VI Editor : Yank the entire file to clipboard (specific to OS X)

Question

Is there any way to copy all lines from a file to clipboard in VI editor. I have tried `*yG`, `+yG`, `"+yG` and `:%y+` from previous posts in SO, but nothing works in OS X.

Accepted Answer

The default Vim shipped with Mac OS X, `/usr/bin/vi[m]`, isn't compiled with clipboard support.

You have three options:

use `pbcopy` from the command line, without using Vim

```
 $ cat filename | pbcopy
```

use `pbcopy` from Vim

```
 :%w !pbcopy
```

get your own Vim with clipboard support

You can do that through MacPorts or Homebrew, by downloading MacVim or by building from the source.

Also the correct way to use a specific register with `y` is `"{register}y`.

See `$ man pbcopy` in your terminal and `:help clipboard` and `:help !` in Vim.

VI Editor : Yank the entire file to clipboard (specific to OS X)

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