Copy and paste content from one file to another file in vi

Question

I am working with two files, and I need to copy a few lines from one file and paste into another file. I know how to copy (yy) and paste (p) in the same file. But that doesn

Answer 1

Use the variations of d like dd to cut.

To write a range of lines to another file you can use:

:<n>,<m> w filename

Where <n> and <m> are numbers (or symbols) that designate a range of lines.

For using the desktop clipboard, take a look at the +g commands.

Answer 2

These remaps work like a charm for me:

vmap <C-c> "*y     " Yank current selection into system clipboard
nmap <C-c> "*Y     " Yank current line into system clipboard (if nothing is selected)
nmap <C-v> "*p     " Paste from system clipboard

So, when I'm at visual mode, I select the lines I want and press Ctrl + c and then Ctrl + v to insert the text in the receiver file. You could use "*y as well, but I think this is hard to remember sometimes.

This is also useful to copy text from Vim to clipboard.

Source: Copy and paste between sessions using a temporary file

Answer 3

Goal: save a piece of one file to another file.

Solution:

1. Select the text you want to save:
   • Position the cursor where you want to start selection
   • Press v to select characters OR uppercase V to select whole lines
   • Move the cursor to the end of what you want to select

2. Save selected text to the new file. Type :wSpace and the name of the new file. Actually you'll see

   :'<,'>w new.txt

   Then press Enter

Answer 4

While editing the file, make marks where you want the start and end to be using

ma - sets the a mark

mb - sets the b mark

Then, to copy that into another file, just use the w command:

:'a,'bw /name/of/output/file.txt

Answer 5

Another way could be to open the two files in two split buffers and use the following "snippet" after visual selection of the lines of interest.

:vnoremap <F4> :y<CR><C-W>Wr<Esc>p

Answer 6

These are all great suggestions, but if you know location of text in another file use sed with ease. :r! sed -n '1,10 p' < input_file.txt This will insert 10 lines in an already open file at the current position of the cursor.