A common thing I want to do is yank "some text" and then use it to change "some other text".
So I cursor to some text and then yi" to grab the some text. How do I now replace some other text? If I do di" then my copy paste register gets overwritten with some other text. I know I can use named registers, but my problem is my muscle memory has already done yi". Is there any way I can override the default behaviour of either y or d?
"Unnamed" register in Vim is not a real register, but a pointer to a register last used. It's even implemented in Vim's source code as a pointer (or to be more precise, as an index into register array).
So the yanked text does not get really overwritten by "delete" command, as "yank" by default uses register "zero", while "delete" uses either "one" or "minus".
Hence you can always put the last yanked text by pressing "0p.
You could remap the d key to perform a deletion into the blackhole register "_:
nnoremap d "_d
You need to use one of the noremap versions such that it doesn't go into an infinite loop.
Related
In vim I copied the string ABCD to my clipboard. Now I want to replace certain words in a paragraph of text by doing c-e (this deletes and immediately puts me in insert mode). But when I paste it will paste the thing I just cut overriding my ABCD.
One solution I came up with is:
c-e
ctrl-o
"0P
But that just seems way too long. Is there a faster alternative to that?
While copying a string, place the cursor at the start of the string, then type
"ayw
where "a means the name of the register(its like a storage) and yw means copy(yank) the word into that register.
There are 26 registers, one for each letter of the alphabet.
When you want to paste the content, type
"ap
where p means to paste. Then use the vim repeat command . to repeat last action
You can store strings in different registers and paste them whenever u want.
to set contents of all registers type
:reg
For more information go to
Using Vim's named registers
Vim registers: The basics and beyond
Vim tips and tricks
You can use yankstack, which simplifies your use case.
This make it easy to cycle against your yank buffer when you paste.
I've personally remapped the keys to space (my leader key).
Here is an extract of my .vimrc:
if &runtimepath =~ 'vim-yankstack'
let g:yankstack_map_keys = 0
nmap <leader>p <Plug>yankstack_substitute_older_paste
nmap <leader>P <Plug>yankstack_substitute_newer_paste
endif
In your case, you just press space p right after having pasted your text. This will replace the word pasted with the last entry in your buffer. You can repeat pressingspace p if you need to go deeper in the history.
Use the "stamping" approach; this allows you to stay in normal mode and is just one keystroke. Add this mapping:
nnoremap S diw"0P
Then press S to "stamp" over any word your cursor is on with what you've yanked.
So, an example of the full routine:
1. ye
2. <move cursor over the word you wish to replace with the yank>
3. S
And, of course, if S is used, chose something else, e.g. ww.
This is a well known approach; see this documentation for variations and details: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Replace_a_word_with_yanked_text.
The last thing you yanked is always available in register 0 so, in your case, you only have to do:
<C-e><C-r>0<Esc>
See :help i_ctrl-r.
But yeah, there's a much simpler way for one-off puts:
vep
or, if you need to do those changes several times:
ve"0p
When editing in vim, often enough I find myself stopping when I'm going to delete text and I notice that previously yanked text would become handy for next operations.
So - how to move already yanked text into particular register (e.g. under a)?
To move register 0 to register a:
:let #a=#0
You can use something like:
noremap <leader>ma :let #a=#<CR>
Now, when you press \ma in normal mode, your last yanked text will go to register 'a'.
Note : Assuming leader is '\'
You could also use the 0 register, if you only need it for a short amount of time. From :help quote_number (just below :help registers):
2. Numbered registers "0 to "9
Vim fills these registers with text from yank and delete commands.
Numbered register 0 contains the text from the most recent yank command,
unless the command specified another register with ["x].
(link to the rest)
Alternatively, you can delete text to the devnull registry with "_d (actually it is called the blackhole registry). See :help quote_. No need then to move registers, your previously yanked text will still be available with p.
I've recently stumbled upon this useful feature:
nnoremap D "_d
Allowing me to do "Dd" or "D$" in order to delete things without overriding the default buffer. However,
nnoremap V "_v
doesn't seem to do the trick when I try and replace text by selecting and pasting over it.
Any suggestions on how I accomplish that?
Thanks in advance.
I don't quite understand what you are trying to achieve.
d is an operator, so you can decide to put the result of the delete operation into a given register; the _ register in your case.
However v is not an operator, it is only a command to switch from normal to visual mode. So I don't think that "_v makes much sense.
You might be thinking of another operator like c (change), y(yank) or p (paste)
To get the full list of operators, type :help operators
You should have a look at :help registers, you might find what you want, it describes all the registers and how they behave.
short extract :
"" is the default register
"0 always contains the content of the latest "yank"
"1 always contains the content of the latest "delete" or "change"
The other numbered registers are used to keep the history of your previous actions.
So rather than avoiding to delete the default register when you are deleting you might use :
"0p when pasting to be sure to paste the last yanked text and not what you have just deleted.
Edit : Add some Vim speak
A buffer is the in-memory text of the file you are editing. It contains the whole file. :ls will display a list of open buffers.
A register is a buffer (for lack of better word) where your deleted or copied text goes. It could be a word, a line, etc. :reg will display the content of all your registers.
I need to do a bunch of word replacements in a file and want to do it with a vi command, not an EX command such as :%s///g.
I know that this is the typical way one replaces the word at the current cursor position: cw<text><esc> but is there a way to do this with the contents of the unnamed register as the replacement text and without overwriting the register?
I'm thinking by "paste" you mean the unnamed (yank/put/change/delete/substitute) register, right? (Since that's the one that'd get overwritten by the change command.)
