diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 129d4423e243..a03061422fa6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
 - [Made `Text.compare_to` correctly handle Unicode normalization][3282]
 - [Extend `Text.contains` API to support regex and case insensitive
   search.][3285]
+- [Implemented new `Text.take` and `Text.drop` functions, replacing existing
+  functions][3287]
 
 [debug-shortcuts]:
   https://github.com/enso-org/enso/blob/develop/app/gui/docs/product/shortcuts.md#debug
@@ -75,6 +77,7 @@
 [3283]: https://github.com/enso-org/enso/pull/3283
 [3282]: https://github.com/enso-org/enso/pull/3282
 [3285]: https://github.com/enso-org/enso/pull/3285
+[3287]: https://github.com/enso-org/enso/pull/3287
 
 #### Enso Compiler
 
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Range.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Range.enso
index 093f2d2e2fc8..2d6745125b09 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Range.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Range.enso
@@ -171,3 +171,14 @@ type Range
     to_vector =
         length = Math.max 0 (this.end - this.start)
         Vector.new length (i -> i + this.start)
+
+    ## Does the range contains the specified value
+
+       > Example
+         Check if an index is in the range of a Vector
+
+              vec = ["A", "B", "C", "D", "E"]
+              0.up_to vec.length . contains 3
+    contains : Integer -> Boolean
+    contains value =
+        (this.start <= value) && (this.end > value)
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso
index b9be433ab624..f7f45766c950 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Extensions.enso
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import Standard.Base.Data.Text.Regex
 import Standard.Base.Data.Text.Regex.Mode
 import Standard.Base.Data.Text.Line_Ending_Style
 import Standard.Base.Data.Text.Split_Kind
+import Standard.Base.Data.Text.Text_Sub_Range
 import Standard.Base.Data.Locale
 import Standard.Base.Meta
 
@@ -45,13 +46,10 @@ Text.length : Integer
 Text.length =
     iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
     iterator.setText this
-    nxt = iterator.next
 
     count accum iter = if iter == -1 then accum else
-        counter = accum + 1
-        next_nxt = iterator.next
-        @Tail_Call count counter next_nxt
-    count 0 nxt
+        @Tail_Call count (accum + 1) iterator.next
+    count 0 iterator.next
 
 ## Applies the provided `function` to each character in `this`.
 
@@ -72,15 +70,10 @@ Text.each function =
     iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
     iterator.setText this
 
-    fst = iterator.first
-    nxt = iterator.next
-
     iterate prev nxt = if nxt == -1 then Nothing else
         function (Text_Utils.substring this prev nxt)
-        next_nxt = iterator.next
-        @Tail_Call iterate nxt next_nxt
-    iterate fst nxt
-    Nothing
+        @Tail_Call iterate nxt iterator.next
+    iterate iterator.first iterator.next
 
 ## ALIAS Get Character
 
@@ -112,17 +105,10 @@ Text.at index =
         False ->
             iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
             iterator.setText this
-
-            loop prev next count = if count == index then (Text_Utils.substring this prev next) else
-                next_next = iterator.next
-                if next_next == -1 then count else
-                    @Tail_Call loop next next_next (count + 1)
-
-            first = iterator.next
-            result = if (first == -1) then 0 else (loop 0 first 0)
-            case result of
-                Integer -> Error.throw (Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error index result)
-                _ -> result
+            first = iterator.next index
+            next = if first == -1 then -1 else iterator.next
+            if (next == -1) then (Error.throw (Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error index this.length)) else
+                Text_Utils.substring this first next
 
 ## ALIAS Get Characters
 
@@ -850,106 +836,116 @@ Text.repeat : Integer -> Text
 Text.repeat count =
     0.up_to count . fold "" acc-> _-> acc + this
 
