Cut, copy, and paste

Cut, copy, and pasteare essentialcommandsof modernhuman–computer interactionanduser interface design. They offer aninterprocess communicationtechnique for transferringdatathrough a computer'suser interface. Thecutcommand removes theselected datafrom its original position, and thecopycommand creates a duplicate; in both cases the selected data is kept in temporary storage called theclipboard. Clipboard data is later inserted wherever apastecommand is issued. The data remains available to any application supporting the feature, thus allowing easy data transfer between applications.
The command names are aninterface metaphorbased on the physical procedure used inmanuscriptprint editing to create apage layout, like with paper. The commands were pioneered into computing byXeroxPARCin 1974, popularized byApple Computerin the 1983Lisaworkstation and the 1984Macintoshcomputer, and in a few home computer applications such the 1984 word processorCut & Paste.
Thisinteraction techniquehas close associations with related techniques ingraphical user interfaces(GUIs) that usepointing devicessuch as acomputer mouse(bydrag and drop, for example). Typically, clipboard support is provided by anoperating systemas part of its GUI andwidget toolkit.
The capability to replicate information with ease, changing it between contexts and applications, involvesprivacyconcerns because of the risks of disclosure when handlingsensitive information. Terms likecloning,copy forward,carry forward, orre-userefer to the dissemination of such information through documents, and may be subject to regulation byadministrative bodies.
The term "cut and paste" comes from the traditional practice in manuscript editing, whereby people cut paragraphs from a page withscissorsandpastethem onto another page. This practice remained standard into the 1980s. Stationery stores sold "editing scissors" with blades long enough to cut an 8½"-wide page. The advent ofphotocopiersmade the practice easier and more flexible.
The act of copying or transferring text from one part of a computer-based document ("buffer") to a different location within the same or different computer-based document was a part of the earliest on-line computer editors. As soon as computer data entry moved from punch-cards to online files (in the mid/late 1960s) there were "commands" for accomplishing this operation. This mechanism was often used to transfer frequently-used commands or text snippets from additional buffers into the document, as was the case with theQEDtext editor.
The earliest editors (designed forteleprinterterminals) providedkeyboardcommands to delineate a contiguous region of text, then delete or move it. Since moving a region of text requires first removing it from its initial location and then inserting it into its new location, various schemes had to be invented to allow for this multi-step process to be specified by the user. Often this was done with a "move" command, but some text editors required that the text be first put into some temporary location for later retrieval/placement. In 1983, theApple Lisabecame the first text editing system to call that temporary location "the clipboard".
Earlier control schemes such asNLSused averb—objectcommand structure, where the command name was provided first and the object to be copied or moved was second. The inversion from verb—object to object—verb on which copy and paste are based, where the user selects the object to be operated before initiating the operation, was an innovation crucial for the success of the desktop metaphor as it allowed copy and move operations based ondirect manipulation.
Inspired by early line and character editors, such asPentti Kanerva'sTV-Edit,that broke a move or copy operation into two steps—between which the user could invoke a preparatory action such as navigation—Lawrence G. "Larry" Teslerproposed the names "cut" and "copy" for the first step and "paste" for the second step. Beginning in 1974, he and colleagues atXeroxPARCimplemented several text editors that used cut/copy-and-paste commands to move and copy text.
Apple Computerpopularized this paradigm with itsLisa(1983) andMacintosh(1984) operating systems and applications. The functions were mapped to key combinations using the⌘Commandkey as a specialmodifier, which is held down while also pressingXfor cut,Cfor copy, orVfor paste. These fewkeyboard shortcutsallow the user to perform all the basic editing operations, and the keys are clustered at the left end of the bottom row of the standardQWERTYkeyboard.
These are the standard shortcuts:
TheIBM Common User Access(CUA) standard also uses combinations of theInsert,Del,ShiftandControl keys. Early versions ofWindowsused the IBM standard.Microsoftlater also adopted the Apple key combinations with the introduction ofWindows, using thecontrol keyasmodifier key. For users migrating to Windows fromDOSthis was a big change as DOS users used the "COPY" and "MOVE" commands.
Similar patterns of key combinations, later borrowed by others, are widely available in most GUI applications.
The original cut, copy, and paste workflow, as implemented at PARC, utilizes a unique workflow: With two windows on the same screen, the user could use the mouse to pick a point at which to make an insertion in one window (or a segment of text to replace). Then, by holding shift and selecting the copy source elsewhere on the same screen, the copy would be made as soon as the shift was released. Similarly, holding shift and control would copy and cut (delete) the source. This workflow requires many fewer keystrokes/mouse clicks than the current multi-step workflows, and did not require an explicit copy buffer. It was dropped, one presumes, because the original Apple and IBM GUIs were not high enough density to permit multiple windows, as were the PARC machines, and so multiple simultaneous windows were rarely used.
Computer-based editing can involve very frequent use of cut-and-paste operations. Most software-suppliers provide several methods for performing such tasks, and this can involve (for example) key combinations, pulldown menus, pop-up menus, ortoolbarbuttons.
Whereas cut-and-paste often takes place with a mouse-equivalent in Windows-like GUI environments, it may also occur entirely from the keyboard, especially in UNIXtext editors, such asPicoorvi. Cutting and pasting without a mouse can involve a selection (for whichCtrl+xis pressed in most graphical systems) or the entire current line, but it may also involve text after thecursoruntil the end of the line and other more sophisticated operations.
The clipboard usually stays invisible, because the operations of cutting and pasting, while actually independent, usually take place in quick succession, and the user (usually) needs no assistance in understanding the operation or maintaining mental context. Some application programs provide a means of viewing, or sometimes even editing, the data on the clipboard.
The term "copy-and-paste" refers to the popular, simple method of reproducingtextor otherdatafrom a source to a destination. It differs from cut and paste in that the original source text or data does not get deleted or removed. The popularity of this method stems from its simplicity and the ease with which users can move data between various applications visually – without resorting topermanent storage.
Use in healthcare documentation andelectronic health recordsare sensitive, with potential for the introduction ofmedical errors,information overload, andfraud.