Multi-cursor editing in the Linux SQL editor #3648

Problem

The Linux SQL editor has one cursor. linux/ROADMAP.md, Backlog, SQL editor, lists "Multi-cursor editing." Renaming an alias in five places, or adding a column to several lines of an INSERT, takes five separate edits.

The editor is GtkSourceView, and the sourceview5 0.11 bindings the app uses (linux/Cargo.toml:92) expose no multi-cursor API, so this is work in the app or upstream, not a setting to turn on.

Proposed solution

• Add a cursor at the next match of the selection, and select all matches of it.
• Add a cursor on the line above or below.
• Add or remove a cursor with a modifier and click.
• Typing, deleting, pasting and moving by word apply at every cursor, and one undo takes back the whole edit.
• Escape returns to one cursor.
• Pick shortcuts that do not clash with GNOME's or the app's own, and list them in the shortcuts dialog.
• Decide whether to build it on GtkTextBuffer marks in the app or to work on it with GtkSourceView upstream, and record the choice.

Done means: three cursors type and delete together in an editor tab, and one undo reverts all three edits.

Alternatives considered

Find and replace with Ctrl+H covers renaming, not editing several lines at once.

Platform

Linux

Related database type

N/A / General