-## Creates a new text by removing the first `count` characters of `this`,
-   returning an empty text if `count` is greater than or equal to the length of
-   `this`.
-
-   Arguments:
-   - count: The number of characters to remove from the start of `this`.
-
-   ! What is a Character?
-     A character is defined as an Extended Grapheme Cluster, see Unicode
-     Standard Annex 29. This is the smallest unit that still has semantic
-     meaning in most text-processing applications.
-
-   > Example
-     Removing the first three characters from the text "ABBA".
-
-         "ABBA".drop_first 3
-Text.drop_first : Integer -> Text
-Text.drop_first count =
-    iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
-    iterator.setText this
-    iterator.first
-    boundary = iterator.next count
-    if boundary == -1 then '' else Text_Utils.drop_first this boundary
-
-## Creates a new text by removing the last `count` characters of `this`,
-   returning an empty text if `count` is greater than or equal to the length of
-   `this`.
-
-   Arguments:
-   - count: The number of characters to remove from the end of `this`.
-
-   ! What is a Character?
-     A character is defined as an Extended Grapheme Cluster, see Unicode
-     Standard Annex 29. This is the smallest unit that still has semantic
-     meaning in most text-processing applications.
-
-   > Example
-     Removing the last three characters from the text "ABBA".
-
-         "ABBA".drop_last 3
-Text.drop_last : Integer -> Text
-Text.drop_last count =
-    iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
-    iterator.setText this
-    iterator.last
-    boundary = iterator.next -count
-    if boundary == -1 then '' else Text_Utils.substring this 0 boundary
-
-## Creates a new text by selecting the first `count` characters of `this`,
-   returning `this` if `count` is greater than or equal to the length of `this`.
+## PRIVATE
+   Utility function taking a range pointing at grapheme clusters and converting to a range on the underlying code points
+range_to_char_indices : Text -> Range -> Range ! Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+range_to_char_indices text range =
+    len = text.length
+    start = if range.start < 0 then range.start + len else range.start
+    end = if range.end == Nothing then len else (if range.end < 0 then range.end + len else range.end)
+    is_valid = (Range 0 len+1).contains
+
+    case (Pair (is_valid start) (is_valid end)) of
+        Pair False _ -> Error.throw (Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error range.start len)
+        Pair True False -> Error.throw (Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error range.end len)
+        Pair True True ->
+            if start>=end then (Range 0 0) else
+                iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
+                iterator.setText text
+
+                start_index = iterator.next start
+                end_index = iterator.next (end - start)
+                Range start_index end_index
+
+## ALIAS first, last, left, right, mid, substring
+   Creates a new Text by selecting the specified range of the input.
+
+   This can select a section of text from the beginning, end, or middle of the
+   input using various criteria defined by the range parameter.
 
    Arguments:
-   - count: The number of characters to take from the start of `this`.
-
-   ! What is a Character?
-     A character is defined as an Extended Grapheme Cluster, see Unicode
-     Standard Annex 29. This is the smallest unit that still has semantic
-     meaning in most text-processing applications.
-
-   > Example
-     Make a new text from the first two characters of "boo".
-
-         "boo".take_first 2
-Text.take_first : Integer -> Text
-Text.take_first count =
-    iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
-    iterator.setText this
-    iterator.first
-    boundary = iterator.next count
-    if boundary == -1 then this else Text_Utils.substring this 0 boundary
-
-## Creates a new text by selecting the last `count` characters of `this`,
-   returning `this` if `count` is greater than or equal to the length of `this`.
+   - range: The section of the this text to return.
+     If a `Text_Sub_Range`, then the selection is interpreted following the rules of that type.
+     If a `Range`, the selection is specified by two indices, from and to.
+
+   Returns:
+   The part of the input as specified by the range parameter.
+
+   > Examples
+     Various different ways to take part of "Hello World!"
+
+         "Hello World!".take First.new == "H"
+         "Hello World!".take (First 5) == "Hello"
+         "Hello World!".take (First 0) == ""
+         "Hello World!".take Last.new == "!"
+         "Hello World!".take (Last 6) == "World!"
+         "Hello World!".take (Before " ") == "Hello"
+         "Hello World!".take (Before_Last "o") == "Hello W"
+         "Hello World!".take (After " ") == "World!"
+         "Hello World!".take (After_Last "o") == "rld!"
+         "Hello World!".take (While c->c!=" ") == "Hello"
+         "Hello World!".take (Range 3 5) == "lo"
+         "Hello World!".take (Range -3 -1) == "ld"
+         "Hello World!".take (Range -3 Nothing) == "ld!"
+         "Hello World!".take (Range 5 Nothing) == " World!"
+         "Hello World!".take (Range 5 12) == " World!"
+         "Hello World!".take (Range 12 12) == ""
+Text.take : (Text_Sub_Range | Range) -> Text ! Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+Text.take range =
+    char_range = case range of
+        Range _ _ -> here.range_to_char_indices this range
+        _ -> range.to_char_range this
+    if char_range.is_error then char_range else
+        Text_Utils.substring this char_range.start char_range.end
+
+## Creates a new Text by removing the specified range of the input.
+
+   This can select a section of text from the beginning, end, or middle of the
+   input using various criteria defined by the range parameter.
 
