vim paste from clipboard in terminal

I'm trying to write an insert mode mapping for pasting from the system clipboard. I have this:

imap <c-p> <c-o>:set paste<cr><c-r><c-r>+<c-o>:set nopaste<cr>

(Note that this is supposed to work according to this)

However when invoking the key mapping, it doesn't work, it stops short at the set paste part, so I just end up with paste mode enabled.

But if I do all those keys manually then I get what I want...so what's different when the commands are under a keymap? What am I missing to make this work?

I have also tried this:

imap <c-p> <esc>"+gP

This throws a slew of errors about gP being an unknown variable, but the same mapping in normal mode works as expected...so what's different with insert mode mappings?

moljac024

Posted 2013-01-31T20:37:23.263

Reputation: 23

The author of the cited userobsessed article is not very experienced with Vim. I use vim in a terminal all day, have no problems pasting, and don't jump through all those hoops. To paste from the + register while maintaining the original formatting, use <C-R><C-O>+. See :help i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O for more on this. I don't know what's wrong with your second imap--it works fine for me. – garyjohn – 2013-01-31T23:12:34.983

I did not see this comment until now, that's strange...did you edit? Anyway, thanks, that's how I ended up solving it. – moljac024 – 2013-02-01T10:10:22.627

Answers

You do not need to :set paste when inserting the clipboard's contents with i_CTRL-R. Because of the command, Vim already knows that this is from the clipboard. :set paste is for when you paste directly from the terminal (e.g. via the middle mouse button); there, Vim cannot differentiate between characters typed or pasted, and needs this hint.

To avoid auto-indenting, use i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O.

Ingo Karkat

Posted 2013-01-31T20:37:23.263

Reputation: 19 513

Yes but I noticed that when I paste code the indentation still gets destroyed without paste mode enabled. – moljac024 – 2013-02-01T08:58:54.147

Then just use the right command: <C-R><C-O>{register} :-) – Ingo Karkat – 2013-02-01T09:10:58.693

Yeah, that's what I ended up doing, but wasn't able to answer my own question for 8 hours :) Thanks! – moljac024 – 2013-02-01T10:07:46.013

I still don't know what's wrong with the first mapping I tried, as I believe it should work, but looking into the vim documentation (specifically :help i_CTRL-R) I came up with a better solution:

inoremap <c-p> <c-r><c-o>+

From the docs:

CTRL-R CTRL-O {0-9a-z"%#*+/:.-=} i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O Insert the contents of a register literally and don't auto-indent. Does the same as pasting with the mouse ||. Does not replace characters! The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as typed. {not in Vi}

moljac024

Posted 2013-01-31T20:37:23.263

Reputation: 23

That second imap command should work fine. As I understand it, it should exit insert mode, paste from one of the system clipboards (+) then leave the cursor after the pasted text.

I suspect you are either running vi not vim or your vim is in compatible mode. The documentation for ["x]gP (:help gP) says "not in vi" so that might be your issue

Steven

Posted 2013-01-31T20:37:23.263

Reputation: 135

I am certainly running vim and it is not in compatible mode. – moljac024 – 2013-01-31T21:46:57.143