diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 02152d9de..64df4d471 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ Usage:
        --theme=THEME  Choose Textmate theme
 
 ## INSTALLING FROM SOURCE
-
 Download from github, checkout the submodules and build JavaMateView. You will need Ant 
 installed, and RSpec and Cucumber installed as JRuby gems.
 
diff --git a/plugins/edit_view/features/soft_tabs.feature b/plugins/edit_view/features/soft_tabs.feature
index 71403770f..1b9925600 100644
--- a/plugins/edit_view/features/soft_tabs.feature
+++ b/plugins/edit_view/features/soft_tabs.feature
@@ -1,55 +1,5 @@
 Feature: Soft and hard tabs
   
-  Scenario: Inserts hard tab at the start of a line
-    When I open a new edit tab
-    And tabs are hard
-    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
-    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "\t"
-    
-  Scenario: Inserts hard tab at the end of a line
-    When I open a new edit tab
-    And tabs are hard
-    And I replace the contents with "Hacker"
-    And I move the cursor to 6
-    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
-    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "Hacker\t"
-    
-  Scenario: Inserts 2 space soft tab at the start of a line
-    When I open a new edit tab
-    And tabs are soft, 2 spaces
-    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
-    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "  "
-    
-  Scenario: Inserts 2 space soft tab at the end of a line
-    When I open a new edit tab
-    And tabs are soft, 2 spaces
-    And I replace the contents with "Hacker"
-    And I move the cursor to 6
-    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
-    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "Hacker  "
-    
-  Scenario: Inserts 4 space soft tab at the start of a line
-    When I open a new edit tab
-    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
-    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
-    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    "
-    
-  Scenario: Inserts 4 space soft tab at the end of a line
-    When I open a new edit tab
-    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
-    And I replace the contents with "Hacker"
-    And I move the cursor to 6
-    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
-    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "Hacker  "
-
-  Scenario: Inserts 4 space soft tab at the end of a line, with a tab character
-    When I open a new edit tab
-    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
-    And I replace the contents with "\tHacker"
-    And I move the cursor to 7
-    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
-    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "\tHacker  "
-     
   Scenario: Move left through soft tabs
     When I open a new edit tab
     And tabs are soft, 2 spaces
@@ -290,4 +240,4 @@ Feature: Soft and hard tabs
     And I move the cursor to 0
     And I press the Delete key in the edit tab
     Then the cursor should be at 0
-    
\ No newline at end of file
+    
diff --git a/plugins/edit_view/features/step_definitions/editing_steps.rb b/plugins/edit_view/features/step_definitions/editing_steps.rb
index ac35d513b..3b8f1e45a 100644
--- a/plugins/edit_view/features/step_definitions/editing_steps.rb
+++ b/plugins/edit_view/features/step_definitions/editing_steps.rb
@@ -98,4 +98,21 @@
   Redcar::EditView.focussed_edit_view_document.to_s.should == text
 end
 
+When /^I block select from (\d+) to (\d+)$/ do |from_str, to_str|
+  doc = Redcar::EditView.focussed_edit_view_document
+  doc.block_selection_mode = true
+  doc.set_selection_range(from_str.to_i, to_str.to_i)
+end
+
+Then /^the selection range should be from (\d+) to (\d+)$/ do |from_str, to_str|
+  doc = Redcar::EditView.focussed_edit_view_document
+  doc.block_selection_mode = true
+  r = doc.selection_range
+  r.begin.should == from_str.to_i
+  r.end.should == to_str.to_i
+end
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
  
