mjhjmtu

I use the highlight mode in vim to copy a few characters. I then want to paste more than once. My current technique does not work well.

Sample text: Linux Solaris Irix HP-UX

Suppose I want to copy the word Linux, then paste over Solaris and Irix.

1. Place cursor at L in Linux
   


2. Command v (for visual hilite), then e (for end-of-word), then y (for yank/copy)


3. Now Linux is on my "vim clipboard"


4. Move cursor to S in Solaris (first instance)


5. Command v (for visual hilite), then e (for end-of-word), then p (for paste)


6. Text is now: Linux Linux Irix HP-UX, but now Solaris is on my "vim clipboard"


7. Move cursor to I in Irix (second instance)


8. Command v (for visual hilite), then e (for end-of-word), then p (for paste)


9. Text is now: Linux Linux Solaris HP-UX which is not what I expected.

I resort to using highlite/paste with the mouse (via X Terminal). Surely, I can do this better. How?

I would do that in this way (really useful for many paste):

1. Go somewhere into the word Linux, then "ayiw to copy the word
   
   • 
     "a to select register «a»
   
   
   • 
     y for copying
   
   
   • 
     i to specify we are "in" (the word, the paragraph, ...)
   
   
   • 
     w to choose the word
   
   


2. Got to next word w (or somewhere into the word)


3. Paste on time and save that as macro qbdiw"aPq
   
   • 
     qb to start recording macro in register «b»
   
   
   • 
     d for deleting
   
   
   • 
     i to specify we are "in" (the word, the paragraph, ...)
   
   
   • 
     w to choose the word
   
   
   • 
     "a to select the register «a» (previously saved)
   
   
   • 
     P to paste the word before the cursor
   
   
   • 
     q to stop recording the macro
   
   


4. Then to use the macro the first time, go to the next word w and press @b
   


5. Finally, and it is where the advantage of this method can be seen, go the each word you want to replace and press @@
   

Hint: Replace the w by W in qbdiw"aPq to select word with punctuation, like HP-UX

Issue: When the word is the last in the line it will delete the space before the word.

Use registers and avoid visual mode.

Move to 'L' (type 0fL) |L|inux Solaris Irix HP-UX
"lye 
'Linux' is now in the 'l' register. 
Move to 'S' (type fS) Linux |S|olaris Irix HP-UX
"sde"lP Linux Linu|x| Irix HP-UX
'Solaris' is now in the 's' register. 
Move to 'I' (type fI) Linux Linux |I|rix HP-UX
"ide"lP Linux Linux Linu|x| HP-UX

You could also just delete 'Solaris ' and 'Irix ' and paste 'Linux ' twice in their place.

0fLw2dwbyf<space>w2P

I need this so often, I wrote a plugin to simplify and allow maximum speed: ReplaceWithRegister.

This plugin offers a two-in-one gr command that replaces text covered by a motion / text object, entire line(s) or the current selection with the contents of a register; the old text is deleted into the black-hole register, i.e. it's gone. It transparently handles many corner cases and allows for a quick repeat via the standard . command. Should you not like it, its page has links to alternatives.

You might want to consider "0p when pasting in visual mode.

Ref :help v_p

Move to L in Linux
ye # Yank to end of word.
w # Move to next word.
<C>ve # Highlight Solaris.
"0p # Paste Linux, Solaris ends up in unnamed register and Linux in 0
w # Move to next word.
<C>ve # Mark next word. (Or anywhere else)
"0p # Paste Linux.

Or in this exact example one could also:

Positioned on L in Linux

yww<C>v2f 2p
# Or
yww<C>v2el2p
yw # Yank Linux 
w # Move to S in Solaris
<C>v2el # Enter visual mode, highlight two * end, and l to consume space.
2p # Paste Linux twice.

'<C>v2f ' # Alternative to <C>v2el

Luckily for you and me, this question has beesn asked and answered on StackOverFlow. You can alter the default behaviour of p to be more intuitive or handy for some, by adding the following to your vimrc file:

xnoremap p pgvy