Using the Clipboard
Very often, it's useful to move some text, or an object in a program, from one place to another. It's also very common to need to duplicate some text, for example, if you're typing the same thing several times. The system used for doing this is known as the clipboard. There are two slightly different ways to use this system, known technically as the “selection” and the “clipboard”. We'll look at them separately:
This method uses the mouse to copy text from one place to another. The method is:
Select the text you want to copy.
Click the mouse button at the place you want the text to be copied to. This can be in the same program as you copied the text from, or in another program entirely.
If you have three buttons on your mouse, this is easy, but if not, all is not lost! If you have only two buttons, try clicking them both at the same time instead of the mouse button.
With this method, you can copy text, or “cut” it (that is, remove it from one place and move it to another). You can use either the mouse and the menu entries, or the keyboard with this method. I'll list both ways, with the menu entry to use, followed by the keyboard shortcut which will do the same thing, like this:
-> (Ctrl+X)
Moving (“Cutting”) Text
Select the text you want to cut.
From the menu, select -> (Ctrl+X), and the text will be removed from its current location.
Position the text cursor at the point you want to insert the text. This can be in the same application you got the text from, or another application entirely. Select -> (Ctrl+V), and the text will appear at the point where you placed the cursor.
Copying text from one place to another is very similar:
Copying Text
Select the text you want to copy.
From the menu, select -> (Ctrl+C), and the text will be copied in the clipboard.
Position the text cursor at the point you want to insert the text. This can be in the same application you got the text from, or another application entirely. Select -> (Ctrl+V)
The instructions above describe the default clipboard behavior. The Klipper application, which you can add as an applet in the panel (see the section called “Configuring Kicker” for instructions on how to do this), provides some useful clipboard-related features, like a clipboard history, and the ability to change the behavior of the clipboard and selection. Take a look at the Klipper Handbook for more information.
Related Information
You can find more information about Kicker, the
KDE Panel, in KHelpCenter or by entering
help:/kicker in Konqueror's
Location bar.
The Klipper
Handbook has information about the advanced clipboard management
features in KDE. You can read it in KHelpCenter or by entering
help:/klipper in Konqueror's
Location bar.
