vim - how do I cut some lines of file-1 to file-2 in 1 step?

Question

When I need to cut some lines from one file to another file, I always do the following steps:

• Select the lines in file-1
• :w >> file-2
• Re-select the lines
• d

This is super annoying if you need to do it for like 10 times.

So, is there anyway I can write the selection to another file and delete the selection in the same time?

Edit: maybe using gvd to reselect and delete is a faster option.

Answer 1

You could make it a one liner using a range:

2,3w >> b | 2,3d

And if you want to keep doing this with visual selection, you can select the lines and then use '< and '> for the range:

'<,'>w >> b | '<,'> d

Edit To address the questions in comments:

• If the file you're trying to write doesn't exist you can use w! to force the command

• The | character is used to chain commands (not unlike && in bash), you can read about it at :h :bar:

                          *:bar* *:\bar*
  '|' can be used to separate commands, so you can give multiple commands in one
  line.  If you want to use '|' in an argument, precede it with '\'.