Copying a block of text from one file to another in Vi
To copy a block of text between files execute the commands:
| Command | Explaination | |
| 1. | Edit the file containing the text you want to copy. | |
| 2. | Go to the top line to be copied. | |
| 3. | ma | Mark this line as mark “a”. |
| 4. | Go to the bottom line to be copied | |
| 5. | y'a | Yank (y) the text from the current cursor location to the mark “a” ('a) |
| 6. | :split second-file | Open another window containing the second file. (This the file in which the text is to be inserted.) |
| 7. | Go to the line where the insert is to occur. The text will be place after this line. | |
| 8. | p | Put the text after the cursor. |