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(emacs)Kill Ring

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The Kill Ring
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   All killed text is recorded in the "kill ring", a list of blocks of
text that have been killed.  There is only one kill ring, shared by all
buffers, so you can kill text in one buffer and yank it in another
buffer.  This is the usual way to move text from one file to another.
(Note: Accumulating Text, for some other ways.)

   The command `C-y' (`yank') reinserts the text of the most recent
kill.  It leaves the cursor at the end of the text.  It sets the mark at
the beginning of the text.  Note: Mark.

   `C-u C-y' leaves the cursor in front of the text, and sets the mark
after it.  This happens only if the argument is specified with just a
`C-u', precisely.  Any other sort of argument, including `C-u' and
digits, specifies an earlier kill to yank (Note: Earlier Kills).

   To copy a block of text, you can use `M-w' (`kill-ring-save'), which
copies the region into the kill ring without removing it from the
buffer.  This is approximately equivalent to `C-w' followed by `C-x u',
except that `M-w' does not alter the undo history and does not
temporarily change the screen.