Xcode duplicate/delete line

Question

Coming from Eclipse and having been used to duplicate lines all the time, it's pretty strange finding out that Xcode has no such function. Or does it?

I know it's possible to change the system wide keybindings but that's not what I'm after.

Answer 1

The whole point is NOT to use the Cmd-C/Cmd-V shortcuts. I have the same issue coming from IntelliJ, and being able to just duplicate lines with Cmd-D and delete them with Cmd-Y is a big time saver.

It's been bugging me ever since. However, it looks like someone else has found a solution that works.

In short, create a file ~/Library/KeyBindings/PBKeyBinding.dict with the following content and restart Xcode.

{
    "^$K" = (
        "selectLine:",
        "cut:"
    );

    "^$D" = (
        "selectLine:",
        "copy:",
        "moveToEndOfLine:",
        "insertNewline:",
        "paste:",
        "deleteBackward:"
    );
}

This will create two shortcuts: Ctrl-Shift-K for deleting the current line and Ctrl-Shift-D for duplicating the current line. Please note that this will only work if you are NOT using a custom key binding set in Xcode. Switch to "XCode Default" and things should work. Tested on XCode 3.2 on Snow Leopard.

More information on Mac OS X key bindings: http://funkworks.blogspot.it/2013/03/republishing-of-wwwerasetotheleftcompos.html

Answer 2

To delete a line: Ctrl-A to go to the beginning of the line, then Ctrl-K to delete it, and another time Ctrl-K to remove the empty line. (I do not use Xcode very often, but I'm used to that in Emacs and other text inputs with Emacs-like bindings, and it seems to work in Xcode too.)

And to duplicate a line: I don't know of many programs that have a command for that, but usually I just use Copy+Paste - in Xcode it's CUA-like: Ctrl+A to go to the beginning of the line, Shift+↓ to select it, Command+C to copy and Command+*V to paste twice (once overriding the line and once appending to it).

(from a person that types and edits text all the time, so often in different programs, and occasionally gets pissed at having to distract himself with a dumb widget while making a little correction in a text input, that he just cannot avoid remembering these sequences and habits)

Answer 3

Delete a line like eclipse CTRL+D (tested on Xcode 4.5.1) :

First of all, change these rights :

sudo chmod 666 /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Frameworks/IDEKit.framework/Resources/IDETextKeyBindingSet.plist

sudo chmod 777 /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Frameworks/IDEKit.framework/Resources/

Open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Frameworks/IDEKit.framework/Resources/IDETextKeyBindingSet.plist with Xcode himself and add this new entry :

deleteToBeginningOfLine:, moveToEndOfLine:, deleteToBeginningOfLine:, deleteBackward:, moveDown:, moveToBeginningOfLine:

Restart Xcode and open Xcode > Preferences > KeyBindings. Find your macro and define a shortkey :

Answer 4

I tried the key bindings solution, but it I couldn't get it to work. However editing my XCode key bindings works like a charm. Here's how I made it.

This solution does not alter the contents of the Clipboard!

Open the XCode Key Bindings:

In the Edit User Scripts Dialog:

1. Duplicate the "Move Line Down" script and rename it
2. Duplicate the "Move Line Down.scpt" file, rename the script, select file via (double click) in Script Editor
3. Edit the script (Opens "AppleScript Editor") and remove the "delete (paragraphs startLine through endLine)" passage.
4. If you do not want to restart XCode, you seem to have to remove and re-add the script. Be sure that you have "Output" set to "Discard Output", otherwise you will have a "(null)" in your source file
5. I slightly modified the scripts a little bit more to have the right lines selected:

Duplicate Line Up:

using terms from application "Xcode"
tell first text document
    set {startLine, endLine} to selected paragraph range

    if startLine > 1 then
        set theText to (paragraphs startLine through endLine)
        set theText to (theText as string)
        make new paragraph at beginning of paragraph (startLine) with data theText
        set selected paragraph range to {endLine + 1, endLine + endLine - startLine + 1}
    else
        beep 1
    end if
end tell
end using terms from

Duplicate Line Down:

using terms from application "Xcode"
tell first text document
    set {startLine, endLine} to selected paragraph range
    if endLine < (count paragraphs) then
        set theText to (paragraphs startLine through endLine)
        set theText to (theText as string)
        (* delete (paragraphs startLine through endLine) *)
        make new paragraph at beginning of paragraph (endLine + 1) with data theText
        set selected paragraph range to {startLine, endLine}
    else
        beep 1
    end if
end tell
end using terms from

Answer 5

As Xcode 4 makes this difficult to implement using key bindings, I have resorted to using Keyboard Maestro (Quickeys should work well too, but it's not fully Lion compatible). For e.g., here is my Keyboard Maestro shortcut (bound to ⌘-⇧-D):

http://bit.ly/thC6yf

Answer 6

OK, so I had this working for a while and then suddenly it broke. Now I have combined from different posts here and found a solution that works for XCode 6.3.1.

1. Go to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Frameworks/IDEKit.framework/Versions/A/ with Finder.

2. find the folder named Resources. Right Click it, press Get Info, unlock the sharing & permissions setting (By pressing the lock) and set it to Read & Write for all.