Registers are generally specified by typing " then the name (single character) of the register, like "ay then "ap to yank into register a, then put the contents of register a. Same goes for a change command. In this case, if you don't want the text you remove with the change command to go anywhere, you can use the black hole register "_: "_cw. Then once in insert mode, you can hit ctrl-R followed by the register you want (probably ") to put in the contents of that register.
"* - selection register (middle-button paste)
"+ - clipboard register (probably also accessible with ctrl-shift-v via the terminal)
"" - vim's default (unnamed) yank/put/change/delete/substitute register.
Short answer: "_cw^R"
Edit: as others are suggesting, you can of course use a different register for the yank (or whatever) that got your text into the default register. You don't always think of that first, though, so it's nice to do a single change command without blowing it away. Though it's not totally blown away. There are the numbered registers "0 through "9:
Vim fills these registers with text from yank and delete commands.
Numbered register 0 contains the text from the most recent yank command, unless the command specified another register with ["x].
Numbered register 1 contains the text deleted by the most recent delete or change command, unless the command specified another register or the text is less than one line (the small delete register is used then). An exception is made for the delete operator with these movement commands: %, (, ), `, /, ?, n, N, { and }. Register "1 is always used then (this is Vi compatible). The "- register is used as well if the delete is within a line.
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.
Using the information in this post, I have formed this useful mapping. I chose 'cp' because it signifies "change paste"
nmap <silent> cp "_cw<C-R>"<Esc>
EDIT:
Also I took this a step further and supported any motion.
To get the equivalent of command above it would be cpw for "change paste word"
"This allows for change paste motion cp{motion}
nmap <silent> cp :set opfunc=ChangePaste<CR>g#
function! ChangePaste(type, ...)
silent exe "normal! `[v`]\"_c"
silent exe "normal! p"
endfunction
You can use the visual mode of vim for this. e.g. copy a word: ye and then overwrite another one with the copied word: vep
If your cursor is on the word you want to replace with the contents of the unnamed register, you can use viwp. v switches to visual mode, iw selects the inner word, and p puts the contents of the register in its place.
In practice, when I need to replace one word (function name, etc.) with another, I'll move to the one to use as a replacement, yiw to yank the inner word to the unnamed register, then move to the word I'm replacing, and viwp to replace it. Pretty quick way of substituting one word for another. If you searched (/) for the word you're replacing to get to it, you can then just hit n to get to the next occurrence you need to replace. Obviously no substitute for using :%s/find/replace/g, but for a couple of quick substitutions it can be handy, especially if you already have the new word in a register.
If you make use of a named register (ie. use "ay or "ad, etc., to fill your paste register), you can do something like
cw<CTRL-R>a<esc>
Which will replace the word with the contents of register a. As far as I can tell, you can't use the default register because when you cw it'll be filled with the word that was cut by that command.
Do you mean the system paste buffer or the vi register?
If you want to use the system paste buffer then you are fine and could do dw"+P - " chooses a register, and "+ is the system paste buffer.
Otherwise copy into the non-default register with say "ay to copy into register a and then to replace something do dw"aP
You can use yw to yank the word, then you can change the word with yanked word by vipw to yank word and paste previously yanked word.
You can use registers for that:
first place replacement text in register
<mark some text>"ay
where a is register name
then you can use that register in replacement
ve"ap
Or you could do Shift+v-p (select the whole line and paste in its' place)
I use vim (Actually gvim on windows) as my main text editor. In my work flow I have to copy sentences to/from various external sources, therefore I use clipboard=unnamed to save me key strokes (p instead of "*p).
I copy text from an outer source and I want to paste it over two different places in vim. I mark the first one (v) and then use p to paste over it. The problem is that at this point I lose the original buffer and can't paste it in the second place. It does not exist in the unnamed buffer, the * buffer or the numbered buffers. My guess is that pasting over selection is putting the "pasted over" text in the unnamed buffer.
How can I paste my original string in two locations? i.e. prevent it from getting lost from the buffers.
Thanks.
Try this:
:vmap p "_xP
vmap means to make a mapping that only applies in visual mode.
p is the key to create the mapping for.
"_ is the black hole register. This is used in any situation where you want to delete text without affecting any registers.
xP means delete the selected text, then paste before the resulting cursor position.
You could set up a mapping to ease your pain:
:vmap <F5> "zxP
This will delete the visually selected text, but put it in a different register, so the clipboard isn't affected. Change <F5> to whatever is easiest for you.
I don't know if I misunderstand you but I tried what you are doing and I have no problem in doing that with the + drop-register.
My workflow:
copy a sentence in an external application (ie. browser)
visual select a sentence in vim and replaced it with "+p or p (with clipboard=unnamed set)
visually select another sentence and replace it with "+p
Sadly when pasting the second time you have to explicitly paste from the + register. Therefore I would recommend a mapping for p/P instead of using clipboard=unnamed
nmap p "+p
Try using
:registers
to see the contents of the different registers.
I don't know how to do that on Windows. With KDE, the clipboard has a history that you can select from, so you could do the paste, select the previous selection from the clipboard, and paste in the new location.
That said, it sounds like it might make more sense for you to have it in only one location, then write a script to take that input and create the output you need. Can you elaborate more on what it is you are trying to accomplish?
Check the value of the 'guioptions' options. Make sure the 'a' flag is not set. Also, check that the 'clipboard' option and verify that neither the 'unnamed' or 'autoselect' flags are set.
:set go-=a
:set clipboard-=unnamed