Copy and paste from external source

Question

I use vim (Actually gvim on windows) as my main text editor. In my work flow I have to copy sentences to/from various external sources, therefore I use clipboard=unnamed to save me key strokes (p instead of "*p).
I copy text from an outer source and I want to paste it over two different places in vim. I mark the first one (v) and then use p to paste over it. The problem is that at this point I lose the original buffer and can't paste it in the second place. It does not exist in the unnamed buffer, the * buffer or the numbered buffers. My guess is that pasting over selection is putting the "pasted over" text in the unnamed buffer.
How can I paste my original string in two locations? i.e. prevent it from getting lost from the buffers.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Try this:

:vmap p "_xP

• vmap means to make a mapping that only applies in visual mode.
• p is the key to create the mapping for.
• "_ is the black hole register. This is used in any situation where you want to delete text without affecting any registers.
• xP means delete the selected text, then paste before the resulting cursor position.

Answer 2

You could set up a mapping to ease your pain:

:vmap <F5> "zxP

This will delete the visually selected text, but put it in a different register, so the clipboard isn't affected. Change <F5> to whatever is easiest for you.