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/edit_view/features/tabs.feature b/plugins/edit_view/features/tabs.feature
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ff94602b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/edit_view/features/tabs.feature
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+Feature: Insert a tab
+
+  Scenario: Inserts hard tab at the start of a line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are hard
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "\t"
+    
+  Scenario: Inserts hard tab at the end of a line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are hard
+    And I replace the contents with "Hacker"
+    And I move the cursor to 6
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "Hacker\t"
+    
+  Scenario: Inserts 2 space soft tab at the start of a line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 2 spaces
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "  "
+    
+  Scenario: Inserts 2 space soft tab at the end of a line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 2 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Hacker"
+    And I move the cursor to 6
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "Hacker  "
+    
+  Scenario: Inserts 4 space soft tab at the start of a line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    "
+    
+  Scenario: Inserts 4 space soft tab at the end of a line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Hacker"
+    And I move the cursor to 6
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "Hacker  "
+
+  Scenario: Inserts soft tabs correctly if there is selected text
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Ha"
+    And I move the cursor to 0
+    And I press Shift+Right key in the edit tab
+    And I press Shift+Right key in the edit tab
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    "
+
+  Scenario: Inserts hard tabs correctly if there is selected text
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are hard
+    And I replace the contents with "Ha"
+    And I move the cursor to 0
+    And I press Shift+Right key in the edit tab
+    And I press Shift+Right key in the edit tab
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "\t"
+
+  Scenario: Inserts soft tabs correctly if there is selected text that covers a tab
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "H\t"
+    And I move the cursor to 0
+    And I press Shift+Right key in the edit tab
+    And I press Shift+Right key in the edit tab
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    "
+
+  Scenario: Inserts 4 space soft tab at the end of a line, with a tab character
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "\tHacker"
+    And I move the cursor to 7
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "\tHacker  "
+
+  @block_selection
+  Scenario: In block selection mode inserts 4 space soft tab on 1 line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Jim\nHacker"
+    And I block select from 0 to 0
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    Jim\nHacker"
+    And the selection range should be from 4 to 4
+
+  @block_selection
+  Scenario: In block selection mode inserts 4 space soft tab on 2 lines
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Jim\nHacker"
+    And I block select from 0 to 4
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    Jim\n    Hacker"
+    And the selection range should be from 4 to 12
+
+  @block_selection
+  Scenario: In block selection mode inserts 4 space soft tab on 3 lines
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Jim\nHacker\nMP"
+    And I block select from 0 to 11
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    Jim\n    Hacker\n    MP"
+    And the selection range should be from 4 to 23
+
+  @block_selection
+  Scenario: In block selection mode inserts 4 space soft tab overwriting text on 1 line
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Jim\nHacker"
+    And I block select from 0 to 2
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    m\nHacker"
+    And the selection range should be from 4 to 4
+
+  @block_selection
+  Scenario: In block selection mode inserts 4 space soft tab overwriting text on 2 lines
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Jim\nHacker"
+    And I block select from 0 to 6
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    m\n    cker"
+    And the selection range should be from 4 to 10
+
+  @block_selection
+  Scenario: In block selection mode inserts 4 space soft tab overwriting text on 3 lines
+    When I open a new edit tab
+    And tabs are soft, 4 spaces
+    And I replace the contents with "Jim\nHacker\nMP"
+    And I block select from 0 to 13
+    And I press the Tab key in the edit tab
+    Then the contents of the edit tab should be "    m\n    cker\n    "
+    And the selection range should be from 4 to 19
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/actions/tab.rb b/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/actions/tab.rb
index 752a486a5..5bd8ebf45 100644
--- a/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/actions/tab.rb
+++ b/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/actions/tab.rb
@@ -7,11 +7,6 @@ def self.handle(edit_view, modifiers)
           doc = edit_view.document
           if doc.block_selection_mode?
             if edit_view.soft_tabs?
-              line = doc.get_line(doc.cursor_line)
-              width = edit_view.tab_width
-              imaginary_cursor_offset = ArrowHandler.real_offset_to_imaginary(line, width, doc.cursor_line_offset)
-              next_tab_stop_offset = (imaginary_cursor_offset/width + 1)*width
-              insert_string = " "*(next_tab_stop_offset - imaginary_cursor_offset)
               selections = doc.selection_ranges.map do |selection_range|
                 line = doc.line_at_offset(selection_range.begin)
                 line_offset = doc.offset_at_line(line)
@@ -19,16 +14,37 @@ def self.handle(edit_view, modifiers)
                 line_offset_end = selection_range.end - line_offset
                 [line, line_offset_start, line_offset_end]
               end
+              length = 0
+              selections.each do |line, line_offset_start, line_offset_end|
+                line_offset = doc.offset_at_line(line)
+                doc.replace(line_offset + line_offset_start, line_offset_end - line_offset_start, " "*(line_offset_end - line_offset_start))
+                length = line_offset_end - line_offset_start
+              end
+              line = doc.get_line(doc.cursor_line)
+              width = edit_view.tab_width
+              imaginary_cursor_offset = ArrowHandler.real_offset_to_imaginary(line, width, doc.cursor_line_offset)
+              next_tab_stop_offset = (imaginary_cursor_offset/width + 1)*width
+              insert_string = " "*(next_tab_stop_offset - imaginary_cursor_offset)
               selections.each do |line, line_offset_start, line_offset_end|
                 line_offset = doc.offset_at_line(line)
-                doc.delete(line_offset + line_offset_start, line_offset_end - line_offset_start)
                 doc.insert(line_offset + line_offset_start, insert_string)
               end
+              new_selection_ranges = selections.map do |line, line_offset_start, line_offset_end|
+                offset = doc.offset_at_line(line) + line_offset_end + insert_string.length
+                [offset, offset]
+              end
+              doc.set_selection_range(new_selection_ranges.last.last, new_selection_ranges.first.first)
               true
             else
               false
             end
           else
+            if doc.selection?
+              bits = [doc.cursor_offset, doc.selection_offset].sort
+              start = bits.first
+              length = bits.last - bits.first
+              doc.delete(start, length)
+            end
             if edit_view.soft_tabs?
               line = doc.get_line(doc.cursor_line)
               width = edit_view.tab_width
diff --git a/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/document.rb b/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/document.rb
index d09b5f7c4..dc07c0536 100644
--- a/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/document.rb
+++ b/plugins/edit_view/lib/edit_view/document.rb
@@ -115,29 +115,6 @@ def single_line?
       controller.single_line?
     end
     
