10.Copy and Paste

60. Delete, Yank, and Put with Vim's Unnamed Register

Vim’s delete, yank, and put commands are designed to make common tasks easy by default. We’ll study a few problems that can easily be solved using Vim’s unnamed register, and then we’ll finish by looking at a task that requires a better understanding of how Vim’s registers work.

In Tip 61, Grok Vim's Registers, we’ll see that Vim has multiple registers, and we can specify which ones we want to use. But let’s start off by looking at what can be done using the unnamed register.

• xp "Transpose the next two characters"
• ddp "Transpose the order of this line and its successor"
• yyp duplicate the current line

Done by the unnamed register, but won't work if the unnamed register gets overwritten by diw

61. Grok Vim's Register

Addressing a Register

"{register} specify which register we want to use

• "ayw yank the current word into register a
• "ayy yank the current line into register a
• "bdd cut the current line into register b
• "ap paste the word from register a
• "bp paste the line from register b

The Unnamed Register

无名寄存器

"" see :h quote_quote

The x and d{motion} are usually referred to as "delete" commands. This is a misnomer. It's better to think of them as "cut" commands.

The Yank Register

复制寄存器 删除、剪切寄存器

"0 see :h quote0

• ""p

• "0p

• p

• Numbered register 0 contains the text from the most recent yank command

• Numbered register 1 contains the text deleted by the most recent delete or change command

• With each successive deletion or change, Vim shifts the previous contents of register 1 into register 2, 2 into 3, and so forth, losing the previous contents of register 9

:reg inspect the contents of unnamed and yank registers

The Named Registers

具名寄存器

"a-"z see :h quote_alpha

• "ad{motion}

• "ay{motion}

• "ap

• lowercase letter, it overwrites the specified register

• uppercase letter, it appends to the specified register

The Black Hole Register

黑洞寄存器

"_ see :h quote_

• "_d{motion} deletes without saving a copy

The System Clipboard and Selection Registers

系统剪贴板寄存器

"+ system clipboard, see :h quote+"* primary, see :h quotestar

In Windows and Mac OS X, there is no primary clipboard, so we can use the "+ and "* registers interchangeably: they both represent the system clipboard.

The Expression Register

表达式寄存器

"= see :h quote=

Read and test the examples in the book.

More Registers

We can set the contents of the named, unnamed, and yank registers explicitly using the delete and yank commands.

Read-only registers (:h quote.)

• "% Name of the current file
• "# Name of the alternate file
• ". Last inserted text
• ": Last Ex command
• "/ Last search pattern

62. Replace a Visual Selection with a Register

63. Paste from a Register

The Normal mode put command can behave differently, depending on the nature of the text that is being inserted. It can be helpful to adopt different strategies, depending on whether we're pasting a line-wise or a character-wise region of text.

Pasting Character-wise Regions

Pasting Line-wise Regions

Discussion

The p and P commands are great for pasting multiline regions of text. But for short sections of character-wise text, the <C-r>{register} mapping can be more intuitive.

64. Interact with the System Clipboard

Besides Vim's built-in put commands, we can sometimes use the system paste command. However, using this can occasionally produce unexpected results when running Vim inside a terminal. We can avoid these issues by enabling the 'paste' option before using the system paste command.

Preparation

Locating the System Paste Command

Using the System Paste Command in Insert Mode

Avoid Toggling 'paste' by Putting from the Plus Register