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Selecting Text
What is Selecting?
You select a portion of text (or a piece of a raster , or cell of a table) so that you can take an action on it.
When there is a selected region within a window, different pop-up menu options become available. These special menus (called "Selected Region menus") allow you act on the selected region. You can act on the region by cutting, copying, applying styles, etc..
This document describes how to select text. Selecting regions in other insets are explained in the help file about the specific inset or application.
There are three ways to select regions of text: by sliding the mouse, by clicking around the text, or by clicking the left mouse button on a word or region. All these options produce the same outcome.
Method 1: Sliding
Point the mouse cursor at the beginning of this sentence. Press and hold down the left mouse button. Slide the mouse cursor across the paragraph until it is all dark. Then, release the mouse button.
The paragraph is "highlighted", indicating that it is selected. Note that when you slide, you can move in any direction; left or right, up or down.
Method 2: Clicking Around a Region
Point the mouse cursor at the beginning of the text to be selected and quickly click (press and release) the left mouse button.
The caret moves to the place you clicked.
Move the mouse cursor to the end of the text to be selected and click (press and release) the right mouse button.
The region of text between the two places you clicked is selected.
Method 3: Clicking on a Word or Region
To select a single word: Place the mouse cursor on the word you want to select and click the left mouse button twice, rapidly.
The word is highlighted.
To select a region: Place the mouse cursor anyplace within the region you want to select (a paragraph, heading, etc) and click the left mouse button three times.
The entire region will become highlighted.
Extending and Reducing Selected Regions
Once you've selected a region of text, you can extend or reduce the size of the selection. You may want to do this, for example, if you selected less or more than you intended.
To extend a selected region. Move the mouse cursor anywhere outside the currently selected text and click the right mouse button.
The selected region will be extended to the point where you clicked.
Note: You can use this procedure to extend a selection beyond the screenful of text displayed in the window. Select an initial region, scroll to the end of the desired region, and click the right mouse button where you want to extend the selection.
Reducing a selected region: Move the mouse cursor anywhere inside the currently selected text and click the right mouse button.
The selected region will be reduced from either the starting or the ending point of the region. If the click was past the middle of the selected region, the end is moved to the click point. If the click was before the middle of the selected region, the beginning is moved to the click point.
De-Selecting a Region
Click the left mouse button anywhere in the window.
The highlighted text appears normal, and the text caret appears in the place you clicked the mouse cursor. The region is no longer selected.
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