Add Multi-cursor editing feature

[ShortArrow]

Justification

This feature is one of the reasons why I want to reject VBA and adopt a language that can be used with vscode.

Description

Add Multi-cursor editing feature like vscode of Multi-Cursor Editing

[Vogel612]

I personally consider multi-cursor editing to be a symptom of repetitive code. I wouldn't want to support it for myself. It also is not really a language feature, but an editor feature.

Any implementation of this by Rubberduck would require we completely overhaul the internal editing process in the VBE, something we've been wanting to do for quite a while now, but have never gotten real progress on... Until we can safely and cleanly "replace" the VBE within the VBE (after all this still is an add-in), the complexity of this issue sounds prohibitive in comparison to the benefit it provides.

[Vogel612]

Compare for a discussion of the complexities: #5152, #4892 and #5375

[sancarn]

and adopt a language that can be used with vscode.

@ShortArrow Mind, you can code VBA perfectly well in VSCode, as long as you are happy to lose intellisense and compile time error checking.

I personally consider multi-cursor editing to be a symptom of repetitive code.

@Vogel612 Sometimes such code (especially in VBA) is unavoidable, and multi-line cursor is a godsend in these scenarios. If you don't believe me, here is an example. Or an excerpt:

Private WithEvents pUserForm       as MSForms.UserForm
Private WithEvents pFrame          as MSForms.Frame
Private WithEvents pMultiPage      as MSForms.MultiPage
Private WithEvents pLabel          as MSForms.Label
Private WithEvents pImage          as MSForms.Image
Private WithEvents pTabStrip       as MSForms.TabStrip
Private WithEvents pTextBox        as MSForms.TextBox
Private WithEvents pComboBox       as MSForms.ComboBox
Private WithEvents pListBox        as MSForms.ListBox
Private WithEvents pCheckBox       as MSForms.CheckBox
Private WithEvents pOptionButton   as MSForms.OptionButton
Private WithEvents pToggleButton   as MSForms.ToggleButton
Private WithEvents pScrollBar      as MSForms.ScrollBar
Private WithEvents pSpinButton     as MSForms.SpinButton
Private WithEvents pCommandButton  as MSForms.CommandButton

'... later

  select case iCtrlType
    Case uiUserForm:      set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.Form.1",          sName)
    Case uiFrame:         set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.Frame.1",         sName)
    Case uiMultiPage:     set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.MultiPage.1",     sName)
    Case uiLabel:         set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.Label.1",         sName)
    Case uiImage:         set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.Image.1",         sName)
    Case uiTabStrip:      set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.TabStrip.1",      sName)
    Case uiTextBox:       set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.TextBox.1",       sName)
    Case uiComboBox:      set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.ComboBox.1",      sName)
    Case uiListBox:       set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.ListBox.1",       sName)
    Case uiCheckBox:      set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.CheckBox.1",      sName)
    Case uiOptionButton:  set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.OptionButton.1",  sName)
    Case uiToggleButton:  set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.ToggleButton.1",  sName)
    Case uiScrollBar:     set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.ScrollBar.1",     sName)
    Case uiSpinButton:    set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.SpinButton.1",    sName)
    Case uiCommandButton: set ctrl = oControls.Add("Forms.CommandButton.1", sName)
  end select

'... later ...

  select case pType
    Case uiUserForm:       set uiObject = pUserForm
    Case uiFrame:          set uiObject = pFrame
    Case uiMultiPage:      set uiObject = pMultiPage
    Case uiLabel:          set uiObject = pLabel
    Case uiImage:          set uiObject = pImage
    Case uiTabStrip:       set uiObject = pTabStrip
    Case uiTextBox:        set uiObject = pTextBox
    Case uiComboBox:       set uiObject = pComboBox
    Case uiListBox:        set uiObject = pListBox
    Case uiCheckBox:       set uiObject = pCheckBox
    Case uiOptionButton:   set uiObject = pOptionButton
    Case uiToggleButton:   set uiObject = pToggleButton
    Case uiScrollBar:      set uiObject = pScrollBar
    Case uiSpinButton:     set uiObject = pSpinButton
    Case uiCommandButton:  set uiObject = pCommandButton
  end select

So yes, definitely repetitive, however definitely infinitely valuable, as with this class we have every UI element wrapped and no longer do we need hundreds of event handlers. I.E. In the pursuit of non-repetitive code sometimes you absolutely have to write repetative code, especially in VBA. Which is why a feature such as this is valuable.

However I know this is likely impossible to actually implement with the current architecture.

[FullValueRider]

In response to the original post I'd volunteer that I have been using twinBasic with VSCode for a while now (for hobby projects). With Rubberduck installed, and sticking to strict VBA, its perfectly possible to round trip to VSCode/twinBasic and back to the VBA ide. Enforcing Strict VBA compatibility is made easier if you round trip for Rubberduck inspections on a frequent basis.

[Greedquest]

Another valid usecase for multi-cursor that I have seen is when you want to massage raw data into a variable - e.g. you copy a list of country names from wikipedia, you need to add quotes and commas and store it in an array or wrap in a list constructor. Anything you might copy to an Excel worksheet, then use TEXTJOIN/CONCAT to reassemble into VBA, that can be helped with multi-cursor editing (or regex find/replace).