-    # The line index the cursor is on (zero-based)
-    #
-    # @return [Integer]
-    def cursor_line
-      line_at_offset(cursor_offset)
-    end
-    
-    def cursor_line_start_offset
-      offset_at_line(cursor_line)
-    end
-    
-    def cursor_line_end_offset
-      offset_at_line_end(cursor_line)
-    end
-    
-    def offset_at_line_end(line_ix)
-      if line_ix == line_count - 1
-        end_offset = length
-      else
-        end_offset = offset_at_line(line_ix + 1)
-      end
-    end
-    
     # Is there any text selected? (Or equivalently, is the length
     # of the selection equal to 0)
     #
@@ -239,6 +216,29 @@ def cursor_offset=(offset)
       controller.cursor_offset = offset
     end
     
+    # The line index the cursor is on (zero-based)
+    #
+    # @return [Integer]
+    def cursor_line
+      line_at_offset(cursor_offset)
+    end
+    
+    def cursor_line_start_offset
+      offset_at_line(cursor_line)
+    end
+    
+    def cursor_line_end_offset
+      offset_at_line_end(cursor_line)
+    end
+    
+    def offset_at_line_end(line_ix)
+      if line_ix == line_count - 1
+        end_offset = length
+      else
+        end_offset = offset_at_line(line_ix + 1)
+      end
+    end
+    
     # The range of text selected by the user.
     #
     # @return [Range<Integer>] a range between two character offsets
diff --git a/plugins/edit_view_swt/lib/edit_view_swt/document.rb b/plugins/edit_view_swt/lib/edit_view_swt/document.rb
index d23580ad9..71028c574 100644
--- a/plugins/edit_view_swt/lib/edit_view_swt/document.rb
+++ b/plugins/edit_view_swt/lib/edit_view_swt/document.rb
@@ -91,7 +91,19 @@ def selection_ranges
       end
       
       def set_selection_range(cursor_offset, selection_offset)
-        styledText.set_selection_range(selection_offset, cursor_offset - selection_offset)
+        if block_selection_mode?
+          start_offset, end_offset = *[cursor_offset, selection_offset].sort
+          start_location = styledText.getLocationAtOffset(start_offset)
+          end_location   = styledText.getLocationAtOffset(end_offset)
+          styledText.set_block_selection_bounds(
+            start_location.x, 
+            start_location.y,
+            end_location.x - start_location.x,
+            end_location.y - start_location.y + styledText.get_line_height
+          )
+        else
+          styledText.set_selection_range(selection_offset, cursor_offset - selection_offset)
+        end
         @model.selection_range_changed(cursor_offset, selection_offset)
       end