vi tutorial #3: Copying, Cutting, and Pasting
This lesson lasts 15-20 minutes. This tutorial assumes full knowledge
of tutorial #1, and familiarity with tutorial #2. Lines which begin
with >>> mark exercises you should try.
When you want to exit this tutorial type ZZ to exit and save your
changes. Or type :q!<RETURN> to exit without saving changes.
Remember that typing u will UNDO your last change.
CUTTING TEXT
------------
The delete command can be combined with any of the movement commands
taught throughout tutorial #2. The resulting command is of the form:
dmovement DELETE to where the movement command specifies
Consider the following examples:
dw DELETE to the beginning of the next WORD
d$ DELETE to the end of the line
d) DELETE to the beginning of the next sentence
dte DELETE 'TIL the next e
dd DELETE a line (dd is a special case of the d command)
>>> Experiment with dw d$ d) dte dd on the paragraph provided below:
PRACTICE here. Now is the time for all good users to learn the
editor. The quick brown fox jumped over the seven lazy fish. Now
is the time for all good users to learn the editor. The quick
brown computer jumped over the seven lazy users. END PRACTICE
PASTING TEXT
------------
When text is deleted it is put into a buffer which contains the most
recently deleted text. To paste the contents of this buffer elsewhere
in the file use the p or P command.
P (upper p) PUT the contents of the buffer before the cursor
p (lower p) PUT the contents of the buffer after the cursor
>>> Try this sequence of commands on the practice lines below:
>>> dd to delete one line
>>> j to move down a line
>>> p (lower p) to PUT the deleted text after the cursor
>>> } to move to the end of the paragraph
>>> P (upper p) to PUT the deleted text before the cursor
PRACTICE line. Cut and Paste this line to the bottom of the
paragraph. Here is some filler, feel free to cut and paste the
text in this practice region. Remember that u undoes the last
action. END OF PRACTICE
>>> Try this sequence of commands at the beginning of a word:
>>> dw w P
The fastest way to swap two letters is to type: xp
>>> Use xp to correct the misspelled words below:
PRACTICE. Thier weird quiet recieved an inconvenient shriek.
Thier belief is that to recieve grief from nieghbors outwieghs
all else. Biege skies lead to wierd science. END.
NUMBERING
---------
Consider cutting and pasting 3 words. Based on previous exercises you
would type dw , move to the new location, and type p , and repeat
this procedure twice more. There is an easier way to do this:
>>> Using the practice lines below, try the following sequence of commands:
>>> Move to the beginning of the first sentence.
>>> Type d3w to DELETE 3 WORDS.
>>> Type w to move ahead one WORD.
>>> Type P (upper p) to PUT the three words before the cursor.
PRACTICE Numbering vi commands is easy to do. Now is the time for
all good users to learn the editor. The quick brown fox jumped
over the seven lazy dogs. Numbering vi commands is easy to do.
Now is the time for all good users to learn the editor. END PRACTICE
>>> Type d2d to DELETE 2 lines, using the practice paragraph above.
>>> Move to the top of the paragraph.
>>> Type p (lower p) to PUT the two lines after of the cursor.
Numbering also works for movement commands.
>>> Now try 4w to move ahead 4 WORDs, on the lines provided above.
>>> Then use 3b to move BACK 3 words.
When you type 4w THINK "4 words", when you type d4w think "delete 4
words". In general, we can write
#movement repeat movement # times
d#movement DELETE to where the #movement command specifies
COPYING TEXT
------------
The YANK command works just like the DELETE command, except y is used
instead of d .
ymovement YANK to where the movement command specifies
YANK and DELETE are identical except that YANK only copies the specified
text into the buffer.
>>> Try this sequence of commands on the practice lines below:
>>> yy to YANK a line (yy is a special case of the y command)
>>> 3j to move down 3 lines
>>> p (lower p) to PUT the yanked text after the cursor
PRACTICE line. Copy and Paste this line to the bottom of the
paragraph. Here is some filler, feel free to copy and paste the
text in this practice region. Remember that u undoes the last
action. END OF PRACTICE
Please note that copy, cutting, and pasting large blocks of text may
significantly alter the tutorial file. Remember that you can always get
a new copy of the tutorial file and that u UNDOes your last change.
Here are some examples which show the similarity between y and d .
yw YANK to the beginning of the next WORD
y$ YANK to the end of the line
y) YANK to the beginning of the next sentence
yte YANK 'TIL the next e
yy YANK a line
Here are some more examples using commands from tutorial #2.
yL YANK from here to the lowest point of the window
y/and YANK from here to the word "and"
y2} YANK 2 paragraphs
y'a YANK from here to the marked line "a" (mark line first)
>>> Experiment with yw yte y4w y2} y3y and y$ on the paragraph
>>> provided below. Copy text AND use p or P to paste it.
