When I want to modify more than one line in multiple files, such as all of my TDE build scripts, I open one build script in kate. I copy the affected lines and paste into the Search text box in tdefilereplace. I again paste the text into the Replace text box, but in the Replace text box I edit the text as desired for the changes.

The deficiency is the text box widgets do not display non text characters, specifically line breaks. All I see is a corresponding space, which renders manual editing of the Replace text box a challenge.

Whether non text characters should display as the default is not as important as the ability to at least display the characters. Especially because multiple lines appear in both text boxes as a single line.

Perhaps the only issue here is simply to display line breaks rather than all non text characters. The common symbol used is the pilcrow. Or perhaps the text box widgets should be able to display multiple lines as multiple lines rather than a single line.

This report is related to bug 2334.