What's the easiest way to replace some text with the contents of the clipboard when using clipboard=unnamed?

Question

Assume I've copied some text into the clipboard from another program. I'm on MacOS, so in Vim terms, this means the text is in the + and * registers (I have verified this using :registers). I use clipboard=unnamed because it makes it easier to copy text out of Vim. However, let's say I have this buffer:

someFunctionCall(blah, more blah, other blah)
   ^---- cursor position

Let's say I want to change all the text inside the parentheses to the contents of the clipboard (perhaps new blah, more new blah). I can type ci(, but this immediately puts blah, more blah, other blah into the clipboard instead, wiping out what's already in the clipboard.

Is there an elegant, or reasonably elegant, way to do this? I'd ideally like to do this without using plugins.

Answer 1

In this particular case, it’s easier to paste over a visual selection (vibp).

You could also move the clipboard contents to another register (e.g., :let @0 = @") before you do the dib"0p. Since register 0 is for yanks and is wiped out less frequently, I chose that.

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My (very opinionated) comment on clipboards and the unnamed register is that, well—it’s unnamed for a reason. It gets manipulated all the time by a bunch of commands. When you want something more tangible/permanent, use a dedicated register. (And, personally, I don’t find the star or plus registers inconvenient.)