    Arguments:
-   - count: The number of characters to take from the end of `this`.
-
-   ! What is a Character?
-     A character is defined as an Extended Grapheme Cluster, see Unicode
-     Standard Annex 29. This is the smallest unit that still has semantic
-     meaning in most text-processing applications.
-
-   > Example
-     Make a new text from the last two characters of "boo".
-
-         "boo".take_last 2
-Text.take_last : Integer -> Text
-Text.take_last count =
-    iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
-    iterator.setText this
-    iterator.last
-    boundary = iterator.next -count
-    if boundary == -1 then this else Text_Utils.drop_first this boundary
+   - range: The section of the this text to return.
+     If a `Text_Sub_Range`, then the selection is interpreted following the rules of that type.
+     If a `Range`, the selection is specified by two indices, from and to.
+
+   Returns:
+   The part of the input as specified by the range parameter.
+
+   > Examples
+     Various different ways to take part of "Hello World!"
+
+         "Hello World!".drop First.new == "ello World!"
+         "Hello World!".drop (First 5) == " World!"
+         "Hello World!".drop (First 0) == "Hello World!"
+         "Hello World!".drop Last.new == "Hello World"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Last 6) == "Hello "
+         "Hello World!".drop (Before " ") == " World!"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Before_Last "o") == "orld!"
+         "Hello World!".drop (After " ") == "Hello "
+         "Hello World!".drop (After_Last "o") == "Hello Wo"
+         "Hello World!".drop (While c->c!=" ") == " World!"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Range 3 5) == "Hel World!"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Range -3 -1) == "Hello Wor!"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Range -3 Nothing) == "Hello Wor"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Range 5 Nothing) == "Hello"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Range 5 12) == "Hello"
+         "Hello World!".drop (Range 12 12) == "Hello World!"
+Text.drop : (Text_Sub_Range | Range) -> Text ! Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+Text.drop range =
+    char_range = case range of
+        Range _ _ -> here.range_to_char_indices this range
+        _ -> range.to_char_range this
+    if char_range.start == 0 then Text_Utils.drop_first this char_range.end else
+        prefix = Text_Utils.substring this 0 char_range.start
+        if char_range.end == (Text_Utils.char_length this) then prefix else
+            prefix + Text_Utils.drop_first this char_range.end
 
 ## ALIAS Lower Case
 
    Converts each character in `this` to lower case.
 
    Arguments:
-   - locale: specifies the locale for charater case mapping. Defaults to the
+   - locale: specifies the locale for character case mapping. Defaults to the
      `Locale.default` locale.
 
    ! What is a Character?
@@ -978,7 +974,7 @@ Text.to_lower_case locale=Locale.default =
    Converts each character in `this` to upper case.
 
    Arguments:
-   - locale: specifies the locale for charater case mapping. Defaults to
+   - locale: specifies the locale for character case mapping. Defaults to
      `Locale.default`.
 
