Sometimes, you edit text outside of Vim. These are sad times. Enter vim-anywhere!

Once invoked, vim-anywhere will open a buffer. Close it and it's contents are copied to your clipboard and your previous application is refocused.

OSX:

• MacVim (brew install macvim)

Linux:

• Gnome (or a derivative)
• gVim

curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/cknadler/vim-anywhere/master/install | bash

OSX caveat: key binding is unbound by default. See keybinding for details.

~/.vim-anywhere/update

~/.vim-anywhere/uninstall

OSX: ( default = unbound, suggested = ctrl+cmd+v )

The keyboard shortcut for invoking vim-anywhere is unbound by default on OSX. The installation script will automatically open System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts. Fill in the following:

Linux: ( default = ctrl+alt+v )

$ gconftool -t str --set /desktop/gnome/keybindings/vim-anywhere/binding <custom binding>

vim-anywhere creates a temporary file in /tmp/vim-anywhere when invoked. These files stick around until you restart your system, giving you a temporary history.

View your history:

$ ls /tmp/vim-anywhere

Reopen your most recent file:

$ vim $( ls /tmp/vim-anywhere | sort -r | head -n 1 )

I use Vim for almost everything. I wish I didn't have to say almost. My usual workflow is to open Vim, write, copy the text out of my current buffer and paste it into whatever applicaiton I was just using. vim-anywhere attempts to automate this process as much as possible, reducing the friction of using Vim to do more than just edit code.

• ☐ Find a way to automate setting vim-anywhere's keyboard shortcut (OSX)
• ☒ Gnome support
• ☐ KDE support

Love vim-anywhere? Hate it? Want to change it completely? Email me or open and issue and lets talk. Pull requests, suggestions and issues of any kind are welcome with open arms.

MIT.