Advanced Line Range Selection

Advanced Line Range Selection is a focused Visual Studio Code extension for selecting exact text ranges using human-readable line coordinates.

It supports:

• 1-based absolute line numbers;
• current-line-relative references using @, @+n, and @-n;
• optional character or column coordinates;
• proportional positions within a line;
• negative indexing from the end of the document or line;
• Unicode grapheme-cluster-aware character and column semantics;
• inclusive explicit character endpoints;
• forward and backward selections;
• multiple comma-separated ranges in one command;
• automatic clipping of out-of-bounds integer coordinates;
• configurable proportional-position snapping;
• tab-aware logical width for proportional positions;
• interactive input with live validation;
• persistent per-file interactive input history;
• direct programmatic invocation without opening the input box;
• Command Palette, editor context-menu, and keyboard access.

Installation

Install Advanced Line Range Selection from the Visual Studio Code Extensions view, or use:

code --install-extension orfadida.advanced-line-range-selection

To uninstall it:

code --uninstall-extension orfadida.advanced-line-range-selection

Command

Command	ID
Select Line Range	advanced-line-range-selection.selectLineRange

The normal UI entry points are available when a text editor has focus.

Usage

Run Advanced Line Range Selection: Select Line Range and enter one or more ranges separated by commas.

Each range contains either one line specifier or a start/end pair:

<start-specifier> [<end-specifier>]

A line specifier has one of these forms:

<line-reference>
<line-reference>:<coordinate>
<line-reference>.<proportion-digits>

A <line-reference> is either:

• an absolute non-zero signed line number, such as 13, +13, or -1;
• @ for the current primary-caret line;
• @+n or @-n for a non-zero offset from that line.

For : syntax, <coordinate> is interpreted as either a character or a column according to the configured coordinate mode.

The : and . forms intentionally use different coordinate systems:

• : introduces an integer character or column number, according to coordinateMode;
• . introduces a proportional position within the resolved line and is independent of coordinateMode.

Multiple ranges use:

<range> [, <range>]...

Each non-empty range creates one VS Code selection. Range order is preserved, so the first resulting selection is the primary selection.

Basic examples

The following examples assume the default character coordinate mode.

Input	Meaning
13	Select from the beginning of line 13 to the end of the document.
13:5	Select from character 5 of line 13 through the end of the document.
13 20	Select from the beginning of line 13 through the end of line 20.
13:2 20:8	Select from character 2 of line 13 through character 8 of line 20, inclusive.
20 13	Select the same full-line range as 13 20, but backward.
20:8 13:2	Select the same explicit character range as 13:2 20:8, but backward.
2:3 2:3	Select exactly character 3 on line 2.
13.25	Select from 25% of the logical width of line 13 through the end of the document.
13.25 20.75	Select between proportional positions on lines 13 and 20.
13:5 20.75	Mix an integer character coordinate with a proportional position.
13.	Start at the explicit end boundary of line 13 and select through the end of the document.
13.0	Start at the explicit beginning boundary of line 13 and select through the end of the document.
@	Select from the beginning of the current primary-caret line to the end of the document.
@-2 @+2	Select from two lines above the current line through two lines below it.
@:5	Start at character 5 of the current line.
@-2.25 @+2.75	Select between proportional positions on lines relative to the current line.
13:2 20, @-2.25 @+2.75, 30	Create three selections in one command.

When the end specifier of a range is omitted entirely, that range extends to the end of the document.

Input Syntax

Line references

Every line specifier begins with a line reference.

A line reference can be either an absolute line number or a current-line-relative reference.

Absolute line numbers

An absolute line number is a non-zero signed integer:

1
25
+25
-1
-20

Leading zeros are allowed:

001
+005
-010

Zero is invalid:

0
+0
-0

Negative absolute line numbers count backward from the end of the document:

-1 = last line
-2 = second-to-last line
...

After negative indexing is resolved, out-of-bounds absolute line numbers are clipped to the document.

Current-line-relative references

@ refers to the line containing the active endpoint of the primary selection when the command starts.