    ! What is a Character?
@@ -1001,4 +997,3 @@ Text.to_lower_case locale=Locale.default =
 Text.to_upper_case : Locale.Locale -> Text
 Text.to_upper_case locale=Locale.default =
     UCharacter.toUpperCase locale.java_locale this
-
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Text_Sub_Range.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Text_Sub_Range.enso
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ffa8724ab0ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Base/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Text/Text_Sub_Range.enso
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+from Standard.Base import all
+from Standard.Base.Data.Text.Extensions import Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+
+polyglot java import com.ibm.icu.text.BreakIterator
+polyglot java import org.enso.base.Text_Utils
+
+## Type defining a substring of a Text
+type Text_Sub_Range
+    ## Select the first `count` characters.
+       Select an empty string if `count` is less than or equal to 0.
+       Select the entire string if `count` is greater than the length of the input.
+    type First (count : Integer = 1)
+
+    ## Select the last `count` characters.
+       Select an empty string if `count` is less than or equal to 0.
+       Select the entire string if `count` is greater than the length of the input.
+    type Last (count : Integer = 1)
+
+    ## Select characters until the first instance of `delimiter`.
+       Select an empty string if `delimiter` is empty.
+       Select the entire string if the input does not contain `delimiter`.
+    type Before (delimiter : Text)
+
+    ## Select characters until the last instance of `delimiter`.
+       Select an empty string if `delimiter` is empty.
+       Select the entire string if the input does not contain `delimiter`.
+    type Before_Last (delimiter : Text)
+
+    ## Select characters after the first instance of `delimiter`.
+       Select an empty string if the input does not contain `delimiter`.
+    type After (delimiter : Text)
+
+    ## Select characters after the last instance of `delimiter`.
+       Select an empty string if the input does not contain `delimiter`.
+    type After_Last (delimiter : Text)
+
+    ## Select characters while the predicate returns `True`.
+    type While (predicate : (Text -> Boolean))
+
+    ## PRIVATE
+       Finds code-point indices corresponding to the part of the input matching the `Text_Sub_Range`.
+    to_char_range : Text -> Range
+    to_char_range text =
+
+        ## Utility function to find char indices for Text_Sub_Range.
+           Arguments:
+           - text: Text to search
+           - predicate: Function to test each character, receives:
+             - index: current index
+             - start: index the char array to start of grapheme cluster
+             - end: index the char array to start of next grapheme cluster
+             If the predicate returns True for a given character, the loop will exit.
+           Returns: either a Pair of char indices for current grapheme cluster or
+             Pair -1 (char array length) if not found.
+        find_sub_range_end = text->predicate->
+            iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
+            iterator.setText text
+
+            loop index start end =
+                if end == -1 then (Pair -1 start) else
+                    if predicate index start end then (Pair start end) else
+                        @Tail_Call loop (index + 1) end iterator.next
+
+            loop 0 0 iterator.next
+
+        case this of
+            First count ->
+                if count <= 0 then (Range 0 0) else
+                    iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
+                    iterator.setText text
+                    start_index = iterator.next count
+                    Range 0 (if start_index == -1 then (Text_Utils.char_length text) else start_index)
+            Last count ->
+                if count <= 0 then (Range 0 0) else
+                    first_count = text.length - count
+                    iterator = BreakIterator.getCharacterInstance
+                    iterator.setText text
+                    start_index = iterator.next first_count
+                    Range (if start_index == -1 then 0 else start_index) (Text_Utils.char_length text)
+            Before delimiter ->
+                if delimiter.is_empty then (Range 0 0) else
+                    index = Text_Utils.index_of text delimiter
+                    if index == -1 then (Range 0 (Text_Utils.char_length text)) else
+                        (Range 0 index)
+            Before_Last delimiter ->
+                if delimiter.is_empty then (Range 0 (Text_Utils.char_length text)) else
+                    index = Text_Utils.last_index_of text delimiter
+                    if index == -1 then (Range 0 (Text_Utils.char_length text)) else
+                        (Range 0 index)
+            After delimiter ->
+                if delimiter.is_empty then (Range 0 (Text_Utils.char_length text)) else
+                    index = Text_Utils.index_of text delimiter
+                    if index == -1 then (Range 0 0) else
+                        (Range (index + Text_Utils.char_length delimiter) (Text_Utils.char_length text))
+            After_Last delimiter ->
+                if delimiter.is_empty then (Range 0 0) else
+                    index = Text_Utils.last_index_of text delimiter
+                    if index == -1 then (Range 0 0) else
+                        (Range (index + Text_Utils.char_length delimiter) (Text_Utils.char_length text))
+            While predicate ->
+                indices = find_sub_range_end text _-> start-> end->
+                    predicate (Text_Utils.substring text start end) . not
+                if indices.first == -1 then (Range 0 indices.second) else
+                    Range 0 indices.first
+
+## UNSTABLE
+   A temporary workaround to allow the `First` constructor to work with default
+   arguments.
+
+   It is needed, because there are issues with relying on default arguments of
+   Atom constructors, as described in the following issue:
+   https://github.com/enso-org/enso/issues/1600
+   Once that issue is fixed, it can be removed.
+First.new : Integer -> First
+First.new (count = 1) = First count
+
+## UNSTABLE
+   A temporary workaround to allow the `Last` constructor to work with default
+   arguments.
+
+   It is needed, because there are issues with relying on default arguments of
+   Atom constructors, as described in the following issue:
+   https://github.com/enso-org/enso/issues/1600
+   Once that issue is fixed, it can be removed.
+Last.new : Integer -> Last
+Last.new (count = 1) = Last count
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Column_Mapping.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Column_Mapping.enso
index d21561917f03..471be9540c5c 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Column_Mapping.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Column_Mapping.enso
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ type Column_Mapping
 
