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Select entire line in VIM, without the new line character

Which is the shortest way to select an entire line without the new line character in VIM?

I know that SHIFT + v selects the entire line, but with new line character.

To do this I go to the line and I press:

  • ^ (puts the cursor at the start of the line)
  • v (starts the visual select)
  • $ (selects the entire line including new line character)
  • Left (unselects the new line character)

I also know that I can create a recording that does such a thing. But I am asking if is there any built-in shortcuts...

Solution

  • No, there is nothing built-in that does the job. That's why people have even created plugins to address the need.

    Probably the most popular choice is textobj-line. With textobj-line you get two new text objects, al "a line" and il "inner line". Then,

    • vil selects the printable contents of the line (like ^vg_),
    • val selects the entire line contents (like 0v$h).

    Both do not include the newline in the selection.

    Pretty handy plugin if you ask me. And it works with operators, too.

    By request, the installation:

    • With plain Vim:
      1. Get the latest textobj-user and extract its directories into ~/.vim.
      2. Get the latest textobj-line and extract its directories into ~/.vim.
      3. Generate the help tags :helptags ~/.vim/doc.
    • With a plugin manager (recommended): just follow the usual installation procedure for your plugin manager, and don't forget to install the textobj-user dependency as well.