Question

Say, I have 10 consecutive lines followed by another 10 lines, e.g.:

1
2
⋮
10
a
b
⋮
j

I want to append the lines from the second range (a…j) to the lines in the first range (1…10), so that the above 20 lines turn into the following 10 lines, instead:

1a
2b
⋮
10j

Which Vim commands can I use to achieve this?

Answer 1

This would be my way:

qaG"aDdd9-$"apq
9@a

Explanation:

q             # Begin recording typed characters...
a             # to register 'a'
G             # Set cursor in last line.
"aD           # Delete the content from the beginning of line till the end and save it in register 'a'.
dd            # Previous command deleted the content but left the line in blank, delete the complete line.
9-            # Go back 9 lines.
$             # Set cursor at the end of current line (last number in your example).
"ap           # Paste content of register 'a' (at end of line without newline character).
q             # Stop recording.
---------------
9             # Run nine times.
@a            # Commands of register 'a' (all previous commmands).

• Register ‘a’ where I record commands is a different register of where I save content of each line, although they are named the same (letter ‘a’).