~ / ex / copy-and-move-lineslesson 2/7

Copy and move lines: :t and :m

Duplicate or move whole lines to any address with one command.

?how it works

:t (another name for :copy) copies lines and :m (:move) moves them. Both take a range of lines and then a destination: the line to put them below. Mnemonic: copy to, move.

:t. copies the cursor line below itself (a duplicate); :5t. copies line 5 to below the cursor
:t$ copies to the end, :t0 to the very top (below "line 0")
:m0 moves the cursor line to the top, :m$ to the bottom
:m+1 moves it down one line, :m-2 up one line
:'<,'>m0 moves the selected lines to the top

Neither command touches your registers, so whatever you yanked earlier is still there for p.

⌨keys

`:t.`	duplicate the cursor line
`:{N}t.`	copy line N below the cursor
`:t$`	copy the cursor line to the end
`:t0`	copy the cursor line to the top
`:m0`	move the cursor line to the top
`:m$`	move the cursor line to the end
`:m+1`	move the cursor line down one
`:m-2`	move the cursor line up one

4 drills

Copy the cursor line: Copy the cursor line to where the target has a second copy of it, with :t and a destination: . (just below), $ (the end) or 0 (the top).
Move the cursor line: Move the cursor line to where it is in the target with one :m: :m0 (top), :m$ (end), :m+1 (down one) or :m-2 (up one).
Fetch a line from elsewhere: The target has a copy of a line from higher up, just below the cursor. Copy it there with :{N}t. without moving the cursor.
Move or copy a selection: Select the cursor line and the one below it with Vj, then press : and finish the command (m0, m$ or t$) to put them where the target has them.

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