Accessing Clipboard Contents Across Multiple Instances of Vim from Terminal

If you're a fan of Vim text editor, you know how powerful it can be. But sometimes, you may want to access clipboard contents across multiple instances of Vim. This can be a bit tricky to do, but it's not impossible. In this article, we'll explore how to do just that, using terminal.

What is Clipboard?

Before we dive into how to access clipboard contents across multiple instances of Vim, let's define what we mean by "clipboard." clipboard is a temporary storage area that allows you to copy and paste text between different applications or documents. It's essentially a buffer that holds text you've copied or cut, until you're ready to paste it somewhere else.

Why Do You Need to Access Clipboard Contents Across Multiple Instances of Vim?

You might be wondering why you would want to access clipboard contents across multiple instances of Vim. Well, if you're working on multiple files at same time, it can be useful to copy text from one file and paste it into another, without having to switch back and forth between Vim instances. It can also be useful if you're collaborating with someone and want to share code snippets quickly and easily.

How to Access Clipboard Contents Across Multiple Instances of Vim?

So, how do you access clipboard contents across multiple instances of Vim? There are a few ways to do this, but we'll focus on using terminal.

Step 1: Install Vim with Clipboard Support

The first step is to make sure you have Vim installed with clipboard support. You can check this by typing following command into your terminal −

vim --version | grep clipboard

If you see a result that says "+clipboard" or "+xterm_clipboard," then you're good to go. If not, you'll need to install a version of Vim that includes clipboard support. You can usually do this using your operating system's package manager.

Step 2: Enable Clipboard Support in Vim

The next step is to enable clipboard support in Vim. You can do this by adding following lines to your ~/.vimrc file −

set clipboard=unnamedplus
set clipboard+=unnamed

These lines tell Vim to use clipboard as default register for yanking and putting text. "unnamedplus" option allows you to access system clipboard (i.e., one that you can use to copy and paste between different applications). "unnamed" option allows you to access Vim's own internal clipboard.

Step 3: Copy Text to Clipboard

Once you have clipboard support enabled in Vim, you can copy text to clipboard by yanking it (i.e., copying it) using following command −

y

This will copy selected text to Vim's internal clipboard. If you want to copy text to system clipboard (i.e., one you can use to copy and paste between different applications), you can use following command instead −

"+y

Step 4: Paste Text from Clipboard

To paste text from clipboard, you can use following command −

p

This will paste text that you've copied to Vim's internal clipboard. If you want to paste text from system clipboard, you can use following command instead −

"+p

Step 5: Access Clipboard Contents Across Multiple Instances of Vim

Now that you know how to copy and paste text to and from clipboard in Vim, you can use this knowledge to access clipboard contents across multiple instances of Vim. Here's how −

• Copy text you want to share to system clipboard by using "+y command.

• Switch to other instance of Vim that you want to paste text into.

• In second instance of Vim, use "+p command to paste text from system clipboard.

• That's it! text you copied in first instance of Vim should now be available in second instance.

Using Multiple Registers to Access Clipboard Contents

If you're working on multiple files at once, you may want to copy and paste text between them without having to switch between Vim instances. In this case, you can use Vim's multiple registers feature.

Vim has 26 registers (a to z), each of which can hold a separate piece of text. You can copy text to a specific register by specifying its name when using y command, like this −

"ay

This will copy selected text to register a. You can then paste contents of register a using following command −

"ap

You can use any letter from a to z to specify a register. This means you can copy text to different registers in different instances of Vim, and then paste them into appropriate files.

For example, let's say you have two instances of Vim open, each editing a different file. In first instance, you want to copy some text from file A to file B. You can do this by following these steps −

• Select text you want to copy in file A.

• Use "ay command to copy text to register a.

• Switch to second instance of Vim, editing file B.

• Use "ap command to paste contents of register a into file B.

• Using same register across multiple instances of Vim

If you want to use same register across multiple instances of Vim, you can use Vim's client-server feature. This allows you to run multiple instances of Vim, with one instance acting as a server and others as clients. server can then communicate with clients to share data, including clipboard contents.

To use Vim's client-server feature, you'll need to start a server instance of Vim using following command −

vim --servername SERVERNAME --remote-silent

Replace SERVERNAME with a name of your choice. This will start a Vim instance that's running as a server.

Once server instance is running, you can start additional instances of Vim as clients using following command −

vim --servername SERVERNAME --remote-silent FILENAME

Replace SERVERNAME with name you chose for server instance, and FILENAME with name of file you want to edit. This will start a new Vim instance that's connected to server.

Once you have multiple instances of Vim running, you can use following command to copy text to a specific register −

:call remote_send(SERVERNAME, '"+y')

This will copy selected text to system clipboard, which can be accessed by all Vim instances that are connected to server.

To paste text from system clipboard, you can use following command −

:call remote_send(SERVERNAME, '"+p')

This will paste contents of system clipboard into current Vim instance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, accessing clipboard contents across multiple instances of Vim can be a useful way to copy and paste text between different files or collaborate with others. While it can be a bit tricky to set up, using Vim's clipboard support, multiple registers, and client-server feature can help make process smoother and more efficient. With these tools at your disposal, you'll be able to share code snippets and other text quickly and easily across multiple Vim instances.