Is there a text object for the entire buffer?

Question

I often find myself typing commands like gg"+yG or ggdG and would like a more efficient way to do this without having to move the cursor twice. Is there any command that I can use e.g. y[movement] to copy the entire buffer without moving the cursor?

Answer 1

Since vim uses the percent sign to reference the current buffer, you can use it to get everything quickly.

:%y will yank the entire buffer :%y+ will yank it to the + register (and presumably the clipboard, provided vim was compiled with the proper options).

:%d and :%d+ will do the same for deletion.

In each of these cases, the cursor remains in place.

Answer 2

Another solution is to use a plugin called vim-textobj-entire. By default, this plugin provides the text object ae for the entire buffer, ie for the entire buffer except leading and trailing empty lines.

This plugin depends on vim-textobj-user by the same author, which lets users define any text objects comfortably. There are many plugins that make good use of this.

Answer 3

There is no text object for the whole file by default, but it is possible to create them using omap. In this case, it would look something like this:

onoremap f :<c-u>normal! mzggVG<cr>`z

Here is a breakdown of how it works:

onoremap f " make 'f' the text object name
:<c-u> " use <c-u> to prevent vim from inserting visual selection marker at the beginning of the command automatically.
normal! " use normal to make key presses ignoring any user mappings
mzggVG<cr>`z " make a marker in register z, select the entire file in visual line mode and enter the normal command, and go back to the z marker

Notes:

Ctrlu can be used in the command line mode to delete everything to the left of the cursor position. The reason why this is done is because if you enter the command line straight from visual mode, it will automatically insert '<,'> on the command line, and that isn't what we want. I would also suggest you use something other than f, because f is normally used to move to the next searched character on the line. For example, fi will go to the next i on the current line.

Relevant help topics:

:help omap-info
:help :normal
:help c_CTRL-U
:help v_:

Answer 4

Here are some quick n' dirty mappings to accomplish the task:

nnoremap yY :%yank <c-r>=v:register<cr><cr>
nnoremap dD :%delete <c-r>=v:register<cr><cr>

Now you can use yY and dD to yank/delete respectively. It's not as nice as using a full blown text object, but sometimes the simplest solutions are best.

For more help see:

:h :y
:h :d
:h [range]
:h v:register
:h c_ctrl-r
:h @=

Answer 5

Recommended Solution

Created by @filbranden in response to my question here

" Create text-object `A` which operates on the whole buffer (i.e. All)
" Keeps the cursor position in the same position
function TextObjectAll()
    let g:restore_position = winsaveview()
    normal! ggVG
    " For delete/change ALL, we don't wish to restore cursor position.
    if index(['c','d'], v:operator) == -1
        call feedkeys("\<Plug>(RestoreView)")
    end
endfunction
onoremap A :<C-U>call TextObjectAll()<CR>
nnoremap <silent> <Plug>(RestoreView) :call winrestview(g:restore_position)<CR>

1 Liner Solution

" Use operator pending mode to visually select the whole buffer
" e.g. dA = delete buffer ALL, yA = copy whole buffer ALL
onoremap <silent> A :<C-u>normal! ggVG<CR>

Visual mode

I used to have this, but when in visual mode, if you press A to append at the end of the lines, it override it with select ALL. You could map it to something else:

" Allow one to press A in visual mode to select the whole buffer (ALL)
xnoremap <silent> A :<C-U>normal! ggVG<CR>