Cut and paste
Encyclopedia
In human-computer interaction, cut and paste and copy and paste offer user-interface
interaction techniques for transferring text, data
, file
s or object
s from a source to a destination. Most ubiquitously, users require the ability to cut and paste sections of plain text
. This interaction technique has close associations with graphical user interface
s that use pointing device
s such as a computer mouse (by drag and drop, for example).
and physically paste
them onto another page. This practice remained standard as late as the 1970s. Stationery stores formerly sold "editing scissors" with blades long enough to cut an 8½"-wide page. The advent of photocopier
s made the practice easier and more flexible.
The act of copying/transferring text from one part of a computer-based document ("buffer") to a different location within the same or different computer-based document was a part of the earliest on-line computer editors. As soon as computer data entry moved from punch-cards to online files (in the mid/late 1960s) there were "commands" for accomplishing this operation. This mechanism was often used to transfer frequently-used commands or text snippets from additional buffers into the document, as was the case with the QED
editor.
The earliest editors, since they were designed for "hard-copy" terminals, provided keyboard
commands to delineate contiguous regions of text, remove such regions, or move them to some other location in the file. Since moving a region of text required first removing it from its initial location and then inserting it into its new location various schemes had to be invented to allow for this multi-step process to be specified by the user.
Often this was done by the provision of a 'move' command, but some text editors required that the text be first put into some temporary location (AKA, "the clipboard") for later retrieval/placement.
Although the mechanism was already in widespread use in early line and character editors, Lawrence G. Tesler (Larry Tesler) popularized "cut and paste" in the context of computer-based text-editing while working at Xerox Corporation Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
in 1974–1975.
Apple Computer
widely popularized the computer-based cut-and-paste paradigm through the Lisa
(1981) and Macintosh (1984) operating systems and applications. Apple mapped the functionalities to key-combinations consisting of the Command key
(a special modifier key
) held down while typing the letters X (for cut), C (for copy), and V (for paste), choosing a handful of keyboard
sequences to control basic editing operations. The keys involved all cluster together at the left end of the bottom row of the standard QWERTY
keyboard, and each key is combined with a special modifier key
to perform the desired operation:
Control-V
was first used for paste in the QED editor.
CUA (for OS/2) also uses combinations of the Insert
, Del, Shift
and Control key
s. Early versions of Windows
used the IBM
standard. Microsoft
later adopted the Apple style key-combinations with the introduction of Windows
, choosing the control key
as their modifier key
which had previously been reserved for sending control character
s.
Similar patterns of key combinations, later borrowed by others, remain widely available in most GUI text editors, word processors, and file system browsers.
buttons.
Whereas cut-and-paste often takes place with a mouse-equivalent in Windows-like GUI environments, it may also occur entirely from the keyboard, especially in UNIX
text editor
s, such as Pico
or vi
. The most common kind of cutting and pasting without a mouse involves the entire current line, but it may also involve text after the cursor
until the end of the line and other more sophisticated operations.
When a software environment provides cut and paste functionality, a nondestructive operation called copy usually accompanies them; copy places a copy of the selected text in the clipboard without removing it from its original location.
The clipboard usually stays invisible, because the operations of cutting and pasting, while actually independent, usually take place in quick succession, and the user (usually) needs no assistance in understanding the operation or maintaining mental context.
or other data
from a source to a destination. It differs from cut and paste in that the original source text or data does not get deleted or removed. The popularity of this method stems from its simplicity and the ease with which users can move data between various applications visually - without resorting to permanent storage
.
Copying often takes place in graphical user interface
systems through use of the key-combinations Ctrl
+C, or by using some other method, such as a context menu
or a toolbar
button. Once one has copied data into the area of memory referred to as the clipboard
, one may paste the contents of the clipboard into a destination using the key combinations Ctrl+V, or other methods dependent on the system. Macintosh computers use the key combinations ⌘
C and ⌘V.
The X Window System
maintains an additional clipboard containing the most recently selected text; middle-clicking pastes the content of this "selection" clipboard into whatever the mouse pointer is on at that time.
Most terminal emulator
s and some other applications support the key combinations Ctrl-Insert to copy and Shift-Insert to paste. This is in accordance with the IBM Common User Access (CUA) standard.
Some programs not only copy and paste text, but also edit it during the process, such as PureText
(designed by Steve Miller) which copies text from a table and removes the table during the pasting process.
Windows Explorer
also differentiates moving from merely copy-and-delete: A "cut" file will not actually disappear until pasted elsewhere, and cannot be pasted more than once. Cutting a second file while the first one is cut will leave it unchanged instead of deleting it.