@       = current line
@+5     = five lines after the current line
@-3     = three lines before the current line

The offset form requires an explicit sign and a non-zero integer magnitude. Leading zeros are allowed:

@+005
@-003

Use bare @ for zero offset. These signed zero-offset forms are invalid:

@+0
@-0

All @ references in one command use the same captured current line, even when the input contains multiple ranges.

A relative reference is calculated from that captured line and then clipped directly to the document bounds. It is not reinterpreted as negative indexing from the end of the document.

A current-line reference can use either secondary-position syntax directly:

@:5
@.25
@+5:3
@-2.75

Multiple ranges

One command can contain multiple comma-separated ranges:

13:2 20, @-2.25 @+2.75, 30

Each non-empty range is parsed independently and creates one selection.

Range order is preserved. The first resulting selection becomes VS Code's primary selection.

Empty comma-separated parts are ignored, so:

13:2 20,, @:5,

contains two non-empty ranges.

Every non-empty range must be complete and valid before the input can be accepted.

Integer : coordinates

The : form requires a non-zero signed integer after the colon:

13:5
13:+5
13:-1

A colon without a coordinate is not complete input:

13:

The interpretation of the integer is controlled by:

advanced-line-range-selection.coordinateMode

Negative character or column numbers count backward from the end of their respective coordinate domain.

After negative indexing is resolved, out-of-bounds character or column numbers are clipped to the valid range of the line.

Proportional . positions

The digits following . represent the fractional digits of a proportion between 0 and 1.

For example:

13.0      -> proportion 0
13.1      -> proportion 0.1
13.25     -> proportion 0.25
13.500    -> proportion 0.5
13.999    -> proportion 0.999

A bare dot represents the exact proportion 1:

13.       -> proportion 1

Therefore:

13

and:

13.

are not equivalent.

13 has no explicit secondary position, so its eventual line boundary depends on selection direction.

13. explicitly identifies the end boundary of line 13.

Negative proportional values are not supported. A negative sign before the line still applies to the line number, so:

-1.5

means proportion 0.5 of the last line.

Unicode Grapheme Clusters

Character and column coordinates operate on Unicode grapheme clusters, which correspond closely to user-perceived characters.

For example, the decomposed text:

éX

contains two grapheme clusters:

1 = é
2 = X

even though the first grapheme consists of e followed by a combining acute accent.

Likewise:

A👨‍👩‍👧‍👦B

contains three grapheme clusters:

1 = A
2 = 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
3 = B

Internally, the extension maps grapheme boundaries to the UTF-16 positions required by the VS Code Position API.

Coordinate Modes

The setting:

advanced-line-range-selection.coordinateMode

controls only integer coordinates introduced by :.

It does not affect proportional positions introduced by ..

Character mode

The default mode is:

"advanced-line-range-selection.coordinateMode": "character"

A : coordinate identifies a 1-based grapheme character number.

For:

ABCDEF

the character numbers are:

1 = A
2 = B
3 = C
4 = D
5 = E
6 = F

Explicit character endpoints are inclusive.

For example:

2:1 2:3

selects:

ABC

The reverse input:

2:3 2:1

selects the same text backward.

Negative character numbers count backward from the end of the line.

An empty line has no valid explicit character target.

Column mode

Column mode is enabled with:

"advanced-line-range-selection.coordinateMode": "column"

A column identifies a 1-based boundary between grapheme clusters.

For:

ABC

the columns are:

Column 1 = before A
Column 2 = between A and B
Column 3 = between B and C
Column 4 = after C

A line containing N grapheme clusters therefore has N + 1 columns.

Columns identify boundaries directly. They are not inclusive character endpoints and do not change meaning according to selection direction.

Negative columns count backward from the final boundary.

An empty line still has one valid column: column 1.

Column mode is a logical grapheme-boundary coordinate system. It is not VS Code's rendered visual-column measurement.

A tab is one grapheme and therefore advances by one column in this coordinate mode.

Proportional Positions

A proportional position identifies a point along the line's logical width.

Examples:

5.0    -> beginning of line 5
5.25   -> 25% of line 5
5.5    -> 50% of line 5
5.75   -> 75% of line 5
5.     -> end of line 5

Proportional positions always resolve to grapheme boundaries.