     ## Selects columns by position starting at the first column until the
        new_names is exhausted.
-    type By_Position (new_names : Vector Text)
+    type By_Position (new_names : [Text])
 
 ## UNSTABLE
    A temporary workaround to allow the By_Name constructor to work with default arguments.
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Table.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Table.enso
index 4bfc2410c8fd..370eae07a6f8 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Table.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Data/Table.enso
@@ -257,9 +257,9 @@ type Table
          - If duplicate columns, names or indices are provided, a
            `Duplicate_Column_Selectors`.
          - If a column index is out of range, a `Column_Indexes_Out_Of_Range`.
-         - If two distinct indices would refer to the same column, a
-           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, indicating that the additional
-           indices will not introduce additional columns.
+         - If two distinct indices refer to the same column, an
+           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, with the column included the first
+           time it is matched.
          - If there are no columns in the output table, a `No_Output_Columns`.
        - warnings: A `Warning_System` instance specifying how to handle
          warnings. This is a temporary workaround to allow for testing the
@@ -311,9 +311,9 @@ type Table
          - If duplicate columns, names or indices are provided, a
            `Duplicate_Column_Selectors`.
          - If a column index is out of range, a `Column_Indexes_Out_Of_Range`.
-         - If two distinct indices would refer to the same column, a
-           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, indicating that the additional
-           indices will not introduce additional columns.
+         - If two distinct indices refer to the same column, an
+           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, with the column included the first
+           time it is matched.
          - If there are no columns in the output table, a `No_Output_Columns`.
        - warnings: A `Warning_System` instance specifying how to handle
          warnings. This is a temporary workaround to allow for testing the
@@ -366,9 +366,9 @@ type Table
          - If duplicate columns, names or indices are provided, a
            `Duplicate_Column_Selectors`.
          - If a column index is out of range, a `Column_Indexes_Out_Of_Range`.
-         - If two distinct indices would refer to the same column, a
-           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, indicating that the additional
-           indices will not introduce additional columns.
+         - If two distinct indices refer to the same column, an
+           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, with the column included the first
+           time it is matched.
        - warnings: A `Warning_System` instance specifying how to handle
          warnings. This is a temporary workaround to allow for testing the
          warning mechanism. Once the proper warning system is implemented, this
@@ -449,9 +449,10 @@ type Table
          - If duplicate columns, names or indices are provided, a
            `Duplicate_Column_Selectors`.
          - If a column index is out of range, a `Column_Indexes_Out_Of_Range`.
-         - If two distinct indices would refer to the same column, a
-           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, indicating that the additional
-           indices will not introduce additional columns.
+         - If two distinct indices refer to the same column, an
+           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`.
+         - If in `By_Position` mode and more names than columns are provided,
+           a `Too_Many_Column_Names_Provided`.
          - If any of the new names are invalid, an
            `Invalid_Output_Column_Names`.
          - If any of the new names clash either with existing names or each
@@ -481,14 +482,6 @@ type Table
          them as warnings by default.
 
