Issue
I want to surround the selected text with quotes or parentheses when I hit the corresponding button, not to overwrite it, which is the behavior I have observed. From what I have read so far, this is how the program usually behaves, but definitely not my case. I could not find the equivalent setting under Tools > Options. I have found the macros to surround a single word, but I want the whole selection, as would be expected in other text editors and IDEs.
Version: Apache NetBeans IDE 12.2
For example - the selection:
a string consisting of multiple words
Press Shift + 2 (where " is on my keyboard layout):
"a string consisting of multiple words"
Solution
OK....
You were right when you said that you could not find anything close this shortcut. I looked through the entire list and there was none. The only thing close to it was to surround a single word in quotes. So, that means that you will have to create one shortcut to surround text selection in quotes and another with parentheses. They will be very similar, but will require two different hotkeys.
For example, I created a shortcut to surround text selection in quotes. To do so, you have to go to Tools -> Options -> Editor and click New button
In the "New Macro Dialog" enter a name (i.e. "quote-selection") and click "OK". Then, type in copy-to-clipboard "\"" paste-from-clipboard "\"" in the "Macro Code" text area. Lastly, click "Set Shortcut..." button and type in the exact sequence of key presses you want to use for your shortcut. Don't worry if you enter a shortcut already in use. It will warn you if you do. I chose to use CNTL+ALT+3 because that's not in use. When you are satisfied, just click "OK" to record your shortcut. If you make a mistake in the key presses, simply click "Clear".
Then, repeat the process for surrounding with parentheses with the macro code copy-to-clipboard "(" paste-from-clipboard ")". When you are done, click "Apply" and "OK".
I used Netbeans version 12.3, so I expect everything shown here should be very similar (if not identical) to 12.2.
Answered By - hfontanez