In contrast to the verb-object paradigm, cut and paste is an object-verb paradigm:
Object-verb is inverted, compared to English word order.
Clipboard manager
s can be very convenient productivity-enhancers by providing many more features than system-native clipboards. Thousands of clips from the clip history are available for future pasting, and can be searched, edited, or deleted. Favorite clips that a user frequently pastes (for example, the current date, or the various fields of a user's contact info) can be kept standing ready to be pasted with a few clicks or keystrokes.
Similarly, a kill ring provides a LIFO stack
used for cut-and-paste operations as a type of clipboard capable of storing multiple pieces of data.
For example, the Emacs
text-editor developed by Richard Stallman
provides a kill ring.
Each time a user performs a cut or copy operation, the system adds the affected text to the ring. The user can then access the contents of a specific (relatively numbered) buffer in the ring when performing a subsequent paste-operation. One can also give kill-buffers individual names, thus providing another form of multiple-clipboard functionality.
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
interaction techniques for transferring text, data
Data (computing)
In computer science, data is information in a form suitable for use with a computer. Data is often distinguished from programs. A program is a sequence of instructions that detail a task for the computer to perform...
, file
Computer file
A computer file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information, which is available to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage. A file is durable in the sense that it remains available for programs to use after the current program has finished...
s or object
Object (computer science)
In computer science, an object is any entity that can be manipulated by the commands of a programming language, such as a value, variable, function, or data structure...
s from a source to a destination. Most ubiquitously, users require the ability to cut and paste sections of plain text
Plain text
In computing, plain text is the contents of an ordinary sequential file readable as textual material without much processing, usually opposed to formatted text....
. This interaction technique has close associations with graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
s that use pointing device
Pointing device
A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...
s such as a computer mouse (by drag and drop, for example).
History
The term "cut and paste" comes from the traditional practice in manuscript-editings whereby people would literally cut paragraphs from a page with scissorsScissors
Scissors are hand-operated cutting instruments. They consist of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard, metal foil, thin...
and physically paste
Adhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
them onto another page. This practice remained standard as late as the 1970s. Stationery stores formerly sold "editing scissors" with blades long enough to cut an 8½"-wide page. The advent of photocopier
Photocopier
A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...
s made the practice easier and more flexible.
The act of copying/transferring text from one part of a computer-based document ("buffer") to a different location within the same or different computer-based document was a part of the earliest on-line computer editors. As soon as computer data entry moved from punch-cards to online files (in the mid/late 1960s) there were "commands" for accomplishing this operation. This mechanism was often used to transfer frequently-used commands or text snippets from additional buffers into the document, as was the case with the QED
QED (text editor)
QED is a line-oriented computer text editor that was developed by Butler Lampson and L. Peter Deutsch for the Berkeley Timesharing System running on the SDS 940. It was implemented by L...
editor.
The earliest editors, since they were designed for "hard-copy" terminals, provided keyboard
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
commands to delineate contiguous regions of text, remove such regions, or move them to some other location in the file. Since moving a region of text required first removing it from its initial location and then inserting it into its new location various schemes had to be invented to allow for this multi-step process to be specified by the user.
Often this was done by the provision of a 'move' command, but some text editors required that the text be first put into some temporary location (AKA, "the clipboard") for later retrieval/placement.
Although the mechanism was already in widespread use in early line and character editors, Lawrence G. Tesler (Larry Tesler) popularized "cut and paste" in the context of computer-based text-editing while working at Xerox Corporation Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
Xerox PARC
PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....
in 1974–1975.
Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
widely popularized the computer-based cut-and-paste paradigm through the Lisa
Apple Lisa
The Apple Lisa—also known as the Lisa—is a :personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s....
(1981) and Macintosh (1984) operating systems and applications. Apple mapped the functionalities to key-combinations consisting of the Command key
Command key
The Command key, also historically known as the Apple key, open-Apple key or meta key is a modifier key present on Apple Keyboards. The Command key's purpose is to allow the user to enter keyboard shortcut commands to GUI applications...
(a special modifier key
Modifier key
In computing, a modifier key is a special key on a computer keyboard that modifies the normal action of another key when the two are pressed in combination....