          The following problems can occur:
-         - If a column in columns is not in the input table, a
-           `Missing_Input_Columns`.
-         - If duplicate columns, names or indices are provided, a
-           `Duplicate_Column_Selectors`.
-         - If a column index is out of range, a `Column_Indexes_Out_Of_Range`.
-         - If two distinct indices would refer to the same column, a
-           `Input_Indices_Already_Matched`, indicating that the additional
-           indices will not introduce additional columns.
          - If any of the new names are invalid, an
            `Invalid_Output_Column_Names`.
          - If any of the new names clash either with existing names or each
diff --git a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Error.enso b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Error.enso
index 3167ffaee9f7..076a9b141c5b 100644
--- a/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Error.enso
+++ b/distribution/lib/Standard/Table/0.0.0-dev/src/Error.enso
@@ -56,13 +56,12 @@ Duplicate_Column_Selectors.to_display_text : Text
 Duplicate_Column_Selectors.to_display_text =
     "The provided Column_Selector has duplicate entries: "+this.duplicate_selectors.short_display_text+"."
 
-## Indicates that the provided indices matched columns which were already
-   matched by other indices, so they do not introduce any new columns to the
-   input.
+## Indicates that the provided indices matched columns already matched by
+   others, so they do not introduce any new columns to the input.
 
-   For example, if the table has only one column, then selecting
-   `By_Index [0, -1]` will only yield this single column and
-   `Input_Indices_Already_Matched [-1]` will be raised.
+  For example, if the table has only one column, then selecting
+  `By_Index [0, -1]` will only yield this single column and
+  `Input_Indices_Already_Matched [-1]` will be raised.
 type Input_Indices_Already_Matched (indices : [Integer])
 
 Input_Indices_Already_Matched.to_display_text : Text
diff --git a/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/Text_Utils.java b/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/Text_Utils.java
index 6e8a7e11d257..bdc2215730a6 100644
--- a/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/Text_Utils.java
+++ b/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/Text_Utils.java
@@ -221,6 +221,50 @@ public static String replace(String str, String oldSequence, String newSequence)
     return str.replace(oldSequence, newSequence);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Gets the length of char array of a string
+   *
+   * @param str the string to measure
+   * @return length of the string
+   */
+  public static long char_length(String str) {
+    return str.length();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Find the first index of needle in the haystack
+   *
+   * @param haystack the string to search
+   * @param needle the substring that is searched for
+   * @return index of the first needle or -1 if not found.
+   */
+  public static long index_of(String haystack, String needle) {
+    StringSearch search = new StringSearch(needle, haystack);
+    int pos = search.first();
+    return pos == StringSearch.DONE ? -1 : pos;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Find the last index of needle in the haystack
+   *
+   * @param haystack the string to search
+   * @param needle the substring that is searched for
+   * @return index of the last needle or -1 if not found.
+   */
+  public static long last_index_of(String haystack, String needle) {
+    StringSearch search = new StringSearch(needle, haystack);
+    int pos = search.first();
+    if (pos == StringSearch.DONE) {
+      return -1;
+    }
+
+    for (int next = search.next(); next != StringSearch.DONE; next = search.next()) {
+      pos = next;
+    }
+
+    return pos;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Normalizes the string to its canonical Unicode form using NFD decomposition.
    *
diff --git a/test/Tests/src/Data/Range_Spec.enso b/test/Tests/src/Data/Range_Spec.enso
index 0f4b183dc11f..358848cc1132 100644
--- a/test/Tests/src/Data/Range_Spec.enso
+++ b/test/Tests/src/Data/Range_Spec.enso
@@ -45,3 +45,15 @@ spec = Test.group "Range" <|
         1.up_to 10 . find (> 10) . should_be_a Nothing
     Test.specify "should allow conversion to vector" <|
         1.up_to 6 . to_vector . should_equal [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
+
+    Test.specify "should allow checking if a value is in the range"
+        0.up_to 10 . contains 5 . should_be_true
+        0.up_to 10 . contains 0 . should_be_true
+        0.up_to 10 . contains 9 . should_be_true
+        0.up_to 10 . contains 10 . should_be_false
+        0.up_to 0 . contains 10 . should_be_false
+        0.up_to 0 . contains 0 . should_be_false
+        3.up_to 5 . contains 2 . should_be_false
+        0.up_to 10 . contains -3 . should_be_false
+
+main = Test.Suite.run_main here.spec
diff --git a/test/Tests/src/Data/Text_Spec.enso b/test/Tests/src/Data/Text_Spec.enso
index 88d3734c1c73..358fb845b535 100644
--- a/test/Tests/src/Data/Text_Spec.enso
+++ b/test/Tests/src/Data/Text_Spec.enso
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from Standard.Base.Data.Text.Extensions import Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
 import Standard.Base.Data.Text.Regex.Engine.Default as Default_Engine
 import Standard.Base.Data.Locale
 import Standard.Base.Data.Text.Split_Kind
+from Standard.Base.Data.Text.Text_Sub_Range import all
 import Standard.Test
 