They are independent of coordinateMode, so the same proportional input has the same meaning in character and column mode.

Logical width

Every non-tab grapheme cluster contributes a logical width of 1.

For example:

ABCDE

has cumulative grapheme-boundary widths:

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

A proportion of 0.4 targets logical width:

0.4 * 5 = 2

which exactly matches the boundary after B.

Tabs

Tabs are treated specially for proportional positions.

A tab advances to the next tab stop according to the editor's effective tab size.

For:

A<TAB>B

with a tab size of 4, the cumulative logical widths are:

0, 1, 4, 5

This logical-width model is deterministic and does not attempt to reproduce rendered pixel width.

Non-tab grapheme clusters, including emoji and wide characters, each contribute logical width 1.

Proportional snapping

A requested proportional position may fall between two selectable grapheme boundaries.

The setting:

advanced-line-range-selection.proportionSnap

controls which boundary is selected.

Value	Behavior
nearest	Select the nearest grapheme boundary. Equal-distance ties select the boundary after the requested position.
before	Select the nearest grapheme boundary at or before the requested position.
after	Select the nearest grapheme boundary at or after the requested position.

The default is:

"advanced-line-range-selection.proportionSnap": "nearest"

If the requested position effectively matches an existing grapheme boundary, that boundary is used regardless of the snapping mode.

An empty line has only one boundary, so every proportional position resolves to that boundary.

Omitted Secondary Positions

A line specifier does not need a character, column, or proportional position; this applies to both absolute and @ line references.

For example:

13 20

contains two line-only specifiers.

An omitted secondary position is resolved only after the selection direction is known.

For a forward selection:

• omitted start position -> beginning of the start line;
• omitted end position -> end of the end line.

For a backward selection:

• omitted start position -> end of the start line;
• omitted end position -> beginning of the end line.

This makes line-only ranges symmetric:

13 20

and:

20 13

select the same text with opposite selection directions.

When both resolved line numbers are the same and at least one endpoint does not provide a usable explicit target, the selection is treated as forward.

Selection Direction

Direction is determined after line numbers and explicit secondary positions have been resolved.

The rules are:

1. If the resolved start line is before the resolved end line, the selection is forward.
2. If the resolved start line is after the resolved end line, the selection is backward.
3. If both resolved lines are the same and both endpoints have explicit usable targets, their positions within the line determine the direction.
4. Equality is considered forward.
5. If both resolved lines are the same and either endpoint has no usable explicit target, the selection is forward.

Character targets and boundary targets can be mixed on the same line.

Their ordering follows:

line start
character 1
boundary after character 1
character 2
boundary after character 2
...
line end

This allows character coordinates and boundary-based column or proportional positions to determine direction consistently.

For each range, the first resolved endpoint becomes that VS Code selection's anchor and the second becomes its active endpoint.

When multiple ranges are supplied, their resulting selections are assigned to editor.selections in input order. VS Code then applies its normal multiple-selection behavior, including its configured handling of overlapping selections.

Empty Lines

An empty line contains zero grapheme clusters but still has one grapheme boundary.

The coordinate types behave as follows:

• character mode has no valid explicit character;
• column mode has exactly one valid column, column 1;
• every proportional position resolves to the line's only boundary.

If an explicit character coordinate resolves to an empty line, there is no character to target. That endpoint is therefore treated like an omitted secondary position.

If both final VS Code positions for a range are identical, that zero-length range is skipped. If every range is skipped, the command performs no selection change.

A completely empty document is handled by the same rules.

Input Validation

Interactive use employs a managed VS Code input box with separate live validation and strict acceptance.

Live validation

As you type, the extension distinguishes between:

• complete valid input;
• incomplete input that can still become valid;
• structurally invalid input.

Incomplete input uses informational guidance such as:

Keep typing...

rather than an error state.

With multiple ranges, a transitional incomplete state is allowed only in the last non-empty range. Once another non-empty range has been started, every earlier range must already be complete.

Strict acceptance

Pressing Enter only accepts the input when every non-empty comma-separated range matches the complete grammar.

