I want to take a visual selection and flip it so that the first line of the selection is on the bottom. From:
<other_stuff>
The
wheels
go
round.
<more_stuff>
Visual select the sentence and then flip:
<other_stuff>
round.
go
wheels
The
<more_stuff>
How to do this simply? I would rather not have to install a plugin to do it.
When you make a visual selection Vim automatically makes the bookmarks '< and '> at the start and end of the block respectively, so you can do what you want in a couple of ways.
In normal mode: '>dd'<P
As an ex command: :'>d | '<-1 put
NB the bookmarks remain after you exit visual mode, so you do not have to stay in visual mode to use these.
edit:
Oops, I misread the question and thought you only wanted the last line put at the start, but you want the entire block reversed. The simplest solution if you are on a unix system:
:'<,'>!tac
This pipes the lines through the unix 'reverse cat' program.
According to :help 12.4 you can mark the first line with the mt, move to the last line you want reversed then use the command :'t+1,.g/^/m 't
For those more comfortable with Visual Mode:
1. Identify the line number above the selection you want flipped using :set nu.
2. Use Shift-V to highlight selection you want flipped (visual mode).
3. :g/^/m <Line number from step 1>.
Note that in visual mode it will automatically show up as
:'<,'>g/^/m <Line number> when you type in the command from 3.
This command works by moving the selection one line at a time into the line number that you give it. When the second item gets pushed into the line number given, it pushes the first down to line number + 1. Then the third pushes the first and second down and so on until the entire list has been pushed into the single line number resulting in a reverse ordered list.
Further to Dave Kirby's answer and addressing the "how to do this simply" requirement, you could create a shortcut in your .vimrc file. The following example maps the F5 key to this shortcut:
map <F5> :'<,'>!tail -r<CR>
or for OS X:
map <F5> :'<,'>!tac<CR>
Related
Lets say i have the following text.
this.is.some.text
this.is.emos.text
this.is.some.text
this.is.emos.text
I want to edit this text in 'Visual Block' mode so that the text looks as follows.
this.is.some.text
this.is.emos_suffix.text
this.is.some.text
this.is.emos_suffix.text
It should work like this:
Select a visual block
If the visual block contains emos append '_suffix' to the visual
block (Just like the 'A' command would do)
The only native way to accomplish that from visual-block mode or any other visual mode is to use a substitution:
:'<,'>s/emos/&_suffix<CR>
where…
you press :,
Vim inserts the range '<,'> for you, meaning "from the fist selected line, :help '<, through the last selected line, :help '>`,
s/emos/&_suffix substitutes every first occurrence of emos on each line of the given range with itself, :help s/\&, followed by _suffix.
Visual selection is often an unnecessary step and, in this case, visual-block mode is totally useless because A or I is going to operate on every line of the selection anyway.
Another method:
/emos/e<CR>
a_suffix<Esc>
n
.
Another one:
/emos<CR>
cgn<C-r>"
_suffix<Esc>
.
Another one, assuming the cursor is on the first line of your sample:
:,'}s/emos/&_suffix<CR>
Etc.
Objective
Yank a line and use it to overwrite some of the lines following it.
Assumption
It is preferable in this case to manually select the lines to apply the substitution to. In other words, automated find and replace is not desired.
Analogy
Think of this process as creating a “stamp” from a line of text and going through a list of items—each item being a line of text following the “stamp” line—and deciding whether that line should be overridden using the contents of the “stamp” or not (in the former case, replacing the line with the “stamp”, of course).
This last step of triggering the replacement of the line under the cursor with the contents of the stamp, should be as easy as possible; preferably, as easy as pressing . (repeat last change) or ## (execute the contents of macro register #).
Issue
The straightforward workflow is, of course, as follows.
Position the cursor on the line to be copied (using movement commands).
Enter line-wise Visual mode (via the V command).
Copy selected text (using the y command).
Manually position the cursor onto the line to be replaced (using movement commands).
Enter Visual mode again to select the text to be replaced (using the V command).
Paste over the selection (using the p command).
