How do I use vim registers?

user_149045 0
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I only know of one instance using registers is via CtrlR* whereby I paste text from a clipboard.

What are other uses of registers? How to use them?

Everything you know about VI registers (let's focus on vi 7.2) -- share with us.

vi vim
17 Answers

A cool trick is to use "1p to paste the last delete/change (, and then use . to repeatedly to paste the subsequent deletes. In other words, "1p... is basically equivalent to "1p"2p"3p"4p.

You can use this to reverse-order a handful of lines: dddddddddd"1p....

user_2109450
user_10254120

My favorite feature is the ability to append into registers by using capital letters. For example, say you want to move a subset of imports from buffer X to buffer Y.

  1. Go to line x1 in buffer X.
  2. Type "ayy to replace register a with the content of line x1.
  3. Go to line x5.
  4. Type "Ayy (capital A) to append line x5 at the end of register a.
  5. Go to buffer Y and type "ap to paste
<content of line x1>
<content of line x5>
user_50587570
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