Leading and trailing whitespace around the complete input and individual ranges are ignored. Empty comma-separated parts are ignored.

Leading zeros are accepted for non-zero integer components:

005
+005
-005
005:003
005:-003
@+005
@-003

The following integer forms are invalid:

0
+0
-0
5:
@+0
@-0

Bare @ is valid and means zero relative line offset.

Zero is valid in proportional syntax:

5.0
@.0

A bare proportional dot is also complete input:

5.
@.

Input History

Interactive use keeps a persistent, bounded history for each document.

History is navigated directly from the input box with the Previous history entry and Next history entry buttons. The buttons appear when compatible history exists for the current file.

Each history entry represents the complete accepted comma-separated command input, not the individual ranges inside it.

History entries are stored in canonical form:

• integer absolute line numbers and : coordinates are normalized numerically;
• @ remains @;
• positive relative offsets keep the required +, while their integer magnitude is normalized;
• negative relative offsets retain -, with leading zeros removed;
• proportional digits remain textual;
• range order is preserved.

For example:

+0005:+003 0010, @-0002.2500

is recalled as:

5:3 10, @-2.2500

Duplicate history entries are moved to the newest position instead of being stored repeatedly.

History is coordinate-mode-aware:

• an entry containing at least one : coordinate is available only when the current coordinateMode matches the mode under which it was executed;
• an entry containing no : coordinates is available in both character and column modes.

When history navigation starts, the current editable text is preserved as a draft. Moving forward past the newest history entry restores that draft.

Only successfully executed interactive inputs are added to this history. Programmatic command arguments are not added.

Programmatic Invocation

The command can also be invoked directly with an input string.

When a string argument is supplied, the command skips the input box and sends the string through the same parser and range-resolution logic used by interactive input.

The argument can use absolute line references, @ references, secondary coordinates, proportional positions, and multiple comma-separated ranges.

For example, another extension can invoke:

await vscode.commands.executeCommand(
  "advanced-line-range-selection.selectLineRange",
  "13:2 20.75, @-2 @+2",
);

A keybinding can also pass a fixed input:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+r",
  "command": "advanced-line-range-selection.selectLineRange",
  "args": "13:2 20.75, @-2 @+2",
  "when": "editorTextFocus"
}

If no argument is supplied, the normal interactive input box is shown.

If the supplied argument is not a string, or if any non-empty range in the string does not match the accepted input grammar, the command performs no selection change.

Programmatic invocation operates on the current active text editor. If there is no active text editor, the command returns without making a change.

Programmatic invocations do not add entries to the interactive input history.

Configuration

Coordinate mode

Setting:

advanced-line-range-selection.coordinateMode

Default:

character

Available values:

Value	Meaning
character	: numbers identify 1-based grapheme characters. Explicit character endpoints are inclusive.
column	: numbers identify 1-based grapheme boundaries.

Proportional snapping

Setting:

advanced-line-range-selection.proportionSnap

Default:

nearest

Available values:

Value	Meaning
nearest	Snap to the nearest grapheme boundary; ties snap after.
before	Snap to the nearest boundary at or before the requested position.
after	Snap to the nearest boundary at or after the requested position.

Both settings are resource-scoped.

Keyboard Shortcut

Platform	Shortcut
Windows / Linux	Ctrl+[ then Ctrl+]
macOS	Cmd+[ then Cmd+]

The shortcut is active when a text editor has focus.

Other Ways to Run the Command

The command is also available from:

• Command Palette -> Advanced Line Range Selection: Select Line Range
• Editor context menu -> Select Line Range

The editor context-menu entry is placed in the selection group.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.68.0 or later.

The extension has no external runtime dependencies.

Development

Install development dependencies:

npm install

Package the extension:

npm run package

Publish the current version:

npm run publish

The package manifest also provides semantic-version publishing scripts:

npm run publish:patch
npm run publish:minor
npm run publish:major

Publishing requires the normal Visual Studio Marketplace publisher credentials and vsce authentication.

Repository

• GitHub repository
• Issues

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.
See LICENSE for details.

Author

• Name: Or Fadida
• Email: or@fadida.net
• GitHub: orfadida2000
• Marketplace: orfadida