However, this approach does not work when the replacement has to be done multiple times. Specifically, replacing the text on step 6 overrides the (unnamed) register containing the line initially copied and intended to be used as a “stamp”.
What I have tried
I have tried using "_y to either yank or delete into the _ register, avoiding the loss of the contents of the stamp, but I am looking for something that ends up being quick and comfortable to type as I manually go through the list and apply replacements where I see fit.
What I would prefer not to use
I would rather not use macros or “remaps” for this, if I can help it.
Illustrative sample file
See the sample starting file below, followed by the desired final stage, for further clarity.
Sample file, starting condition
At this stage, I select the blueberry and make it my “stamp”.
blueberry
apple
banana
coconut
apple
banana
coconut
apple
banana
coconut
Sample file, desired final state
After having moved through the list, I have applied some replacements, “stamping” over some lines, making them the same as the “stamp” blueberry line.
blueberry
apple
banana
blueberry
apple
banana
coconut
apple
banana
blueberry
To make your workflow work as expected, you need to paste from the previous yank register "0, rather than the default register.
So use Vy (or yy, which is the same) to yank the first line as before, then position the cursor over the line you want to replace, and do
V"0p
this replaces the current line with the previously yanked text, but doesn't overwrite the yanked text. I hope I understood you correctly!
EDIT 1: repeating using a macro
I was surprised that this operation isn't repeatable using ., but this is presumably due to the use of visual mode. To repeat the operation using a macro, do this:
qqV"0pq
The macro can then be repeated by pressing #q or ##.
EDIT 2: repeating using .
Here's an attempt at making it repeatable using . by not using visual mode. After yanking the stamp line and moving the cursor, do this:
"_S<c-r>0<delete>
which uses the insert mode <c-r> command to insert the contents of register 0. Note that the <delete> is necessary because the stamp line contained a carriage return. If it did not (i.e. yanking using y$ rather than yy) the <delete> could be omitted.
I don't think you are going to reach your goal without at least a little bit of "remapping".
I've been using this one for a "long" time:
vnoremap <leader>p "_dP
p and P still work as usual and I simply hit ,p over a visual selection when I want to repeat the same paste later. You could also map a single function key to make the whole thing quicker.
Also, do you know about the c flag for substitutions?
:%s/coconut/blueberry/c
will ask for your confirmation for each match.
Many answers here outline the general keys or commands. I've turned them into my ReplaceWithRegister plugin, which also handles many corner cases, and allows quick repeat via the . command. I also use your described create stamp and replace technique often, and found my script indispensable. Should you not like it, the plugin page also has links to alternative plugins.
A really easy solution: just put this script in your .vimrc, then toggle off the "buffer-overwriting" side-effect behavior of the delete key by typing ,, (two commas) to enter "no side effects" mode.
In this mode your workflow now works exactly as you described: yank whatever you like, then select, paste, and delete freely and repeatedly -- your buffer always remains intact. Then type ,, again if you wish to restore vim's normal buffer-altering behavior.
The script is the accepted answer here:
vim toggling buffer overwrite behavior when deleting
One can resort to Ex commands to achieve the said workflow.
For a single substitution, yank the “stamp” line (with yy, Vy,
:y, or otherwise), then repeatedly use the combination of the
:put and :delete commands:
:pu|-d_
Like any other Ex command, this one can be easily repeated with the
#: shortcut (see :help #:) — unless another Ex command was issued
in the meantime (in which case that command would be repeated instead).
Of course, you can also record the above Ex command as a macro and
invoke it that way, too.
Starting with your cursor at the start of the line to be duplicated:
y$ to yank the whole line (excluding the linefeed).
j and k to advance to the next line to be replaced (repeating as needed)
Replace the line with your yanked text
C<c-r>0<esc>0 (first time)
. (subsequent times)
If there are more lines to be replaced, goto 2.
The cursor will remain in column zero after each step.
When I pop into Vim's visual mode to, for example, indent a block of text, the command prompt always starts with '<,'>. Can someone break down for me why this is or rather what it does? It seems like it's got something to do with markers but I'm not entirely sure of this based on the manual stuff I've read so far.
