Windows Command Line – Rectangular Text Selection in Command Prompt

cmd.execommand linewindows

From all the interpreter programs I have used, cmd.exe was unique in that it allowed you to select a rectangular block of text.

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Q1. Why did it use this method, as opposed to standard text-editor-like selection (like below)?

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Q2. Why do newer versions of cmd no longer use the rectangular selection model?

Best Answer

Although we are not the developers, we are perfectly capable of reading what the developers have written on the matter.

This is not cmd. cmd isn't a GUI program and isn't in charge of displaying console windows. This is conhost, and two years ago a group of Microsoft developers decided to add a whole lot of improvements to it, one of which is "line selection". They did so because they believe that they are addressing user desires — users like you who go around mumbling about the clunky copy and paste feature in Windows NT consoles.

There's a whole wish-list system, which Microsoft calls a "user voice", for the console subsystem, the command interpreter, and the new Windows NT Linux Subsystem. Here are two fairly relevant wish-list entries from 2014:

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