how to move a block or column of text

Question

I have the following text as a simple case:

...
abc xxx 123 456
wer xxx 345 678676
...

what I need to move a block of text xxx to another location:

...
abc 123 xxx 456
wer 345 xxx 678676
...

I think I use visual mode to block a column of text, what are the other commands to move the block to another location?

Solution 1

You should use blockwise visual mode (Ctrl+v). Then d to delete block, p or P to paste block.

Solution 2

Try the link.

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Marking text (visual mode)

• v - start visual mode, mark lines, then do command (such as y-yank)
• V - start Linewise visual mode
• o - move to other end of marked area
• Ctrl+v - start visual block mode
• O - move to Other corner of block
• aw - mark a word
• ab - a () block (with braces)
• aB - a {} block (with brackets)
• ib - inner () block
• iB - inner {} block
• Esc - exit visual mode

Visual commands

• > - shift right
• < - shift left
• y - yank (copy) marked text
• d - delete marked text
• ~ - switch case

Cut and Paste

• yy - yank (copy) a line
• 2yy - yank 2 lines
• yw - yank word
• y$ - yank to end of line
• p - put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
• P - put (paste) before cursor
• dd - delete (cut) a line
• dw - delete (cut) the current word
• x - delete (cut) current character

Solution 3

One of the few useful command I learned at the beginning of learning VIM is :1,3 mo 5 This means move text line 1 through 3 to line 5.

Solution 4

1. In VIM, press Ctrl+V to go in Visual Block mode
2. Select the required columns with your arrow keys and press x to cut them in the buffer.
3. Move cursor to row 1 column 9 and press P (thats capital P) in command mode.
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+b to get in and out of it. (source)

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