) held down while typing the letters X (for cut), C (for copy), and V (for paste), choosing a handful of keyboard
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
sequences to control basic editing operations. The keys involved all cluster together at the left end of the bottom row of the standard QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
keyboard, and each key is combined with a special modifier key
Modifier key
In computing, a modifier key is a special key on a computer keyboard that modifies the normal action of another key when the two are pressed in combination....
to perform the desired operation:
- ZControl-ZIn computing, is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the substitute character or a keyboard shortcut. Strictly speaking, is not a printable character at all but a code for control purposes, though it is sometimes rendered by two characters as ^Z. It is generated by pressing the key...
to undoUndoUndo is a command in many computer programs. It erases the last change done to the document reverting it to an older state. In some more advanced programs such as graphic processing, undo will negate the last command done to the file being edited.... - XControl-XIn computing, control-X is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the cancel character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard...
to cut - CControl-CControl-C is a common computer command. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard.In graphical user interface environments that use the control key to control the active program, control-C is often used to copy highlighted text to the clipboard...
to copy - VControl-VIn computing, Control-V is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the synchronous idle character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard...
to paste
Control-V
Control-V
In computing, Control-V is a control character in ASCII code, also known as the synchronous idle character. It is generated by pressing the key while holding down the key on a computer keyboard...
was first used for paste in the QED editor.
CUA (for OS/2) also uses combinations of the Insert
Insert key
The Insert key is a key commonly found on computer keyboards.It is primarily used to switch between the two text-entering modes on a personal computer or word processor. The first is overtype mode, in which the cursor, when typing, overwrites any text that is present on and after its current...
, Del, Shift
Shift key
The shift key is a modifier key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper" characters. There are typically two shift keys, on the left and right sides of the row below the home row...
and Control key
Control key
In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, will perform a special operation ; similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself...
s. Early versions of Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
used the IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
standard. Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
later adopted the Apple style key-combinations with the introduction of Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, choosing the control key
Control key
In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, will perform a special operation ; similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself...
as their modifier key
Modifier key
In computing, a modifier key is a special key on a computer keyboard that modifies the normal action of another key when the two are pressed in combination....
which had previously been reserved for sending control character
Control character
In computing and telecommunication, a control character or non-printing character is a code point in a character set, that does not in itself represent a written symbol.It is in-band signaling in the context of character encoding....
s.
Similar patterns of key combinations, later borrowed by others, remain widely available in most GUI text editors, word processors, and file system browsers.
Cut and paste
Computer-based editing can involve very frequent use of cut-and-paste operations. Most software-suppliers provide several methods for performing such tasks, and this can involve (for example) key-combinations, pulldown menus, pop-up menus, or toolbarToolbar
In a graphical user interface, on a computer monitor, a toolbar is a GUI widget on which on-screen buttons, icons, menus, or other input or output elements are placed. Toolbars are seen in office suites, graphics editors, and web browsers...
buttons.
- The user selects the text or file for moving by some method, typically by dragDrag- In science and technology :* Drag , the force which resists motion of an object through a fluid* Drag equation, a mathematical equation used in analyzing the magnitude of drag caused by fluid flow...
ging over the text or file name with the pointing-device or holding down the Shift keyShift keyThe shift key is a modifier key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper" characters. There are typically two shift keys, on the left and right sides of the row below the home row...
while using the arrow keysArrow keysCursor movement keys or arrow keys are buttons on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor in a specified direction....
to move the text cursorCursor (computers)In computing, a cursor is an indicator used to show the position on a computer monitor or other display device that will respond to input from a text input or pointing device. The flashing text cursor may be referred to as a caret in some cases... - The user performs a "cut" operation via key combination CtrlControl keyIn computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, will perform a special operation ; similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself...
+x (⌘Command keyThe Command key, also historically known as the Apple key, open-Apple key or meta key is a modifier key present on Apple Keyboards. The Command key's purpose is to allow the user to enter keyboard shortcut commands to GUI applications...
+x for MacintoshMacintoshThe Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
users), menu, or other means - Visibly, "cut" text immediately disappears from its location. "Cut" files typically change color to indicate that they will be moved.
- Conceptually, the text has now moved to a location often called the clipboardClipboard (software)The clipboard is a software facility that can be used for short-term data storage and/or data transfer between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations...