'< is the first line visually selected, and '> is the last line visually selected. This is vim's way of making your command apply to only the visual area.
The '<,'> at the beginning of your command line represents the range which you have selected . This is the also the range of test onto which the command you are about to enter would be applied.
For example if I selected a region of text in visual mode and then wanted to replace all occurrences of 'stack' with 'overflow' my command would look like:
:'<,'>s/stack/overflow/g
Without visual mode this same command would have to be accomplished by specifying the line range by hand eg:
:1,10s/helo/hello/g
It's a range defined by two special marks (a mark in an anchor in the text named as "quote+1 letter")
'< `< To the first line or character of the last selected Visual
area in the current buffer. For block mode it may also be the last
character in the first line (to be able to define the block). {not
in Vi}.
'> `> To the last line or character of the last selected Visual
area in the current buffer. For block mode it may also be the
first character of the last line (to be able to define the block).
Note that 'selection' applies, the position may be just after the
Visual area. {not in Vi}.
Source
Once you select in Visual Mode e.g. five lines, then '<,'> means that you will execute the command in that region.
so :'<,'>s/replaceMe/WithThis/g will apply to only that selection
Taking the time to add some points of trivia to the already given answers
:* usually means the same (:he cpo-star),
hitting C-u in command line mode removes the range marker (actually, removes to the beginning of the line)
I want to comment several lines in my .vimrc, the usual way I do it is :x,ys/^/"/ and
x stands for the start line number and y stands for the line number of the last line. I
read some post which said in visual mode this task can be done by the following step:
1 Select your lines with VISUAL BLOCK
2 press I to insert before all highlighted lines.
3 type your comment charact , in this case should be "
4 then ESC
I fllowed the above steps and met met problems in step 2 . the thing is when I select the lines in Visual mode and press I , vim ( I use version7.2) go back to insert mode and the cursor back to the start of the first line. so if you continue to do the step 3 and step 4, you end up in just inserting " at the start the first line , far from what I want to achieve.
so could you point out what's wrong with the recipe ? thanks in advance
dammit, it's my fault . The recipe is absolutely right, If I'm patient enough to enter ESC
in step 4, I see what I.
want to see......
Select the block in visual mode, and then use :s/^/"/. When you press :, vim will automatically start the command with :'<,'> which indicates the effective range is the marked visual block.
Actually, your proposed sequence works also, as long as you use visual block mode, started with CtrlV (that is, vim should display -- VISUAL BLOCK -- on the status line).
I find this plugin very helpful with pretty much all of my commenting needs.
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1218
Favorites... (work both in visual and normal mode)
Toggle comment.
,c<SPACE>
Yank selected lines before commenting them out. (can then paste with p)
,cy
Toggle lines individually.
,ci
Supports a great number of file types and comes with documentation.
Selecting a large amount of text that extends over many screens in an IDE like Eclipse is fairly easy since you can use the mouse, but what is the best way to e.g. select and delete multiscreen blocks of text or write e.g. three large methods out to another file and then delete them for testing purposes in Vim when using it via putty/ssh where you cannot use the mouse?
I can easily yank-to-the-end-of-line or yank-to-the-end-of-code-block but if the text extends over many screens, or has lots of blank lines in it, I feel like my hands are tied in Vim. Any solutions?
And a related question: is there a way to somehow select 40 lines, and then comment them all out (with "#" or "//"), as is common in most IDEs?
Well, first of all, you can set vim to work with the mouse, which would allow you to select text just like you would in Eclipse.
You can also use the Visual selection - v, by default. Once selected, you can yank, cut, etc.
As far as commenting out the block, I usually select it with VISUAL, then do
:'<,'>s/^/# /
Replacing the beginning of each line with a #. (The '< and '> markers are the beginning and and of the visual selection.
Use markers.
Go to the top of the text block you want to delete and enter
ma
anywhere on that line. No need for the colon.
Then go to the end of the block and enter the following:
:'a,.d
Entering ma has set marker a for the character under the cursor.
