Is there an Eclipse command to surround the current selection with parentheses?

Question

Is there an Eclipse command to surround the current selection with parentheses?

Creating a template is a decent workaround; it doesn't work with the "Surround With" functionality, because I want to parenthesize an expression, not an entire line, and that requires ${word_selection} rather than ${line_selection}.

Is there a way that I can bind a keyboard shortcut to this particular template? Ctrl-space Ctrl-space arrow arrow arrow isn't as slick as I'd hoped for.

Answer 1

Easy, Window->Prefs, then select Java->Editor->Templates

Create a new template with : (${line_selection}${cursor})

The "line_selection" means you have to select more than one line.

You can try creating another one with "word_selection", too.

Then, select text, right click, Surround With... and choose your new template.

Answer 2

Maybe not the correct answer, but at least a workaround:

1. define a Java template with the name "parenthesis" (or "pa") with the following :

   (${word_selection})${cursor}

2. once the word is selected, ctrl-space + p + use the arrow keys to select the template

I used this technique for boxing primary types in JDK 1.4.2 and it saves quite a lot of typing.

Answer 3

I find that this leaves the originally selected text with the template appended afterward. For example, if I select the word "parenthetic" and run the above template the editor will show:

parenthetic(parenthetic)

instead of the desired:

(parenthetic)

Anyone else come across this?