Select column/block

Select column/block in Visual Studio Code — with the four heights of help laid out: do it now, make it easier for the next person to accept, work out the right move when you are stuck, and learn the pattern so it stops coming back.

4prompt heights
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The four heights

The same task, four distances: today's deadline, the next reviewer, the stuck moment, the pattern.

Execute — do the immediate task

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I need to select the rectangular block of column three through five from lines 120 to 200 in…
I need to select the rectangular block of column three through five from lines 120 to 200 in data/fixtures/sample.csv and replace that block with trimmed values. Do the column selection then apply the trim across the selected block only.

Improve — make it easier to accept

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Before I change the CSV block, make approval straightforward: show how many rows will change,…
Before I change the CSV block, make approval straightforward: show how many rows will change, preview the first five transformed rows, and flag rows where trimming would remove significant leading characters like '+' or '-' so I can handle exceptions.

Decide — diagnose the stuck moment

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I made a column selection from lines 120–200 in sample.csv and I'm seeing rows with embedded commas…

I selected a column block in sample.csv but some rows have embedded commas and quotes.

I made a column selection from lines 120–200 in sample.csv and I'm seeing rows with embedded commas and quoted fields that might shift columns. I don't know how many rows are malformed or whether my block selection misaligned. What's the likely diagnosis and the safest next step to avoid corrupting the CSV data?

Become — change the pattern

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Over time my manual column or block edits in CSV fixtures keep introducing subtle format errors…

Manual column edits regularly corrupt CSV fixtures

Over time my manual column or block edits in CSV fixtures keep introducing subtle format errors that break tests. Where am I wasting time and what single habit or tool should I adopt to keep column edits safe and fast? Recommend a single change to my workflow and a lightweight check to run before committing.

Next to this one

Other code editor work people do in Visual Studio Code.

Every task here came from the work, not from a feature list — which is why the prompts name what you want done and never the button that does it. The tool changes; the work does not.
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The rest of the map

Same library, five ways in.