7

I want to copy different strings from different lines of the file and then paste them together at once. In other words, I want to collect different words in a basket and then paste them at once. How can I do this?

| improve this question | |
15

Use an uppercase register when yanking (copying):

"Ay

"A says to append to the a register, as opposed to "a which would replace the contents of the a register.

Once you've copied everything into the register, you can then paste it all at once with:

"ap
| improve this answer | |
  • now how to clear contents of a register ? – John Jan 24 '17 at 22:15
  • 1
    @John You can clear a register by recording an empty macro to it, like this: qaq. Alternatively, if you just want to avoid having previous junk in there, you can copy your first word using the lower case register: "ay. Remember, a and A refer to the same register, they just affect how things are added. – 8bittree Jan 24 '17 at 22:19
6

You could also define your own custom operator which would yank incrementally any text-object or text covered by a motion:

fu! Incremental_yank(type, ...) abort
    if a:type ==# 'char'
        norm! `[v`]y
    elseif a:type ==# 'line'
        norm! '[V']y
    elseif a:0
        norm! gvy
    endif

    call setreg('z', @".(a:type ==# 'char' ? ' ' : ''), 'a' . getregtype('"'))
    call setreg('"', @z, getregtype('z'))
endfu

nno <silent> zy  :<C-U>set opfunc=Incremental_yank<CR>g@
xno <silent> zy  :<C-U>call Incremental_yank(visualmode(), 1)<CR>
nno <silent> zyy :<C-U>set opfunc=Incremental_yank<Bar>exe 'norm! '.v:count1.'g@_'<CR>

nno <silent> zyc :<C-U>let [@", @z] = ['', '']<CR>p

In this example, 4 key bindings are installed:

  • zy normal operator to incrementally yank a text-object or motion
  • zyy similar operator which works on lines
  • zy similar operator which works on visual selection
  • zyc normal command to empty the registers " and z; useful before beginning to yank a sequence of texts

With it, you could:

  • copy some words hitting zyiw on the first word, then repeat the operation with the dot command on the next ones
  • copy some lines hitting zyy on the first one, then repeat the operation with the dot command on the next ones
  • copy some visual selections, hitting zy on each of them

The current code clutters the z register, if you prefer using another register, like x for example, you could change the following lines:

call setreg('z', @", 'a' . getregtype('"'))                call setreg('x', @", 'a' . getregtype('"'))
             ^                                                          ^
call setreg('"', @z, getregtype('z'))                 →    call setreg('"', @x, getregtype('x'))
                  ^              ^                                           ^              ^
nno <silent> zyc :<C-U>let [@", @z] = ['', '']<CR>p        nno <silent> zyc :<C-U>let [@", @x] = ['', '']<CR>p
                                 ^                                                          ^

For more information, see:

:h g@
:h getregtype()
:h setreg()

enter image description here

| improve this answer | |
  • What's that program? – Segfault Feb 1 '17 at 17:44
  • byzanz-record and screenkey – user9433424 Feb 2 '17 at 1:30
  • This is awesome! Could this be changed in order to add a loop to yank-append on multiple visual selections? Say I want to yank all sections no a markdown file. I could /^#\s.\+ and then do zyv for instance! – Luciano May 6 at 21:24

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.