In vim, how do I paste a column of text to the end of irregular length lines?

Question

I would like to paste a column of text at the end of irregular-length lines.

For example, I would like to paste the following:

SRR447882.fastq.gz SRR447883.fastq.gz SRR447944.fastq.gz 

at the end of these lines:

TIL01_ TIL01_ TIL04-TIP285_ 

Many times in the past, I simply create enough space on the first line that pasting will not come before the end of the existing text in the longest line. But then I need to go back and remove whitespace.

I have tried googling "vim column paste irregular length rows" and similar queries.

Answer 1

You could try to do the following four steps:

1. block-wise select the first 3 lines (you want to paste later), and press y
2. line-wise select (V) the 3 lines ending with _, press :right
3. then move cursor to the end of the first line($), paste the yanked text
4. gv re-select the lines, press :left

It looks like this:

Answer 2

You can do it like this:

• Start on the first line of the second block
• qq, start recording the q macro
• 4k, go up four lines
• d$, delete till the end of line
• 4j, go back to the previous line
• $p, paste the line at the end of the line
• q, stop recording the macro
• jVG, go down one line and select the remaining lines
• :norm! @q, apply the macro to the selection

It does however leave space where the previous text was. @Kent one's is still easier.