PRACTICE line. Copy and Paste this line to the bottom of the
paragraph. Here is some filler, feel free to copy and paste
the text in this practice region. Remember that u undoes the
last action. END OF PRACTICE
NUMBERED BUFFERS
----------------
In all of the previous pasting exercises you've used the "un-named"
buffer. The un-named buffer contains the text you most recently cut or
copied. When you make a new cut or copy, the old contents of the
un-named buffer are moved to one of the "numbered" buffers. The
buffers are numbered 1-9. Each time you cut or copy text,
vi saves your current cut or copy in a buffer #1
vi saves your 2nd to last cut or copy in a buffer #2
The cut or copy before that is saved in a buffer #3 ...
vi saves your 8th oldest cut or copy in a buffer #8
vi saves your 9th oldest cut or copy in a buffer #9
Note that buffer #1 is the same as the un-named buffer. Here's how to
paste from the numbered buffers:
"#P (upper p) PUT contents of buffer # before the cursor
"#p (lower p) PUT contents of buffer # after the cursor
For example:
"1p PUT buffer 1 after the cursor
"7p PUT buffer 7 after the cursor
>>> Delete this 1st line with dd
>>> Delete this 2nd line with dd
>>> Delete this 3rd block with d2d
>>> (2nd half of block 3)
>>> Delete this 4th block with dd
>>> Now type "1p "2p "3p "4p
If you are using vi and have made accidental deletions, just PUT the
contents of each numbered buffer to recover the deleted text.
NAMED BUFFERS
-------------
vi maintains the un-named and numbered buffers automatically. You can
maintain your own buffers named a-z. That is, you can cut or copy text
into buffer x and later paste the text from buffer x.
"aDELETE DELETE text into buffer a
"aYANK YANK text into buffer a
"aPUT PUT text from buffer a
Note, don't actually type 'DELETE', 'YANK', or 'PUT'; type one of the
DELETE commands, YANK commands, or PUT commands. See the examples below:
"ad} DELETE paragraph into buffer a
"by3y YANK 3 lines into buffer b
"cy200G YANK to line 200 into buffer c
"dp PUT buffer d after the cursor
"zP PUT buffer z before the cursor
The contents of a named buffer are lost if:
1) you store new text in a buffer with the same name
or 2) you quit vi (using ZZ or :q!<RETURN> )
>>> Delete this START line into buffer a by typing "add
>>> Paste buffer a by typing "ap
>>> Delete this INTERMEDIATE line into buffer b by typing "bdd
>>> Paste buffer b by typing "bp
To put new material into buffer a
>>> Delete this FINAL line into buffer a by typing "add
>>> Paste buffer a by typing "ap
SAVING WITHOUT QUITTING
-----------------------
With ZZ you save changes and quit vi. With :w you can save and not
quit vi. It is a safe practice to save changes to a file regularly.
This reduces re-typing in the event your computer crashes.
:w<RETURN> WRITE contents of the file (without quitting)
(type a colon, type w , then press the RETURN key)
>>> Try :w now. Note the message at the bottom of the screen.
PASTING BETWEEN FILES
---------------------
This is an extremely useful procedure in vi. Only one new command is
required for pasting between files, the EDIT command
:e filename<RETURN> Begin EDITing the file called "filename"
The EDIT command allows you to edit another file without quitting vi.
This is useful since named buffers are lost when you quit vi.
Let's say you want to copy 6 lines from the file called "3temp" into
this file which is named "3cutpaste":
(Note that "3temp" has already been created for you)
1) WRITE "3cutpaste". vi will not allow :w (press RETURN)
you to edit another file without first
saving any changes you've made.
2) EDIT "3temp" without quitting vi. :e 3temp (press RETURN)
3) YANK 6 lines from "3temp". "ay6y
4) Return to "3cutpaste". :e 3cutpaste (press RETURN)
5) PUT from buffer a "ap
Note that the un-named and numbered buffers are lost when the EDIT
command is used. Only named buffers are preserved with EDIT.
>>> Follow the 5-step procedure outlined above. Don't be concerned
>>> with remembering all 5 steps, the instructions are repeated in
>>> "3temp". Paste the text from "3temp" near this line of this file,
>>> "3cutpaste".
You can use this 5-step procedure on any two files, with any cutting or
copying action (here, y6y is the example).
SUMMARY
-------
#movement repeat movement # times
dmovement DELETE to where "movement" command specifies
d#movement DELETE to where the #movement command specifies
(e.g. dw d3w )
ymovement YANK to where "movement" command specifies
y#movement YANK to where the #movement command specifies
(e.g. yw y3w )
P (upper p) PUT the contents of the buffer before the cursor
p (lower p) PUT the contents of the buffer after the cursor
"#P (upper p) PUT contents of buffer # before the cursor
"#p (lower p) PUT contents of buffer # after the cursor
(e.g. "2p "7P )
"aDELETE DELETE text into buffer a
"aYANK YANK text into buffer a
"aPUT PUT text from named buffer a
(Note, don't actually type 'DELETE', 'YANK', or 'PUT';
type one of the DELETE commands, YANK commands, or PUT
commands, e.g. "ad} "by3y "cy200G "dp "zP )
:w<RETURN> WRITE contents of the file (without quitting)
(type a colon, type w , then press the RETURN key)
:e filename<RETURN> Begin EDITing the file called "filename"
You are now prepared to handle all cutting, copying and pasting tasks
which may arise. If you practice what you've learned you'll find editing
in vi to be fast and convenient.
Copyright (c) 1992 Jill Kliger and Wesley Craig. All Rights Reserved.