Consider the following text file.
Replace and yank this portion Ignore this portion
Suppose I have visually selected the part that says Replace and yank this portion.
I can take one of the following actions at this point.
I can use y to yank the contents into a register, but this destroys the visual selection.
I can use rx to replace each of the characters with an x, but this also destroys the visual selection.
Is it possible to simultaneously put the visual selection into a register and replace each of the characters in the visual selection with an x?
That is, I'm looking for a sequence of commands that result in the selected text being in a register, and each character in the selected text replaced by x. I'm not picky about which register.
Immediately after posting this question, I realized that all I needed was to be able to re-select the text that was just selected.
A quick Google search led to using gv for re-selection.
Thus, the final command sequence to achieve the desired effect is ygvrx. This will first yank the sequence into the register, re-select the previous selection, and then replace the characters.
Visually select the text and press c for change. Type the text you want and press <esc>. The text that was there before (in this case Replace and yank this portion) is now in your "" register, so you can just hit p as soon as you want to paste it.
type :h reg to see a list of all registers and what text you have inside them.
Related
Imagine that [ ] represents a selection. So given
This is pi with the 10th through 20th digits obscured: 3.14159265[3589793238]46264338327950288419716939937510...
the visual selection would be 3589793238.
In Sublime Text, when you have some text selected, and then press Ctrl+h to start the search/replace feature, it will auto-fill the search box with the currently selected text. Is there a way to emulate this in Vim? That is, assuming I am in character-wise visual mode and have made the selection indicated above, I would then press some shortcut combo and Vim would yield :%s/3589793238/ in the command line. That way I could simply complete it like so :%s/3589793238/___/ to replace 3589793238 with ___ throughout the currently open file (without having to manually type 3589793238 into the Vim command-line).
In command mode, you can input the content of any register with <C-R> followed by its name. So you could yank the currently selected text (yanked text is stored in register 0) and then input it with <C-R>0 when writing your substitute command.
To fully automate this, you could add a mapping like so:
xmap <leader>s y:%s/<C-R>0/
I know how to use this with manual typing:
Use Ctrl+V to enter visual block mode
Move Up/Downto select the columns of text in the lines you want to comment.
Then hit Shift+i and type the text you want to insert.
Then hit Esc, wait 1 second and the inserted text will appear on every line.
But i don't want to want type the text. I want just to paste it.. (because is a long string..)
Thanks, Mor.
Once you are in insert mode (after I), you can press <C-r>" to insert the content of the default register or <C-r>a for register a to z.
You can also use completion in that context: <C-n> for example.
If the text you want to use is in a register, use <c-r> (CtrlR). So, after you press I, instead of typing, press CtrlR, and the register name you want.
Since the OS clipboard is in the + register, you would do: <c-r>+ (CtrlR++).
Is it possible to copy/paste text without using :vs? If I have two vi windows open, I can copy/paste text with a mouse. How can I do it with a keyboard?
I found two existing questions that are similar to this, but neither one answers my question.
how to copy codes in vi to clipboard
Copy and paste content from one file to another file in VI
I'm sure there are many ways, but I do it using marks and registers.
Marks
You can place a mark anywhere in a file using m followed by the name of the mark you want to use.
You can use any letter between a and z (capital and lowercase) to name your marks.
You can go to the line that contains a mark with the ' key.
For example, mx marks a line with mark x and 'x moves the cursor to the line containing mark x.
You can go to the exact location of a mark using the backtick key: `
To yank from the current cursor location to the line containing mark x, for example, you would enter y'x
Registers
In order to use the clipboard, you need to use registers, which represent places you can store the text you yank.
Just like you can use different marks for each character, you can name the registers you yank text to.
You refer to a register by using the " key when yanking/putting.
For example "ay'x would yank the text between the cursor and the line containing x to register a.
The clipboard is represented by a special register: either * or + depending on your environment.
To yank the text between the cursor and the line containing mark x to the clipboard, enter the following: "+y'x
This says: use buffer + (the clipboard) to store the text between the cursor and the line containing mark x.
Once you do this, your text will be in the clipboard. You can use CONTROL-V to paste it into other apps.
NOTE: In some environments, the clipboard is represented by the buffer named *.
This may sound overwhelming, but once you get used to it, it's VERY powerful.
I use this hundreds of times every day.
If you're editing a file that has several key points of interest, you can mark each part of the file with different marks and quickly move your cursor between the code you need to edit.
Likewise, if you have several pieces of text that you need to repeatedly copy, you can store each one in a different register to make your pasting more efficient.
You can copy/paste by using the + register (read more: Accessing the system clipboard)
"+gyywill yank a line, and put it into the + register. You can paste in your other window with "+p in normal mode, or Ctrl+r + while in insert mode.
If you don't wish to use split windows, there really is no other way to paste between windows apart from using the system clipboard.
#up exhausted the subject. I can just add that most of the combination related is with associated with system key combination find you in config for Gvim (eg. windows mapping for CTRL+C CTRL+V etc. is in mswin.vim)
I have a line of text I have yanked yy. Now I want to use this text to replace lines at several other places. The trouble is that when I select V the line to be replaced, and paste p, the text that was selected is automatically yanked! That's what I don't want.
Changing the register does not work, because both the paste and the yank are done with the newly selected register.
What is the command to keep the content of the register when pasting over selected text?
Your original selection should remain in register 0. So you can move through the file and paste your yanked line over other lines using: V"0p
Each time you p over something it goes into the default register.
To work around this feature you have to use "_, "the black hole register", before you p. Here is a custom mapping I have in my ~/.vimrc:
vnoremap <leader>p "_dP
It deletes the selected content and drops it in the black hole register (this means that the selected text disappears forever) and puts the content of the default register in place of the previously selected text while leaving the default register intact.
I use it often when I need to replace a loooooooong url in a few places with another looooooong url and crafting a s// would be too cumbersome.
Pressing p pastes things bellow the current line, dit deletes things inside html tags. How do I paste something inside html tags?
Nor here
<p>I want to paste something here</p>
Not here
I usually just do vitp which visually selects the inner contents of the tag, then pastes over what is selected.
Works for me.
The result of pressing P and p depends on what you have in the selected register at the time. If you delete or yank one or more entire lines (e.g. with dd, Y or Vd commands), then pressing P will insert the contents of your register on the line above the current line, whereas p will insert on the line below the cursor.
If you delete or yank a section of text less than a line (e.g. with the D, or yw commands), then P will insert the contents of your register directly before the current cursor position, and p will insert directly after the cursor (i.e. on the same line).
If it helps, you could consider the linewise selection as being analogous to block html elements (such as <div>), and characterwise selection as being analogous to inline html elements (such as span).
So to answer your question: it depends. Supposing you have a linewise section of text in the register, you would want to break the target tag onto two lines before doing the paste operation. In your example, rather than doing dit to delete the contents of the tag, do cit to delete the same section and go into insert mode. Hit return once, to insert a new line, then esc to go back into normal mode, then P to insert your linewise register above the line with the closing tag.
If you didn't want to split the tag onto multiple lines, you would instead have to make sure that you yanked a characterwise selection into the register. Then you could run:
"_ditP
"_ deletes the text into the black hole register, ensuring it doesn't overwrite what is in your default register. dit deletes the contents of the tag, and P pastes the contents of your default register before the cursor position.
remove the current content between the tags with the command
cit
that will 'change in tags' and once that content is gone, you can paste with middle click or if you need go back into command mode and use your normal p/etc.
vitp should handle a linewise paste.
You can press "v" for visual, then go to where the cursor is, and press p or P.