. The clipboard typically remains invisible. On most systems only one clipboard location exists, hence another cut or copy operation overwrites the previously stored information. Many UNIXUnixUnix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
text-editors provide multiple clipboard entries, as do some Macintosh programs such as Clipboard Master, and Windows clipboard-managerClipboard managerA clipboard manager is a computer program that adds functionality to basic clipboard usage.All existing window managers provide only one buffer, overwritten by each new clipping....
programs such as Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
. - The user selects a location for insertion by some method, typically by clicking at the desired insertion point
- A paste operation takes place which visibly inserts the clipboard text at the insertion point. (The paste operation does not typically destroy the clipboard text: it remains available in the clipboard and the user can insert additional copies at other points)
Whereas cut-and-paste often takes place with a mouse-equivalent in Windows-like GUI environments, it may also occur entirely from the keyboard, especially in UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
text editor
Text editor
A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
s, such as Pico
Pico (text editor)
Pico is a text editor for Unix and Unix-based computer systems. It is integrated with the Pine e-mail client, which was designed by the Office of Computing and Communications at the University of Washington....
or vi
Vi
vi is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system. The portable subset of the behavior of vi and programs based on it, and the ex editor language supported within these programs, is described by the Single Unix Specification and POSIX.The original code for vi...
. The most common kind of cutting and pasting without a mouse involves the entire current line, but it may also involve text after the cursor
Cursor (computers)
In computing, a cursor is an indicator used to show the position on a computer monitor or other display device that will respond to input from a text input or pointing device. The flashing text cursor may be referred to as a caret in some cases...
until the end of the line and other more sophisticated operations.
When a software environment provides cut and paste functionality, a nondestructive operation called copy usually accompanies them; copy places a copy of the selected text in the clipboard without removing it from its original location.
The clipboard usually stays invisible, because the operations of cutting and pasting, while actually independent, usually take place in quick succession, and the user (usually) needs no assistance in understanding the operation or maintaining mental context.
Copy and paste
The term "copy-and-paste" refers to the popular, simple method of reproducing textCharacter (computing)
In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language....
or other data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
from a source to a destination. It differs from cut and paste in that the original source text or data does not get deleted or removed. The popularity of this method stems from its simplicity and the ease with which users can move data between various applications visually - without resorting to permanent storage
Disk storage
Disk storage or disc storage is a general category of storage mechanisms, in which data are digitally recorded by various electronic, magnetic, optical, or mechanical methods on a surface layer deposited of one or more planar, round and rotating disks...
.
Copying often takes place in graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
systems through use of the key-combinations Ctrl
Control key
In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, will perform a special operation ; similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself...
+C, or by using some other method, such as a context menu
Context menu
A context menu is a menu in a graphical user interface that appears upon user interaction, such as a right mouse click or middle click mouse operation...
or a toolbar
Toolbar
In a graphical user interface, on a computer monitor, a toolbar is a GUI widget on which on-screen buttons, icons, menus, or other input or output elements are placed. Toolbars are seen in office suites, graphics editors, and web browsers...
button. Once one has copied data into the area of memory referred to as the clipboard
Clipboard
A clipboard is a thin, rigid board with a clip at the top for holding paper in place. A clipboard is typically used to support paper with one hand while writing on it with the other, especially when other writing surfaces are not available.-Other uses:...
, one may paste the contents of the clipboard into a destination using the key combinations Ctrl+V, or other methods dependent on the system. Macintosh computers use the key combinations ⌘
Command key
The Command key, also historically known as the Apple key, open-Apple key or meta key is a modifier key present on Apple Keyboards. The Command key's purpose is to allow the user to enter keyboard shortcut commands to GUI applications...
C and ⌘V.
The X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
maintains an additional clipboard containing the most recently selected text; middle-clicking pastes the content of this "selection" clipboard into whatever the mouse pointer is on at that time.
Most terminal emulator
Terminal emulator
A terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture....
s and some other applications support the key combinations Ctrl-Insert to copy and Shift-Insert to paste. This is in accordance with the IBM Common User Access (CUA) standard.
Some programs not only copy and paste text, but also edit it during the process, such as PureText
PureText
PureText is a small utility for Windows that allows the user to paste the contents of the clipboard as plain text. Any formatting of the text is removed. This is equivalent to pasting formatted text into Notepad then copying it back out again; or using "Paste Special" in Microsoft Word to paste...
(designed by Steve Miller) which copies text from a table and removes the table during the pasting process.
Common keyboard shortcuts
| Cut | Copy | Paste | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generic/Apple | command-X | command-C | command-V |
| Windows/GNOME/KDE | control-X / shift-Delete | control-C / control-Insert | control-V / shift-Insert |
| BeOS | alt-X | alt-C | alt-V |
| Common User Access | shift+Delete | control+Insert | shift+Insert |
| Emacs | control-W (to mark) control-K (to end of line) |
meta Meta key The meta key is a special key on MIT keyboards, such as the space-cadet keyboard, and on Sun Microsystems keyboards, marked as a solid diamond.The key is similar in function to the Macintosh's command key, which has the same location... -W (to mark) |
control-Y |
| vi | d (delete) | y (yank) | p (put) |
| X Window System | click-and-drag to highlight | middle mouse button |
Additional differences between moving and copying
In a spreadsheet, moving (cut and paste) need not equate to copying (copy and paste) and then deleting the original: when moving, references to the moved cells may move accordingly.Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer
This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
also differentiates moving from merely copy-and-delete: A "cut" file will not actually disappear until pasted elsewhere, and cannot be pasted more than once. Cutting a second file while the first one is cut will leave it unchanged instead of deleting it.
