Text actions

Text actions are used to insert, replace, highlight, delete or unselect text in the editor.

Most of these actions make use of the path property to specify the location of the file.

Samples

You can find text actions samples on GitHub:

Open samples on GitHub

Positioning text/code

For the positioning of the text to insert, there are two options:

• Use the position property to specify the location where the action should be performed. With this property, you can specify the line number, character position, or a range of lines and characters.
• Use the startPlaceholder and endPlaceholder properties to specify the text to search for in the file to determine the location where the action should be performed.

Line position or range

For the position property, you can use the following values:

• number: The line number
• number:number: The start and end line number
• number,number: The start line and character
• number,number:number,number: The start line and character and the end line and character
• The start and end keywords can also be used instead of the line numbers
  • start will be replaced by the first line number
  • end will be replaced by the last line number

Examples:

"position": "10" // Line 10
"position": "10:20" // Lines 10 to 20
"position": "10,5" // Start line 10, character 5
"position": "10,5:20,10" // Start line 10, character 5 to end line 20, character 10

Placeholder position

For the startPlaceholder and endPlaceholder properties, you specify the text to search for in the file.

Examples:

"startPlaceholder": "// Start of demo1"
"endPlaceholder": "// End of demo1"

Note

The text will be replaced from the start of the startPlaceholder to the end of the endPlaceholder.

In the file, the placeholders should be defined like this:

// Start of demo1
const ext = 'Demo Time';
// End of demo1

Highlight text

Highlight text in the editor at a specific location.

// Via position
{
  "action": "highlight",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "position": "<position>",
  "zoom": "<zoom level> (optional)"
}

// Via placeholders
{
  "action": "highlight",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "startPlaceholder": "<start placeholder>",
  "endPlaceholder": "<end placeholder>",
  "highlightWholeLine": "<highlight whole line (optional, default is true)>",
  "zoom": "<zoom level> (optional)"
}

Note

Check out the settings section to customize the highlight colors.

Important

When you use code area highlighting, which is when you use “line + character” position or setting highlightWholeLine property to false when using placeholder positioning, the highlighted code will not include a border.

You can read more about it on the highlighting section.

Position cursor

Position your cursor in the editor at a specific location.

// Via position
{
  "action": "positionCursor",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "position": "<position>"
}

// Via start placeholder
{
  "action": "positionCursor",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "startPlaceholder": "<start placeholder>",
}

Insert text

Insert text in the editor at a specific location.

// Via position
{
  "action": "insert",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "position": "<position>",
  "content": "<content of the file> (optional)",
  "contentPath": "<relative path to the file in the .demo folder> (optional)",
  "lineInsertionDelay": "<delay in milliseconds to insert each line> (optional)"
}

// Via placeholders
{
  "action": "insert",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "startPlaceholder": "<start placeholder>",
  "endPlaceholder": "<end placeholder>",
  "content": "<content of the file> (optional)",
  "contentPath": "<relative path to the file in the .demo folder> (optional)",
  "lineInsertionDelay": "<delay in milliseconds to insert each line> (optional)"
}

Replace text

Replace text in the editor at a specific location.

// Via position
{
  "action": "replace",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "position": "<position>",
  "content": "<content of the file> (optional)",
  "contentPath": "<relative path to the file in the .demo folder> (optional)",
  "lineInsertionDelay": "<delay in milliseconds to insert each line> (optional)"
}

// Via placeholders
{
  "action": "replace",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "startPlaceholder": "<start placeholder>",
  "endPlaceholder": "<end placeholder>",
  "content": "<content of the file> (optional)",
  "contentPath": "<relative path to the file in the .demo folder> (optional)",
  "lineInsertionDelay": "<delay in milliseconds to insert each line> (optional)"
}

Write single line

Write a single line of text in the editor at the current location or specific location.

// Write to current active position
{
  "action": "write",
  "content": "Hello World"
}

// Write to a specific position in a file
// Via position
{
  "action": "write",
  "content": "Hello World",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "position": "<position>"
}

// Via start placeholder
{
  "action": "write",
  "content": "Hello World",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "startPlaceholder": "<start placeholder>",
}

Format text

Format the content of the active file.

{
  "action": "format"
}

Unselect text

Unselect or undo text highlighting in a specific file.

{
  "action": "unselect",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>"
}

Delete text

Delete text in the editor at a specific location.

// Via position
{
  "action": "delete",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "position": "<position>"
}

// Via placeholders
{
  "action": "delete",
  "path": "<relative path to the file>",
  "startPlaceholder": "<start placeholder>",
  "endPlaceholder": "<end placeholder>"
}