3. Enter the folder and find the file IDETextKeyBindingSet.plist. Right Click it, press Get Info, unlock the sharing & permissions setting (By pressing the lock) and set it to Read & Write for all.

4. Open the file with XCode (Default)

5. Find deletions, right click and add a new row. Name it for example Delete Line. In the value field, type: selectLine:, deleteBackward: . (This can also be done for duplicate line: selectLine:,copy:,moveToEndOfLine:,insertNewline:,paste:,deleteBackward:)

6. Start XCode, go to preferences / keybindings and search for Delete Line. Set shortcut. Enjoy.

Answer 7

I know that this thread is quite old but I found another solution using BetterTouchTool, you can execute the Ctrl+A, Ctrl+K, Ctrl+K sequence in one shortcut by configuring like this in BTT:

(Use the Attach Additional Action Button to append the second and third shortcut)

PS: Coming from Eclipse where Cmd+D is delete line ^^

Answer 8

Triple click to select the whole line, command-c to select and command-v twice to duplicate it. It's not an Xcode function, it's just part of the OS.

Answer 9

Use user scripts.

There are scripts to move and delete lines yet. You have to define key binds for those scripts (menu Scripts -> Edit User Scripts..., under xCode 3.2).

To duplicate line, you have to make your own script. But it's very simple ! Duplicate the "Move Line Down" script and remove the line which delete selected text :

delete (paragraphs startLine through endLine)

Answer 10

There's a solution for XCode4 line duplication over here

I've also added line deletion to the plist:

<key>Remove Line</key> <string>selectLine:, deleteBackward:</string>

Answer 11

No need to modify Xcode. You can just use the Xcode extension Linex

Answer 12

The solution by damien.flament works great and you may need set output to "Discard Output" see the pic below

P.S: I don't know how to comment his answer.

Answer 13

As said above, close XCode and insert following to ~/Library/Application Support/Xcode/Key Bindings/ <user>.pbxkeys inside <dict> in <key>text</key> section:

    <key>^D</key>                                                                                                      
    <array>                                                                                                            
        <string>moveToLeftEndOfLine:</string>                                                                               
        <string>deleteToEndOfLine:</string>                                                                                      
    </array>                                                                                                           
    <key>^K</key>                                                                                                      
    <array>                                                                                                            
       <string>selectLine:</string>                                                                               
       <string>copy:</string>                                                                                     
       <string>moveToEndOfLine:</string>                                                                          
       <string>insertNewline:</string>                                                                            
       <string>paste:</string>                                                                                    
       <string>deleteBackward:</string>                                                                           
    </array>

Start XCode and enjoy CTRL-SHIFT-D and CTRL-SHIFT-K.
If you want CTRL-D and CTRL-K, use ^d and ^k in key definitions instead. Ensure there are no duplicate key bindings in the file.

Works fine for me with XCode 3.2

Answer 14

This is possible using BetterTouchTool. CMD+D will duplicate a line. Create a new shortcut like this:

Use the Attach Additional Action Button to append the second and third shortcut

Answer 15

To Delete Line in Xcode 10.1, please follow the steps of below screenshot to add a shortcut key.

Answer 16

If you already have customised your Xcode key bindings, you'll have to edit the file: ~/Library/Application Support/Xcode/Key Bindings/<user>.pbxkeys. Just add the two arrays (described above) to the Root/text dictionary.

Answer 17

Three step to delete current line (see too long, but do very fast :D)

Cmd + → : move to end of line
Cmd + Delete : delete to begin of line
Delete : delete empty line

Answer 18

We are on Xcode 9.0 and the keybindings are still not working. Sigh.

I found this gist very helpful so reposting it here for future reference:

1. Open /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Frameworks/IDEKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/IDETextKeyBindingSet.plist
2. Add the following XML snippet to this file just above the bottom </dict>
3. Go to Xcode preferences -> Key Bindings -> Text tab -> Scroll till you see Duplication
4. Click on Duplicate Current Line, add a shortcut for it, eg. Cmnd+D (resolve any duplicate bindings)
5. Open Xcode

<key>Duplication</key> <dict> <key>Duplicate Current Line</key> <string>moveToBeginningOfLine:, deleteToEndOfLine:, yank:, insertNewline:, moveToBeginningOfLine:, yank:</string> <key>Duplicate Lines</key> <string>selectLine:, copy:, moveToEndOfLine:, insertNewline:, paste:, deleteBackward:</string> <key>Delete Line</key> <string>selectLine:, deleteBackward:</string> </dict>

Answer 19

For Xcode 6.1 got to Xcode > Preferences > KeyBindings > Text And there is "Delete to End of Line" and assign a key you want.

Answer 20

XCodePlus delete line plugin, is a XCode that does this for you. It came pre installed with Alcatraz package manager...

https://github.com/payliu/XcodePlus

Answer 21

Still there is no built-in way to duplicate lines, as of Xcode 9. And custom key bindings seem to have problems.

Update: Xcode 10.0 beta 6 (10L232m) is the same.