linespecific

Line-specific is a concept in text processing and software development that describes functionality that targets a single line of text, identified by its line number or position within a document. It contrasts with line-agnostic or block-wide operations that affect multiple lines or the entire file.

In practice, line-specific features appear in code editors, linters, and formatters. They operate on each line independently or accumulate per-line metadata, enabling precise control over formatting, validation, or styling.

Typical applications include trimming trailing whitespace on individual lines, normalizing line endings, inserting or removing line breaks, and applying per-line annotations or comments. Line-specific search and replace confines changes to a single line; line-based syntax highlighting can depend on a line's content.

Implementation considerations include representing a document as an indexed list of line objects, each with text and optional metadata. Edits that split or merge lines require reindexing. Attention to encoding and line-ending conventions ensures consistent line boundaries across platforms.

See also line-oriented processing, per-line processing, line-based editors, and whitespace normalization.