 type Auto a
@@ -154,10 +155,148 @@ spec =
 
         Test.specify "should allow selecting substrings by characters" <|
             txt = kshi + facepalm + accent_1 + accent_2
-            txt.take_first 2 . should_equal (kshi + facepalm)
-            txt.drop_first 2 . should_equal (accent_1 + accent_2)
-            txt.take_last  2 . should_equal (accent_1 + accent_2)
-            txt.drop_last  2 . should_equal (kshi + facepalm)
+            txt.take (First 2) . should_equal (kshi + facepalm)
+            txt.drop (First 2) . should_equal (accent_1 + accent_2)
+            txt.take (Last 2) . should_equal (accent_1 + accent_2)
+            txt.drop (Last 2) . should_equal (kshi + facepalm)
+
+        Test.specify "take should work as in the examples" <|
+            "Hello World!".take First.new . should_equal "H"
+            "Hello World!".take (First 5) . should_equal "Hello"
+            "Hello World!".take (First 100) . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (First 0) . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".take Last.new . should_equal "!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Last 6) . should_equal "World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Last 100) . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Before " ") . should_equal "Hello"
+            "Hello World!".take (Before "z") . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Before_Last "o") . should_equal "Hello W"
+            "Hello World!".take (Before_Last "z") . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (After " ") . should_equal "World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (After "z") . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".take (After_Last "o") . should_equal "rld!"
+            "Hello World!".take (After_Last "z") . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".take (While c->c!=" ") . should_equal "Hello"
+            "Hello World!".take (While c->c!="z") . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Range 3 5) . should_equal "lo"
+            "Hello World!".take (Range -3 -1) . should_equal "ld"
+            "Hello World!".take (Range -3 Nothing) . should_equal "ld!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Range 5 Nothing) . should_equal " World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Range 5 12) . should_equal " World!"
+            "Hello World!".take (Range 12 12) . should_equal ""
+
+        Test.specify "take should report Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error for invalid Ranges" <|
+            "Hello World!".take (Range 0 14) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+            "Hello World!".take (Range 13 12) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+            "Hello World!".take (Range -13 10) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+            "Hello World!".take (Range 0 -20) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+
+        Test.specify "take should work on grapheme clusters" <|
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (First 2) . should_equal 'He\u{302}'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (First 5) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308}'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (Last 6) . should_equal 'Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (Last 5) . should_equal 'o\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (Before 'e\u{302}') . should_equal 'H'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (Before 'e') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Before_Last 'o\u{308}') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} W'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Before_Last 'o') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (After 'e\u{302}') . should_equal 'llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (After 'e\u{308}') . should_equal ''
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.take (After 'e') . should_equal ''
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (After_Last 'o\u{308}') . should_equal 'rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (After_Last 'o') . should_equal ''
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (While c->c!='e\u{302}') . should_equal 'H'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (While c->c!='e') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Range 3 5) . should_equal 'lo\u{308}'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Range -3 -1) . should_equal 'ld'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Range -3 Nothing) . should_equal 'ld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Range 5 Nothing) . should_equal ' Wo\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Range 5 12) . should_equal ' Wo\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.take (Range 12 12) . should_equal ''
+
+        Test.specify "take should work on emojis" <|
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.take First.new . should_equal '✨'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.take (First 2) . should_equal '✨🚀'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.take Last.new . should_equal '☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.take (Last 3) . should_equal '😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (Before '😍') . should_equal '✨🚀🚧'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (Before_Last '😍') . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍😃'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (After '😍') . should_equal '😃😍😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (After_Last '😍') . should_equal '😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (While c->c!="😃") . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (Range 3 6) . should_equal '😍😃😍'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (Range 3 Nothing) . should_equal '😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (Range -3 Nothing) . should_equal '😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.take (Range -3 -1) . should_equal '😙😉'
+
+        Test.specify "drop should work as in the examples" <|
+            "Hello World!".drop First.new . should_equal "ello World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (First 5) . should_equal " World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (First 100) . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".drop (First 0) . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop Last.new . should_equal "Hello World"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Last 6) . should_equal "Hello "