Comparison to verb-object paradigm
, the cut-and-paste paradigm has become so universal that most computer users take it for granted. A competing paradigm that was popular in some early, highly successful applications, and considered easy to use by the standards of their day, is illustrated by the following sequence of steps:- Initially, the user has not selected any text
- The user initiates the operation by selecting a move command in some manner
- The system displays a prompt such as "Move what?"
- The system enters a modal stateMode (computer interface)In user interface design, a mode is a distinct setting within a computer program or any physical machine interface, in which the same user input will produce perceived different results than it would in other settings....
in which the user can either select text or cancel the move-operation - The user selects the text in some manner
- The system displays a prompt "To where?"
- The system enters a modal state in which the user can either indicate an insertion-point or cancel the move-operation
- The user indicates the insertion-point and confirms the move-operation
- The system displays the effects of the move
In contrast to the verb-object paradigm, cut and paste is an object-verb paradigm:
- Verb-object: cut here, paste there.
- Object-verb: here cut, there paste.
Object-verb is inverted, compared to English word order.
Multiple clipboards
Several GUI editors allow copying text into or pasting text from specific clipboards, typically using a special keystroke-sequence to specify a particular clipboard-number.Clipboard manager
Clipboard manager
A clipboard manager is a computer program that adds functionality to basic clipboard usage.All existing window managers provide only one buffer, overwritten by each new clipping....
s can be very convenient productivity-enhancers by providing many more features than system-native clipboards. Thousands of clips from the clip history are available for future pasting, and can be searched, edited, or deleted. Favorite clips that a user frequently pastes (for example, the current date, or the various fields of a user's contact info) can be kept standing ready to be pasted with a few clicks or keystrokes.
Similarly, a kill ring provides a LIFO stack
Stack (data structure)
In computer science, a stack is a last in, first out abstract data type and linear data structure. A stack can have any abstract data type as an element, but is characterized by only three fundamental operations: push, pop and stack top. The push operation adds a new item to the top of the stack,...
used for cut-and-paste operations as a type of clipboard capable of storing multiple pieces of data.
For example, the Emacs
Emacs
Emacs is a class of text editors, usually characterized by their extensibility. GNU Emacs has over 1,000 commands. It also allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work.Development began in the mid-1970s and continues actively...
text-editor developed by Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman , often shortened to rms,"'Richard Stallman' is just my mundane name; you can call me 'rms'"|last= Stallman|first= Richard|date= N.D.|work=Richard Stallman's homepage...
provides a kill ring.
Each time a user performs a cut or copy operation, the system adds the affected text to the ring. The user can then access the contents of a specific (relatively numbered) buffer in the ring when performing a subsequent paste-operation. One can also give kill-buffers individual names, thus providing another form of multiple-clipboard functionality.
See also
- Control keyControl keyIn computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, will perform a special operation ; similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself...
- Copy and paste programmingCopy and paste programmingCopy and paste programming is a pejorative term to describe highly repetitive computer programming code apparently produced by copy and paste operations...
- PhotomontagePhotomontagePhotomontage is the process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. A similar method, although one that does not...
- ClipboardClipboard (software)The clipboard is a software facility that can be used for short-term data storage and/or data transfer between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations...
- Drag and drop
- Publishing Interchange LanguagePublishing Interchange LanguagePublishing Interchange Language, or "PIL" is a public domain language that allows precise description of the layout of content on pages, groups of multiple pages or any 2-dimensional area, which it calls a "canvas." It was developed between June 1990 and June 1991 by the Professional Publishers...
- X Window selectionX Window selectionSelections, cut buffers, and drag-and-drop are the mechanisms used in the X Window System to allow a user to transfer data from a window to another. Selections and cut buffer are typically used when a user selects text or some other data in a window and pastes in another one...
- PastebinPastebinA pastebin is a type of web application that allows its users to upload snippets of text, usually samples of source code, for public viewing. It is very popular in IRC channels where pasting large amounts of text is considered bad etiquette. A new trend is that users use Pastebin to post Twitter...
External links
- 2. Peer-to-Peer Communication by Means of Selections in the ICCCM