This article will demonstrate how to change text in Vim 'without using a register'.
Whenever you yank (y), change (c) or delete (d) something in Vim, it goes into a register. These registers can be used to keep track of your changes.
If you change or delete a line without using a named register, Vim still saves those changes in registers that are referenced by numbers 1 through 9. By line, I mean changes that are done to a whole line such as dd and cc. Each time you change or delete a line, the contents of these 1-9 registers will shift down and you will lose the contents of the last register whenever it goes beyond the last position of this stack. You will still have access to the changes via the undo (u) command, but you won't be able to access them via these registers.
The last modification is also saved in a default register called ". The default register also holds any yanks, changes or deletes that you do to parts of a line, such as words.
To view the contents of all your registers, use the :register command.
Now, to put (p) text in Vim, you can specify from which register you want the contents to be retrieved from. For example, with "ap, you will put the contents of register a in the text. But, if you do not specify a register (by using just p), Vim will take the contents of the default " register.
It can therefore get a bit cumbersome to delete some text with d (by not specifying a named register) that you want to place somewhere else and have to delete other text in between before placing your text where you want. This is because, as stated earlier, once you make other modifications (y, c, d) in between, these changes will go into the default " register and you will lose your original contents.
To prevent this, you can use the so called black hole register:
Whenever you yank, change or delete into this register, the modifications do not go into the " register. In fact, they do not go into any register! This means that you can delete some text using d that you plan to move somewhere else (without specifying a named register), delete some other text in between into this black hole register, and then put the contents of your original deletion where you want it via p (again, without specifying a named register).
When writing to this register, nothing happens. This can be used to delete text without affecting the normal registers. When reading from this register, nothing is returned. {not in Vi}
Whenever you yank, change or delete into this register, the modifications do not go into the " register. In fact, they do not go into any register! This means that you can delete some text using d that you plan to move somewhere else (without specifying a named register), delete some other text in between into this black hole register, and then put the contents of your original deletion where you want it via p (again, without specifying a named register).
This black hole register is referenced by _
As an example, if you delete with "_d, the changes will not go into any register and you can only get them back via undos (u). But now, you will still have access to the contents of your default " register.
Finally, it's best to map the "_ key sequence so that it's easier to type in. In the following example, I am mapping it via the
:map <leader>b "_
Now you can delete a word into the black box register with \bw (assuming your leader key is set to the default \), delete 5 words with \b5dw or change 3 words \bc3w.
Update
As Ben Orenstein correctly pointed out in the comments, Vim also saves your last yank in the 0 register. This means that you can yank text (without using a named register), delete some text in between and then paste the previously yanked text with "0p. Thanks for this excellent tip Ben!