The command you have entered after moving to the bottom of the text block says "from the line containing the character described by marker a ('a) to the current line (.) delete."
This sort of thing can be used for other things as well.
:'a,.ya b - yank from 'a to current line and put in buffer 'b'
:'a,.ya B - yank from 'a to current line and append to buffer 'b'
:'a,.s/^/#/ - from 'a to current line, substitute '#' for line begin
(i.e. comment out in Perl)
:'s,.s#^#//# - from 'a to current line, substitute '//' for line begin
(i.e. comment out in C++)
N.B. 'a (apostrophe-a) refers to the line containing the character marked by a. ``a(backtick-a) refers to the character marked bya`.
To insert comments select the beginning characters of the lines using CTRL-v (blockwise-visual, not 'v' character wise-visual or 'V' linewise-visual). Then go to insert-mode using 'I', enter your comment-character(s) on the first line (for example '#') and finally escape to normal mode using 'Esc'. Voila!
To remove the comments use blockwise-visual to select the comments and just delete them using 'x'.
Use the visual block command v (or V for whole lines and C-V for rectangular blocks). While in visual block mode, you can use any motion commands including search; I use } frequently to skip to the next blank line. Once the block is marked, you can :w it to a file, delete, yank, or whatever. If you execute a command and the visual block goes away, re-select the same block with gv. See :help visual-change for more.
I think there are language-specific scripts that come with vim that do things like comment out blocks of code in a way that fits your language of choice.
Press V (uppercase V) and then press 40j to select 40 lines and then press d to delete them. Or as #zigdon replied, you can comment them out.
The visual mode is the solution for your main problem. As to commenting out sections of code, there are many plugins for that on vim.org, I am using tComment.vim at the moment.
There is also a neat way to comment out a block without a plugin. Lets say you work in python and # is the comment character. Make a visual block selection of the column you want the hash sign to be in, and type I#ESCAPE. To enter a visual block mode press C-q on windows or C-v on linux.
My block comment technique:
Ctrl+V to start blockwise visual mode.
Make your selection.
With the selection still active, Shift+I. This put you into column insert mode.
Type you comment characters '#' or '//' or whatever.
ESC.
Or you may want to give this script a try...
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=23
For commenting out lines, I would suggest one of these plugins:
EnhancedCommentify
NERD Commenter
I find myself using NERD more these days, but I've used EnhancedCommentify for years.
If you want to perform an action on a range of lines, and you know the line numbers, you can put the range on the command line. For instance, to delete lines 20 through 200 you can do:
:20,200d
To move lines 20 through 200 to where line 300 is you can use:
:20,200m300
And so on.
Use Shift+V to go in visual mode, then you can select lines and delete / change them.
My usual method for commenting out 40 lines would be to put the cursor on the first line and enter the command:
:.,+40s/^/# /
(For here thru 40 lines forward, substitute start-of-line with hash, space)
Seems a bit longer than some other methods suggested, but I like to do things with the keyboard instead of the mouse.
First answer is currently not quite right?
To comment out selection press ':' and type command
:'<,'>s/^/# /g
('<, '> - will be there automatically)
You should be aware of the normal mode command [count]CTRL-D.
It optionally changes the 'scroll' option from 10 to [count], and then scrolls down that many lines. Pressing CTRL-D again will scroll down that same lines again.
So try entering
V "visual line selection mode
30 "optionally set scroll value to 30
CTRL-D "jump down a screen, repeated as necessary
y " yank your selection
CTRL-U works the same way but scrolls up.
v enters visual block mode, where you can select as if with shift in most common editors, later you can do anything you can normally do with normal commands (substitution :'<,'>s/^/#/ to prepend with a comment, for instance) where '<,'> means the selected visual block instead of all the text.
marks would be the simplest mb where u want to begin and me where u want to end once this is done you can do pretty much anything you want
:'b,'ed
deletes from marker b to marker e
commenting out 40 lines you can do in the visual mode
V40j:s/^/#/
will comment out 40 lines from where u start the sequence