If you want to copy a number of lines, Yank them into your paste buffer, move the cursor to where you want the copy, and Push the duplicate copy.

Example ....
10Y (yank 10 lines - the current followed by the next 9)
move cursor
P (push those lines into their new position)

Alternatives / variants of yanking.

1. You can use yy rather that Y (two lower case Ys not one upper case) and it will do the same yank.

2. You can use yw to yank a word, y$ to yank to the end of the line, y0 to yank back to the beginning of the line, yb to yank back to the beginning of the current word ... (and that's just a selection!)

3. You can precede your yank by naming a buffer to use double quote command) so that you can keep more than one set of lines available to push at the same time. For example "a10Y - "Using buffer 'a', yank 10 lines".

4. If you delete lines with dd or any of the alternatives such as dw or d$, your text is also stored in the yank buffer, and can be pushed back to a new position.

Alternatives / variants of pushing.

1. P pushes the text in front of the current cursor position, but p (lower case) pushes it after.

2. You can use a names buffed (with double quotes) to push from a named buffer rather than from the default - "aP means "push the text in buffer 'a' before the current cursor position"

More buffers are available than you could possible want - use any of the letters (upper or lower case) and almost all of the special characters!

---

Markers are also named in a similar way, but are a different facility. If in vi you type ma, you're setting a marker called "a" and later on in the session you can type 'a - that's "single quote, a" to jump you to that position - a very useful trick for getting back to somewhere you've already been without having to search again, or note a line number!

Note - in ex mode in vi, you have copy and move commands available too ...

:10,20copy5 - duplicate lines 10 to 20 inclusive in front of line 5

:.,.+3move0 - move the current line and the next 3 to the very beginning of the buffer
(written 2008-08-21)

 A101 - Web Application Deployment - Linux -An Introduction For Users
  [73] vi - full circle - (2004-10-04)
  [74] pushd and popd - (2004-10-05)
  [152] Aladdin, or careful what you wish. - (2004-12-15)
  [249] An easy way out - (2005-03-17)
  [430] Linux commands - some basics - (2005-08-31)
  [431] File permissions of Linux and Unix systems - (2005-08-31)
  [593] Finding where the disc space has gone - (2006-02-06)
  [659] Web Application Components - (2006-03-28)
  [679] More or less on the edge of the page - (2006-04-11)
  [703] Copying files and preserving ownership - (2006-04-28)
  [710] Linux training Glasgow, Python programming course Dundee - (2006-05-05)
  [711] THE home directory or MY home directory - (2006-05-06)
  [749] Cottage industry or production line data handling methods - (2006-06-07)
  [984] Cardinal numbers and magic numbers - (2006-12-14)
  [1012] Moving files between Windows / DOS and Linux / Unix - (2006-12-30)
  [1013] Copy multiple files - confusing error message from cp - (2006-12-30)
  [1068] ls -l report, Linux / Unix - types and permssions - (2007-02-06)
  [1259] Where am I and how did I get here? - (2007-07-05)
  [1287] Work and play at Well House Manor - Football and Shell Shortcuts - (2007-08-02)
  [1288] Linux run states, shell special commands, and directory structures - (2007-08-03)
  [1366] awk - a powerful data extraction and manipulation tool - (2007-09-25)
  [1408] Wireless hotel tips - FTP and Skype connections failing - (2007-10-26)
  [1438] Copy and paste / cut and paste and other vi techniques - (2007-11-20)
  [1527] Selecting file names in a shell - one word or another - (2008-02-02)
  [1651] ls command - favourite options - (2008-05-23)
  [1803] FTP passive mode - a sometimes cure for upload hangs - (2008-09-20)
  [1893] Some Linux and Unix tips - (2008-11-18)
  [1897] Keeping on an even keel - (2008-11-21)
  [1902] sstrwxrwxrwx - Unix and Linux file permissions - (2008-11-23)
  [1904] Ruby, Perl, Linux, MySQL - some training notes - (2008-11-23)
  [2201] Running straight from the jar, but not from a tar - (2009-05-26)
  [2203] Always use su with minus. And where do programs come from? - (2009-05-27)
  [2299] How much space does my directory take - Linux - (2009-07-20)
  [2300] What does x on a linux directory mean? - (2009-07-21)
  [2479] Accidentally typed ci rather than vi? - (2009-10-27)
  [2494] Making Linux Politically correct - (2009-11-06)
  [2636] Linux - useful tips including history and file name completion - (2010-02-15)
  [2831] Recording (a macro) in vi - (2010-06-27)
  [3179] Oops - I typed ci not vi, and have lost my file ... - (2011-02-21)
  [3256] Displaying a directory or file system tree - Linux - (2011-04-22)
  [3791] The Kernel, Shells and Daemons. Greek Gods in computing - (2012-07-01)
  [3819] Packing a tar, jar or war file - best practise - (2012-07-26)

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Yank and Push - copy and move in vi
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