,
-	suggestLineHeight = 94,
-	suggestOnTriggerCharacters = 95,
-	suggestSelection = 96,
-	tabCompletion = 97,
-	useTabStops = 98,
-	wordSeparators = 99,
-	wordWrap = 100,
-	wordWrapBreakAfterCharacters = 101,
-	wordWrapBreakBeforeCharacters = 102,
-	wordWrapColumn = 103,
-	wordWrapMinified = 104,
-	wrappingIndent = 105,
-	wrappingStrategy = 106,
-	editorClassName = 107,
-	pixelRatio = 108,
-	tabFocusMode = 109,
-	layoutInfo = 110,
-	wrappingInfo = 111
+	columnSelection = 13,
+	comments = 14,
+	contextmenu = 15,
+	copyWithSyntaxHighlighting = 16,
+	cursorBlinking = 17,
+	cursorSmoothCaretAnimation = 18,
+	cursorStyle = 19,
+	cursorSurroundingLines = 20,
+	cursorSurroundingLinesStyle = 21,
+	cursorWidth = 22,
+	disableLayerHinting = 23,
+	disableMonospaceOptimizations = 24,
+	dragAndDrop = 25,
+	emptySelectionClipboard = 26,
+	extraEditorClassName = 27,
+	fastScrollSensitivity = 28,
+	find = 29,
+	fixedOverflowWidgets = 30,
+	folding = 31,
+	foldingStrategy = 32,
+	foldingHighlight = 33,
+	fontFamily = 34,
+	fontInfo = 35,
+	fontLigatures = 36,
+	fontSize = 37,
+	fontWeight = 38,
+	formatOnPaste = 39,
+	formatOnType = 40,
+	glyphMargin = 41,
+	gotoLocation = 42,
+	hideCursorInOverviewRuler = 43,
+	highlightActiveIndentGuide = 44,
+	hover = 45,
+	inDiffEditor = 46,
+	letterSpacing = 47,
+	lightbulb = 48,
+	lineDecorationsWidth = 49,
+	lineHeight = 50,
+	lineNumbers = 51,
+	lineNumbersMinChars = 52,
+	links = 53,
+	matchBrackets = 54,
+	minimap = 55,
+	mouseStyle = 56,
+	mouseWheelScrollSensitivity = 57,
+	mouseWheelZoom = 58,
+	multiCursorMergeOverlapping = 59,
+	multiCursorModifier = 60,
+	multiCursorPaste = 61,
+	occurrencesHighlight = 62,
+	overviewRulerBorder = 63,
+	overviewRulerLanes = 64,
+	padding = 65,
+	parameterHints = 66,
+	peekWidgetDefaultFocus = 67,
+	definitionLinkOpensInPeek = 68,
+	quickSuggestions = 69,
+	quickSuggestionsDelay = 70,
+	readOnly = 71,
+	renderControlCharacters = 72,
+	renderIndentGuides = 73,
+	renderFinalNewline = 74,
+	renderLineHighlight = 75,
+	renderValidationDecorations = 76,
+	renderWhitespace = 77,
+	revealHorizontalRightPadding = 78,
+	roundedSelection = 79,
+	rulers = 80,
+	scrollbar = 81,
+	scrollBeyondLastColumn = 82,
+	scrollBeyondLastLine = 83,
+	scrollPredominantAxis = 84,
+	selectionClipboard = 85,
+	selectionHighlight = 86,
+	selectOnLineNumbers = 87,
+	showFoldingControls = 88,
+	showUnused = 89,
+	snippetSuggestions = 90,
+	smoothScrolling = 91,
+	stopRenderingLineAfter = 92,
+	suggest = 93,
+	suggestFontSize = 94,
+	suggestLineHeight = 95,
+	suggestOnTriggerCharacters = 96,
+	suggestSelection = 97,
+	tabCompletion = 98,
+	useTabStops = 99,
+	wordSeparators = 100,
+	wordWrap = 101,
+	wordWrapBreakAfterCharacters = 102,
+	wordWrapBreakBeforeCharacters = 103,
+	wordWrapColumn = 104,
+	wordWrapMinified = 105,
+	wrappingIndent = 106,
+	wrappingStrategy = 107,
+	editorClassName = 108,
+	pixelRatio = 109,
+	tabFocusMode = 110,
+	layoutInfo = 111,
+	wrappingInfo = 112
 }
 
 /**

src/vs/editor/contrib/dnd/dnd.ts

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export class DragAndDropController extends Disposable implements IEditorContribu
 	}
 
 	private onEditorKeyDown(e: IKeyboardEvent): void {
-		if (!this._editor.getOption(EditorOption.dragAndDrop)) {
+		if (!this._editor.getOption(EditorOption.dragAndDrop) || this._editor.getOption(EditorOption.columnSelection)) {
 			return;
 		}
 
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export class DragAndDropController extends Disposable implements IEditorContribu
 	}
 
 	private onEditorKeyUp(e: IKeyboardEvent): void {
-		if (!this._editor.getOption(EditorOption.dragAndDrop)) {
+		if (!this._editor.getOption(EditorOption.dragAndDrop) || this._editor.getOption(EditorOption.columnSelection)) {
 			return;
 		}