Say that I am on line 20 and I would like to yank line 4, how can I do that?
And similarly, how can I yank a line relative to my cursor position, say the one 3 lines up?
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1possible duplicate of How can I use a line number to copy a line to where my cursor is? – jecxjo May 12 '15 at 13:26
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From :help :yank:
:[range]y[ank] [x] Yank `[range]` lines [into register x].
So, to yank line 4, one would type:
:4yank
Note you can easily do this from insert mode with <C-o>; this allows you to
execute one command, after which you're returned to insert mode; for example:
<C-o>:4yank
You can, of course, also use other ranges. Some examples:
- Lines 1 to 3:
:1,3yank - The entire buffer:
:%yank - From the current line to the end of the buffer:
:.,$:yank - The current line and the next 3:
:.,+3yank - The current line and the previous 3:
:-3,.yank - The line 3 lines above the current line:
:-3yank
The most useful things to remember about ranges:
- It's in the form of
:line1,line2command. - A
.is the current line (you can actually omit the dot in most cases;:.,+3yankand:,+3yankare the same) - You specify lines relative to the current position with
+nand-n.
By default the lines will be yanked into the default register (""). If you want to use a named register, add a space an then the name of the register (naked, not prefixed with a double quote), eg:
:30,30yank a
> 10 lines yanked into "a
See :help [range] for more
information.
answered May 12 '15 at 11:26
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7
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8It's also worth mentioning that you can abbreviate
:4yankwith:4y– NewbieOnRails May 12 '15 at 18:44
In addition to Carpetsmoker's answer, I should point out the awesome :help :m and :help :t.
If you want to copy line 4 to right below the current line you can do this:
:4t.
or that, if you want to copy that line right above the current line:
:4t-
Simply type
:4y
to yank line 4
it will go into the unnamed register. Then, (for example) you can use p to put it elsewhere. You can also use [n]p, e.g. 10p to paste it 10 times.
You can put it into a named register such as "a" with
:4y a
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2The part about putting it into a named register with "ay4 doesn't look right. If you do that, vim will be waiting for you to say "4 whats?". E.g. if you then hit Enter it will yank 4 lines starting at the current position, if you type /foo<Enter> it will yank til the 4th following occurrance of "foo", etc. – Don Hatch May 13 '15 at 5:34
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Besides the ex-mode commands that you've got you can achieve that also it in command mode, e.g. by: 4GY'' - which means: goto line 4 (4G), yank line (Y), and return to previous line ('').
You can also use jump marks; for your second question, e.g. by: mm3kY'm - which means: set mark m (mm), go three lines up (3k), yank line (Y), return to mark m ('m).
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1Using `` is probably a better recommendation than '' since the former goes back to the same line and column. Ditto for `m vs. 'm. – jamessan Jun 15 '15 at 14:08
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I agree. (Any idea how to create literal backtics in wiki markup since they have a special meaning?) - Otherwise your comment will serve well as amendment to my answer and as hint for the readers. – Janis Jun 15 '15 at 15:58
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You have to use multiple backticks to delimit the inline code (c.f., daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#code). I know it works in questions/answers, but I couldn't get it to work in my comment. – jamessan Jun 15 '15 at 16:10
You can do
:10y <Enter> (to copy the line 10)
p (paste line 10 where the cursor is)
Setting up relative number helps in moving between lines of code as well.
:set relativenumber
Now you can copy the 5th line above the cursor with:
:-5y <Enter>
:p (to paste)
