Paste text into vi file?

palex · August 3, 2012, 2:25pm

Hello,
I'm running OS X 10.7.4.
How can I paste text from the pasteboard into an open vim file?

Thanks!

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 2:26pm

Make sure vim is in insert mode, then use the paste option in the terminal?

palex · August 3, 2012, 2:29pm

Vim is in insert mode. Where is there a paste option? X11 is XQuartz 2.6.4.

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 2:38pm

Oh, you're running a graphical version of vim in X11? Try middle-clicking.

palex · August 3, 2012, 2:39pm

No, there is no GUI. And how would one middle click on a Mac?

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 2:45pm

You're not using X11 at all, then. OSX's usual graphical system has nothing to do with X11.

If you needed to middle-click, I think OSX has ways to emulate that, but if you're not using X11 that's neither here nor there.

paste should be one of the options under 'edit' across the top of the screen.

palex · August 3, 2012, 3:10pm

I am definitely using X11. Under 'edit', there are two options: Copy, and Special Characters.

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 3:18pm

If you're using X11, then you're using a graphical application. It may use the graphics to show text, but it's a graphical application.

Middle click in mac is cmd-click. You can also plug in an ordinary mouse and you'll have all the functionality Apple never thought you'd need.

palex · August 3, 2012, 3:23pm

Copy text ----> Vi insert mode ----> cmd-click does not work. Any other thoughts?

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 3:29pm

googling osx x11 paste found the apple faq on the subject:

Q: How do I copy and paste using X11 for Mac OS X?

A: X11 for Mac OS X allows cut and paste between X11 and native applications using PRIMARY and PASTEBOARD selections.
You can cut text from X11 applications by selecting the text, performing a cmd-c or copy operation. You can paste in native Mac OS X applications as usual using Cmd-V.
Because there is no standard for pasting in X11 applications (some use middle mouse button, some use control-v, etc.), cmd-v doesn't work for pasting in X11 applications by design. As a result, the "Paste" menu item will be grayed out when X11 applications are in focus. You should use the control-v or the middle mouse button instead for pasting (See X11 Preferences for emulating a middle mouse button).
The "Paste" menu option will be active when non-X windows are active within X11.app (e.g., when entering text in the "Customize Applications" menu item).
A common request has been to make cmd-v work across all X11 applications. This isn't possible without re-writing all X11 applications to standardize on a single approach, which is outside the domain of X11 for Mac OS X.
Please, try option-click on X11 applications. The 'enable key equivalence' in the X11 Preferences allows cmnd-c to work, but in some cases it has conflict with other keyboard shortcuts, namely on emacs.

palex · August 3, 2012, 3:33pm

Thanks, but this does not pertain to vim. I need to know how to paste text which I have copied into an open vim file.

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 3:41pm

There is not a "vim method" of pasting.

That's a function of the window system -- and the window system you're using vim in, is X11. You said so yourself. The edit options you saw -- with paste grayed out or missing -- are exactly what you'd expect of an application which uses X11 under OSX.

Even if it uses the graphics to display text, that doesn't make it not a graphical application. X11 doesn't have a "text mode".

It does, however, have a method of pasting things, which is configurable in OSX's X11 server.

Try it already. And check the options I gave you, to see what it's actually expecting.

palex · August 3, 2012, 3:49pm

Yes, I can easily copy and paste within X11. Thanks again, though.

gull04 · August 3, 2012, 4:42pm

Hi,

Normally if there is a copy option, once highlighted and copied there will be a paste option.

Regards

Dave

palex · August 3, 2012, 4:56pm

No, there appears to never be a paste option.

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 4:59pm

That's why you need to use X11's instead. That's what happens in an X11 application under OSX.

palex · August 3, 2012, 5:04pm

Oh, sorry. I was unclear when I said I can copy and paste within X11. I can highlight and copy text in X11, and paste it into other applications. I CANNOT paste within X11, as there is no paste option.

Corona688 · August 3, 2012, 5:06pm

That's because paste functionality works differently in X11. It's not quite the same as the usual clipboard type of copy-paste, there's contexts and such which usually don't come into the usual copy-paste you see in Windows and the like. Usually, what gets selected gets copied, without a buffer -- if nothing is currently selected anywhere, there's nothing to paste. Quite different from how copy-paste works these days, and you can configure how/if it buffers these days, but that legacy is still there. Not the same, uses different mechanisms. Which is why OSX's own X11 server has its own, independent way to paste inside X11 applications. You can even configure how the X11 server treats key or mouse combinations for pasting.

For details, I refer you to my posts earlier in this thread.

palex · August 3, 2012, 5:10pm

Ok, I'll have a closer look... thanks!

netwalker · September 22, 2012, 7:17am

If you are using MAC keyboard, you can use CMD (instead of Ctrl) button + V/C/X. It works for me.
MAC mouse has no middle button, in fact it has only touch and one button.