Clipboard Manager

A version of the Sublime Text plugin at http://www.sublimetext.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2260&start=0 that makes for TextMate-like clipboard history.

Originally written by AJ Palkovic (ajpalkovic), modified by Martin Aspeli (optilude), and further (heavily) modified and packaged for Package Control by Colin T.A. Gray (colinta). I also want to give a shoutout to user mg979 for sharing a bunch of awesome new features he added to this plugin! We didn't collaborate on a pull request, but I did implement some of his ideas that I liked, namely the “show current clipboard” with syntax highlighting.

Installation

Most importantly: Clipboard Manager must be registered to receive the copy and cut commands, so be sure to assign clipboard_manager_copy to ctrl/super+c and clipboard_manager_cut to ctrl/super+x. These commands delegate to the sublime text built in commands, but also add the copied text to its internal history.

1. Using Package Control, install “Clipboard Manager”
2. Install keymaps for the commands (see Example.sublime-keymap for my preferred keys)

Open Preferences > Key Bindings and copy the key bindings from Example.sublime-keymap that you want to use. First you need to override the cut/copy/paste commands, so that the pasteboard entries can be stored in history:

{ "keys": ["super+x"], "command": "clipboard_manager_cut" },
    { "keys": ["super+c"], "command": "clipboard_manager_copy" },
    { "keys": ["super+v"], "command": "clipboard_manager_paste", "args": { "indent": true } },

Next you'll want to bind next_and_paste and previous_and_paste, these move forward and backward through history and paste the next/previous entry:

{ "keys": ["super+alt+v"], "command": "clipboard_manager_next_and_paste" },
    { "keys": ["super+shift+v"], "command": "clipboard_manager_previous_and_paste" },

The “choose and paste” command is super useful, and it uses the fuzzy finder so you can search your history:

{ "keys": ["super+alt+ctrl+v"], "command": "clipboard_manager_choose_and_paste" },

If you bind clipboard_manager_next and clipboard_manager_previous, these commands will show you the current clipboard selection in a panel at the bottom of the screen. clipboard_manager_choose_and_paste also has this feature (thanks to @mg979 for this idea!)

Commands

The basics

clipboard_manager_cut: Self Explanatory

clipboard_manager_copy: Self Explanatory

clipboard_manager_paste: Self Explanatory.

Options: indent (default: False): Determines whether to use the paste or paste_and_indent built-in command.

Navigating clipboard history

clipboard_manager_next_and_paste (super+alt+v)

Goes to the next entry in the history and pastes it. Options: indent (default: False)

clipboard_manager_previous_and_paste (super+shift+v)

Goes to the previous entry in the history and pastes it. Options: indent (default: False)

clipboard_manager_next (super+pageup aka super+fn+up)

Goes to the next entry in the history, but doesn't paste. The content will appear as a status message and in a panel.

clipboard_manager_previous (super+pagedown aka super+fn+down)

Goes to the previous entry in the history, but doesn't paste. The content will appear as a status message and in a panel.

clipboard_manager_choose_and_paste (super+ctrl+alt+v)

Shows the clipboard history in an quick panel so you can pick an entry from the history, also shows the “current selected item” in an output panel.

clipboard_manager_show (super+ctrl+shift+v, /)

Shows the clipboard history in an output panel, and points to the current clipboard item. This was mostly useful for development, but you might find it beneficial as well.

Registers

Registers do not add/remove from the clipboard history, they are a place to store text that won't be affected by clipboard history.

clipboard_manager_copy_to_register (there are a ton, e.g. super+ctrl+shift+c, 1, super+ctrl+shift+c, a)

Puts the selection into a register. The example keymap includes a register binding for every number and letter.

clipboard_manager_paste_from_register (super+ctrl+shift+v, 1, super+ctrl+shift+v, a)

Pastes the contents of a register. Again, there are lots of example key bindings.

clipboard_manager_show_registers (super+ctrl+shift+v, ?)

Shows the clipboard registers in an output panel, similar to clipboard_manager_show.

Helpful Tips

There are two ways to find out what you've got hanging out in your clipboard history, you should use both. The clipboard_manager_choose_and_paste command is your goto. It uses the fuzzy finder input panel, so you can quickly find and paste the entry you want.

The other useful trick is to use clipboard_manager_next/clipboard_manager_previous to show an output panel at the bottom of the screen. As you scroll through history it will update that panel, with syntax highlighting, too! Then you can clipboard_manager_next_and_paste, and if you keep the panel open it will update as you keep pasting.

If you've got a repetive task to do, with lots of copy/pastes, use registers. They do not get affected by usual copy/pasting, so you can rest assured that your work flow will not get affected. The keyboard shortcuts are unfortunately quite verbose (super+ctrl+shift+c, letter/digit), but look at Example.sublime-keymap and you'll see that it is easy to assign a quicker shortcut for registers you like to use. Registers do not have to be one letter, any string can be used as the key.