Blocks

Sometimes, you want to apply the same command to a group of cells. It would be very time-consuming and tedious to have to position the caret in each individual cell and give the same command many times over. This is where blocks come in. A block is a group of cells which can be operated on with a single command. A block may consist of a rectangular table of cells, a row or a column of cells or a single cell.

A block is identified by marking it. Once marked, it is displayed inverted on the screen. If you have a marked block in your document, the mark block box is also inverted.

Note that you cannot mark to or from the middle of a cell. Only complete cells can be marked.

Marking a Block

You can use one of the methods described below to mark a block:

Dragging

1. Position the pointer at the beginning of the text you want to mark.

2. Hold down the Select button.

3. Drag the mouse until all the text you want to mark appears inverted.

4. Release the Select button.

Using column borders

Mark a single column by dragging Select across its border.

Mark all the rows in a range of columns by dragging Select across the column borders.

Using row borders

Mark a single row by dragging Select across its border.

Mark all the columns in a range of rows by dragging Select down the row borders.

If you have turned off the borders display in the Options dialogue box, you will need to turn it back on in order to mark blocks in this way.

Marking a Single Cell

If you want to mark a single cell, just position the caret in the cell and drag Select across it or give the Mark Block command:

Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Blocks Mark block Z

Marking the Whole Document

If you want to mark the whole document, click Select in the mark block box.

Alternatively, you can give the Mark Document command:

Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Blocks Mark Document FGZ

Extending a Marked Block

1. Position the pointer at the end of the text you want to include in the block.

2. Click Adjust.

This marks all text between the original marked block and the pointer position.

If there is no marked block, clicking Adjust marks from the caret to the pointer position.

Clearing Markers

To clear a marked block, click Select in the mark block box.

Alternatively, you can give the Clear Markers command:

Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Blocks Clear Markers Q