Append or prepend selected text to a file in Vim

Question

In Vim, is there a way to move the selected text into <current_file>.bak, appending or prepending? If possible, the backup file should not be displayed.

I envision the workflow to be:

1. Select some text
2. Type :sbak
3. The selection is saved into <current_file>.bak

Answer 1

You can do it in three steps:

• type Shift-vj...j to select some lines
• type :'<,'>w! >>file.bak to save selected lines to file.bak(append)
• type gvd to delete original lines

You can write a user-defined command Sbak if you like:

com! -nargs=1 -range Sbak call MoveSelectedLinesToFile(<f-args>)
fun! MoveSelectedLinesToFile(filename)
    exec "'<,'>w! >>" . a:filename
    norm gvd
endfunc