Changes: Paste registers in search or colon commands instead of using the clipboard

Revision as of 11:40, 2 August 2008

Tip 490 Printable Monobook Previous Next

created June 20, 2003 · complexity intermediate · author rainbrot · version 5.7

You can type Ctrl-R to insert a register when in insert mode, or when typing in the command or search line. When you press Ctrl-R you will see " (quote) to prompt you to finish the command by entering a register. For example, press Ctrl-R then a to insert the contents of the a register, or Ctrl-R then " to insert the contents of the unnamed register.

You can press v then move the cursor to visually select some text (say the text is "hello world"). If you press y the selected text is yanked (copied) into the unnamed register. You can now type :%s/ then <C-r>" (Ctrl-R quote), which would show the following in the command line:

:%s/hello world

You could complete the substitute command, to read, for example:

:%s/hello world/goodbye everyone/gc

Type <C-r><C-w> to paste the word under the cursor into the command line, or <C-r><C-a> to paste the WORD.

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+{{TipImported
-Passed both houses, but now it's a pity:
+|id=490
+|previous=489
+|next=492
+|created=June 20, 2003
+|complexity=intermediate
+|author=rainbrot
+|version=5.7
+|rating=84/30
+|category1=Usage
+|category2=
+}}
+You can type Ctrl-R to insert a register when in insert mode, or when typing in the command or search line. When you press Ctrl-R you will see <tt>"</tt> (quote) to prompt you to finish the command by entering a register. For example, press Ctrl-R then <tt>a</tt> to insert the contents of the <tt>a</tt> register, or Ctrl-R then <tt>"</tt> to insert the contents of the unnamed register.
+You can press <tt>v</tt> then move the cursor to visually select some text (say the text is "hello world"). If you press <tt>y</tt> the selected text is yanked (copied) into the unnamed register. You can now type <tt>:%s/</tt> then <tt><C-r>"</tt> (Ctrl-R quote), which would show the following in the command line:
+<pre>
+:%s/hello world
+</pre>
+You could complete the substitute command, to read, for example:
+<pre>
+:%s/hello world/goodbye everyone/gc
+</pre>
+Type <C-r><C-w> to paste the word under the cursor into the command line, or <C-r><C-a> to paste the WORD.
+==References==
+*{{help|c_CTRL-R}}
+*{{help|i_CTRL-R}}
+*{{help|WORD}}
+==Comments==
+----