+            "Hello World!".drop (Last 100) . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".drop (Before " ") . should_equal " World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Before "z") . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".drop (Before_Last "o") . should_equal "orld!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Before_Last "z") . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".drop (After " ") . should_equal "Hello "
+            "Hello World!".drop (After "z") . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (After_Last "o") . should_equal "Hello Wo"
+            "Hello World!".drop (After_Last "z") . should_equal "Hello World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (While c->c!=" ") . should_equal " World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (While c->c!="z") . should_equal ""
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range 3 5) . should_equal "Hel World!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range -3 -1) . should_equal "Hello Wor!"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range -3 Nothing) . should_equal "Hello Wor"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range 5 Nothing) . should_equal "Hello"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range 5 12) . should_equal "Hello"
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range 12 12) . should_equal "Hello World!"
+
+        Test.specify "drop should report Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error for invalid Ranges" <|
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range 0 14) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range 13 12) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range -13 10) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+            "Hello World!".drop (Range 0 -20) . should_fail_with Index_Out_Of_Bounds_Error
+
+        Test.specify "drop should work on grapheme clusters" <|
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (First 2) . should_equal 'llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (First 5) . should_equal ' Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (Last 6) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} '
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (Last 5) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} W'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (Before 'e\u{302}') . should_equal 'e\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (Before 'e') . should_equal ''
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Before_Last 'o\u{308}') . should_equal 'o\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Before_Last 'o') . should_equal ''
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (After 'e\u{302}') . should_equal 'He\u{302}'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (After 'e\u{308}') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'.drop (After 'e') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{301}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (After_Last 'o\u{308}') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (After_Last 'o') . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (While c->c!='e\u{302}') . should_equal 'e\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (While c->c!='e') . should_equal ''
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Range 3 5) . should_equal 'He\u{302}l Wo\u{308}rld!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Range -3 -1) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}r!'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Range -3 Nothing) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}r'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Range 5 Nothing) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308}'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Range 5 12) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308}'
+            'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'.drop (Range 12 12) . should_equal 'He\u{302}llo\u{308} Wo\u{308}rld!'
+
+        Test.specify "drop should work on emojis" <|
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.drop First.new . should_equal '🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.drop (First 2) . should_equal '🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.drop Last.new . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎😙😉☺'.drop (Last 3) . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍😃😎'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (Before '😍') . should_equal '😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (Before_Last '😍') . should_equal '😍😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (After '😍') . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (After_Last '😍') . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (While c->c!="😃") . should_equal '😃😍😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (Range 3 6) . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😎😙😉☺'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (Range 3 Nothing) . should_equal '✨🚀🚧'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (Range -3 Nothing) . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎'
+            '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎😙😉☺'.drop (Range -3 -1) . should_equal '✨🚀🚧😍😃😍😎☺'
 
         Test.specify "should correctly convert character case" <|
             "FooBar Baz".to_lower_case.should_equal "foobar baz"
diff --git a/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Meta_Spec.enso b/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Meta_Spec.enso
index c717189cb405..24644db5d1a0 100644
--- a/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Meta_Spec.enso
+++ b/test/Tests/src/Semantic/Meta_Spec.enso
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from Standard.Base import all
 import Standard.Base.System.Platform
+from Standard.Base.Data.Text.Text_Sub_Range import Last
 
 import Standard.Test
 
@@ -80,8 +81,8 @@ spec = Test.group "Meta-Value Manipulation" <|
         _ -> Nothing
     Test.specify "should allow to get the source location of a frame" pending=location_pending <|
         src = Meta.get_source_location 0
-        loc = "Meta_Spec.enso:82:15-40"
-        src.take_last loc.length . should_equal loc
+        loc = "Meta_Spec.enso:83:15-40"
+        src.take (Last loc.length) . should_equal loc
 
     Test.specify "should allow to get qualified type names of values" <|
         x = 42