In Vim, is there a way to paste text in the search line?

Question

I want to search for $maximumTotalAllowedAfterFinish and replace it with $minimumTotalAllowedAfterFinish. Instead of typing the long text:

Answer 1

You can place the cursor on the word that you want to add to your pattern and then press / or : to enter either the search or the command mode, and then press CtrlRCtrlW to copy the word. Source

Answer 2

Copy it as normal, then do CtrlR" to paste. There are lots of other CtrlR shortcuts (e.g, a calculator, current filename, clipboard contents). Type :help c_<C-R> to see the full list.

Answer 3

Or create the command in a vim buffer , e.g. type it in the buffer:

s/foo/bar/gci

And copy it to a named register, with "ayy (if the cursor is on that line!).

Now you can execute the contents of the "a" register from Vim's Ex command line with:

:[OPTIONAL_RANGE]@a

I use it all the time.

Answer 4

Copy:
1) v (or highlight with mouse, in visual mode)
2) y (yank)

Paste:
1) / (search mode)
2) Ctrl + R + 0 (paste from yanked register)

Answer 5

You can insert the contents of a numbered or named register by typing CTRLR {0-9a-z"%#:-=.}. By typing CTRL-R CTRL-W you can paste the current word under the cursor. See:

:he cmdline-editing

for more information.

Answer 6

Type q: to get into history editing mode in a new buffer. Then edit the last line of the buffer and press Enter to execute it.