Question

Is it possible to delete specific columns of text (i.e., particular column numbers) in Emacs/XEmacs using only the keyboard? I know that it is possible to select a rectangle of text using the mouse (or the arrow keys), but for a 1 million line text file, this can be quite time consuming.

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can delete a rectangle with delete-rectangle (C-x r d) or kill-rectangle (C-x r k). Either one will kill the rectangle with corners defined by the point and the mark. kill-rectangle will also save it for yanking with yank-rectangle.