Editing Text editor (section)

==Advanced features==
* Macro or procedure definition: to define new commands or features as combinations of prior commands or other macros, perhaps with passed parameters, or with nesting of macros.
* Profiles to retain options set by the user between editing session.
* Profile macros with names specified in, e.g., environment, profile, executed automatically at the beginning of an edit session or when opening a new file.
* Multi-file editing: the ability to edit multiple files during an edit-session, perhaps remembering the current-line cursor of each file, to insert repeated text into each file, copy or move text among files, [[file comparison|compare files]] side-by-side (perhaps with a tiled [[multiple-document interface]]), etc.
* Multi-view editors: the ability to display multiple views of the same file, with independent cursor tracking, synchronizing changes among the windows but providing the same facilities as are available for independent files.
* Collapse/expand, also called [[code folding|folding]]: the ability to temporarily exclude sections of the text from view. This may either be based on a range of line numbers or on some syntactic element, e.g., excluding everything between a '''BEGIN;''' and the matching '''END;'''.
* Column-based editing; the ability to alter or insert data at a particular column, or to shift data to specific columns.
* [[Data transformation]] – Reading or merging the contents of another text file into the file currently being edited.  Some text editors provide a way to insert the output of a command issued to the operating system's [[command-line interpreter|shell]]. Also, a case-shifting feature could translate to lowercase or uppercase.
* [[Filter (software)|Filtering]] – Some advanced text editors allow the editor to send all or sections of the file being edited to another utility and read the result back into the file in place of the lines being "filtered".  This, for example, is useful for sorting a series of lines alphabetically or numerically, doing mathematical computations, indenting [[source code]], and so on.
* [[Syntax highlighting]] – contextually highlights [[source code]], [[markup language]]s, [[config file]]s and other text that appears in an organized or predictable format. Editors generally allow users to customize the colors or styles used for each language element. Some text editors also allow users to install and use [[theme (computing)|theme]]s to change the [[look and feel]] of the editor's entire [[user interface]].
* Syntax-oriented editors - some editors have support for the syntax of one or more languages, and allow operations in terms of syntactical unit, e.g., insert a new '''WHEN''' clause in a '''SELECT''' statement.
* [[Extensibility]] - a text editor intended for use by programmers must provide some [[plug-in (computing)|plugin]] mechanism, or be [[scripting language|scriptable]], so a programmer can customize the editor with features needed to manage individual software projects, customize functionality or [[key bindings]] for specific [[programming language]]s or [[version control]] systems, or conform to specific [[coding style]]s.
* [[Cursor_(user_interface)#Text_cursor|Cursor]] navigation may vary across text editors. For example, pressing <kbd>End</kbd> twice may navigate to the end of a [[Line wrap and word wrap|wrapped line]] after one press navigated to the end of an on-screen row of text. [[Block-oriented terminal]]s typically have dedicated cursor movement keys, as do keyboards on personal computers.
* [[Command-line interface#Application command-line interfaces|Command line]] - some editors, e.g., [[ISPF]], [[XEDIT]], have a dedicated field on the screen for entering commands as opposed to text. Depending on the editor, the user may have to use cursor keys to switch between the command and text fields or the editor may interpret, e.g., specific function keys , as requests to switch.
* Line commands, also known as prefix commands or sequence commands - Some editors treat a file as an array of text lines with associated line numbers or sequence numbers, and have a distinct line number field for each text field. A line command is a string that the user types into a line number field and that the editor recognizes as a command operating on that specific line or block of lines, e.g., '''LC''' to translate a line to lower case, '''))3''' to shift a block right three columns. Some editors also support line macros, also known as prefix macros or sequence macros. Despite the name ''prefix command'', some editors allow the sequence field to appear after the text field.
* Text editors, especially [[source-code editor]]s, often default to using a monospace font that clearly distinguishes between similar characters ([[homoglyph]]s) such as the colon and the semicolon.<ref>
Philipp Acsany.
[https://realpython.com/coding-font/ "Choosing the Best Coding Font for Programming"].
2023.
</ref>