It is often convenient to be able to repeat a given key sequence a number of times.
GPS supports this with several different methods:
If there is a single key press that you wish to repeat a number of
times, you should first use the GPS action "Repeat Next"
(bound
by default to <control-u>, but this can be changed as usual through
the /Edit/Key Shortcuts
menu), then entering the number of times
you wish to repeat, and finally pressing the key you want.
For instance, the following sequence <control-u 79 -> will insert 79 characters '-' in the current editor. This proves often useful to insert separators.
If you are using the emacs mode (see /Tools/Plug-ins
menu),
you can also use the sequence <control-u 30 control-k> to delete
30 lines.
If you wish to repeat a sequence of more than 1 key, you should record
this sequence as a macro. All macro-related menus are found in
/Tools/Macros
, although it is often more convenient to use these
through key bindings, which you can of course override.
You must indicate to GPS that it should start recording the keys you are
pressing. This is done through the /Tools/Macros/Start Keyboard Macro
menu. As its name indicates, this only records keyboard events, not mouse
events. Until you select /Tools/Macros/Stop Macro
, GPS will keep
recording the events.
In Emacs mode, the macro actions are bound to <control-x (>, <control-x )> and <control-x e> key shortcuts. For instance, you can execute the following to create a very simple macro that deletes the current line, wherever your cursor initially is on that line:
<control-x (> start recording <control-a> go to beginning of line <control-k> delete line <control-x )> stop recording