PhpStorm 6.0.1 Web Help

The basic way to select a piece of text is to extend the selection with the mouse cursor. PhpStorm, as a keyboard-centric IDE, suggests to use navigation keys to make selections. You can opt to select pieces of text by lines, or select rectangular fragments in the column mode, extend and shrink the selection, and use sticky selection.

In this section:

To select the entire text in the current editor tab, do one of the following
  • On the main menu, choose Edit | Select All.
  • Press Ctrl+ACtrl+ACtrl+ACtrl+ACtrl+X, HCtrl+ACtrl+ACtrl+AMeta AMeta AMeta A.
To select text with navigation keys, use one of the following shortcuts
  • Ctrl+Shift+LeftCtrl+Shift+LeftCtrl+Shift+LeftCtrl+Shift+LeftCtrl+Shift+LeftCtrl+Shift+LeftCtrl+Shift+LeftAlt+Shift+Left or Ctrl+Shift+LeftAlt Shift LeftAlt Shift LeftAlt Shift Left, Ctrl+Shift+RightCtrl+Shift+RightCtrl+Shift+RightCtrl+Shift+RightCtrl+Shift+RightCtrl+Shift+RightCtrl+Shift+RightAlt+Shift+Right or Ctrl+Shift+RightAlt Shift RightAlt Shift RightAlt Shift Right to select text from the caret position to the beginning/end of the current word.
  • Ctrl+Shift+Page UpCtrl+Shift+Page UpCtrl+Shift+Page UpCtrl+Shift+Page UpCtrl+Shift+Page UpCtrl+Shift+Page UpCtrl+Shift+Page UpCtrl+Shift+Page UpMeta Shift Page UpMeta Shift Page UpMeta Shift Page Up, Ctrl+Shift+Page DownCtrl+Shift+Page DownCtrl+Shift+Page DownCtrl+Shift+Page DownCtrl+Shift+Page DownCtrl+Shift+Page DownCtrl+Shift+Page DownCtrl+Shift+Page DownMeta Shift Page DownMeta Shift Page DownMeta Shift Page Down to select text from the caret position to the top/bottom of the screen.
To extend selection from the word at the caret to the piece of code the caret is contained in, use the following shortcuts
  • Press Ctrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+Alt+WCtrl+WAlt+Shift+PeriodAlt+Shift+UpMeta WMeta WControl Shift Up to select the word where the caret is currently located.
  • Press Ctrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+Alt+WCtrl+WAlt+Shift+PeriodAlt+Shift+UpMeta WMeta WControl Shift Up successively to extend selection to the next containing node (for example, an expression, a paired tag, an entire conditional block, a method body, a class, a group of vararg arguments, etc.)

    Note

    While extending selection, keep in mind the following:

    • Pressing Ctrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+WCtrl+Alt+WCtrl+WAlt+Shift+PeriodAlt+Shift+UpMeta WMeta WControl Shift Up successively in plain text or comments extends the selection first to the current sentence, then to the current paragraph.
  • Press Ctrl+Shift+WCtrl+Shift+WCtrl+Shift+WCtrl+Shift+WCtrl+Shift+WCtrl+Shift+WAlt+Shift+CommaAlt+Shift+DownMeta Shift WMeta Shift WControl Shift Down to shrink selection in the reverse order (from the outermost container to the word where the caret currently resides).

    Tip

    The selection extends or shrinks according to capitalization, if CamelHumps mode is enabled (File | Settings | IDE Settings | Editor | Smart Keys | Use "CamelHumps" words for Windows and Linux,
    PhpStorm | Preferences | IDE Settings | Editor | Smart Keys | Use "CamelHumps" words for Mac OS).

    If you want to make selection according to capitalization, using double-click, make sure that the option Honor CamelHumps words... is also turned on (File | Settings | IDE Settings | Editor | Honor CamelHumps words... for Windows and Linux,
    PhpStorm | Preferences | IDE Settings | Editor | Honor CamelHumps words... for Mac OS).

To toggle between the line and the column selection modes, do one of the following
  • On the main menu, choose Edit | Column Selection Mode.
  • On the context menu of the editor, choose Column Selection Mode.
  • Press Alt+Shift+InsertAlt+Shift+InsertAlt+Shift+InsertAlt+Shift+InsertAlt+Shift+InsertAlt+Shift+InsertAlt+Shift+InsertAlt+Shift+InsertMeta Shift NumPad *Meta Shift NumPad *Meta Shift 8.
  • Keeping the middle mouse button pressed, drag the mouse.
To make selection in the column selection mode
  • Keeping the Alt key pressed, drag your mouse pointer to select the desired area.
  • Keeping the middle mouse button pressed, drag your mouse pointer to select the desired area.
To use smart expression selection

When you perform various code refactorings that involve selecting an expression , PhpStorm can help you select the expression of interest. This feature is known as smart expression selection.

The procedure for the Introduce Variable refactoring is just an example. The smart expression selection feature, in fact, is available in all the refactorings that start with selecting an expression.

  1. Place the cursor before or within the expression.

    ws_php_storm_introduceVariableJSSmartSelectExpressionStart.png

  2. Choose Refactor | Extract Variable from the main or the context menu, or press Ctrl+Alt+VCtrl+Alt+VAlt+Shift+VCtrl+Alt+VCtrl+Alt+VCtrl+Alt+VAlt+Shift+VAlt+Shift+L or Ctrl+Alt+VMeta Alt VMeta Alt VMeta Alt L.
  3. In the Expressions pop-up menu, select the expression. To do that, click the required expression. Alternatively, use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate to the expression of interest, and then press EnterEnterEnterEnterEnterEnterEnterEnterEnterEnterEnter to select it.

    ws_php_storm_introduceVariableJSSmartSelectExpression.png

To toggle sticky selection, do one of the following
  • Press Ctrl+Shift+ACtrl+Shift+ACtrl+Shift+ACtrl+Shift+ACtrl+Shift+ACtrl+Shift+ACtrl+ICtrl+Shift+AMeta Shift AMeta Shift AMeta 3, in the pop-up frame type sticky, and choose Toggle Sticky Selection from the suggestion list:

    sticky_selection

  • In the Emacs keymap, use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+SpaceCtrl+SpaceCtrl+SpaceCtrl+SpaceAlt+SlashCtrl+SpaceCtrl+Space or Ctrl+Back SlashCtrl+SpaceControl SpaceControl SpaceControl Space.

See Also

Procedures:

Reference:

Web Resources: